Business or Hobby?

How do you treat your coaching practice - as a business or a hobby?

Your answer to this question could determine how long it takes you to have a coaching practice that meets your basic needs and beyond.

Unfortunately, a lot of coaches treat their coaching practice like a hobby... and suffer the consequences. Their client levels go up and down and they find themselves in the feast or famine cycle - with too much time in the latter.

If you treat your coaching practice like a hobby you'll most likely end up with a hobby-like turnover.

You may say that you really enjoy the area of coaching and personal development and prefer to take a more relaxed approach to attracting coaching clients. How's that strategy working for you? Where will you be this time next year if you keep the same outlook?

I'm not suggesting that you necessarily change into a stereotypical hard-nosed businessperson and begin to model yourself on Gordon Gecko from the film Wall Street. Greed is not good :-)

In my 6 years in coaching, one thing that really stands out about coaches I've met with a surplus of clients and a thriving business is how they view and operate their coaching practice. They view it as a business and treat it like one. Different mindset - different results.

How about you?

Treating Your Coaching Practice as a Business

Here are just some pointers to begin to think of your coaching practice as a business instead of a hobby:

1. Where's the plan? - If you've got a business then you've got a plan right? It's shocking to note the number of coaches operating their practices without a solid and well thought out business plan.

Psst - a plan that you wrote a long while ago still tucked in your drawer and not looked at in ages doesn't count ;-)

2. Where do you want to get to? - Do you have a clear vision on what your coaching practice will look like at different points in the future?

Remember that clarity is power.

3. How are you going to get there? - Have you developed well thought out strategies on how you're going to take you practice from where it is now to where you ultimately want it to be?

4. What needs to change? - What if anything do you need to change to give you the best chance of having the coaching practice you desire and deserve?

Who do you need to become? What do you need to do less of and more of from this point forward?

P.S. In last week's newsletter, I mentioned a publishing mentor I worked with last year named John Eggen. In case you haven't heard of him before, his clients include best selling authors such as Brian Tracy and Mark Victor Hansen.

Next week he's running a completely complimentary teleseminar on “How to Create a Book that Attracts New Clients" on 28th August at 5pm Pacific Time. As that's 1am UK time on the 29th August you may want to access the recording instead.

If you would like to receive the complementary teleseminar and learn how to have a book to attract clients then just complete your details at:

http://www.authenticpractice.com/johneggen.htm

So, is your coaching practice a business or a hobby?

With very best wishes,

Shaun

Authentic Practice
helping coaches to get more clients
45 Capitol Court
Old Coach Road
Wollaton
Nottingham
NG8 1GX

Website: http://www.authenticpractice.com

Tel.: (0115) 928 3070 or (0845) 123 5105
Mobile: (07811) 262 111

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I work with coaches who have a strong desire to help others but are currently struggling to get clients. I help them to attract more clients and create a stable coaching practice to make a difference in the world.

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