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Answer Upon - Why every Coach Needs a Business Plan
You got me. I must confess. Writing this article might just ruin my career. I'm sort of like the magician that showed everybody the secrets being the magic oh well, who cares anyway. You're in for a real treat.You see, there are 3 secrets that reveal how to write sales letters. These secrets to my knowledge have never been released for free up until this very moment.Please don't think I'm being gimmicky here or trying to trick you. I haven't been able to find anything online that lets these 3 secrets out for the cost of air .I'm writing this because I want you to live the life you want. I want you to be able to live comfortably and have lots of fun. I hate jobs, and if you do too, then this just might be your ticket out of he
That's a very simple definition of a business plan. You can't get much more painless than that! Now to flesh it out a little, here are the fundamental features of a business plan :
In writing
Has a goal
Has a plan to get you from where you are now to where you want to be
Has some kind of performance measurement (likely to be the numbers bit)
Its dynamic. To be useful it will change over time: as circumstances change, you will need to 'course correct'
It will be unique to you
If you want the fully monty contents list for your coaching business plan, click here. But actually before you get hit by the overwhelm again, just take these 4 questions below and address them to give you the guts of your coaching business plan:
Exactly what is your product
Maintaining communication with your downline is extremely important in Network Marketing or MLM, it can literally be the determining factor that differentiates a failing business, from a successful one. The number one mistake that novice network marketers make is not maintaining close communication with their downlines.Even if you do something simple, like a personal email just saying hello every day can be what keeps your downline active. Network Marketing is above all a people business, and in order to be successful as a networker, you need to be networking. Daily emails, maybe a postcard, or a phone call every other week or so can go a very long ways with an individual. It also builds trust and relationship with the people in you
Sadly, you are wrong. You do need a plan for you coaching business. It doesn't necessarily need to be the 'all singing, all dancing' version but you do need some sort of plan so you (at the very least) know where you are going with your coaching business. Let me tell you why........ First of all let's get the horror stories out of the way. I'm sure you know by now that in excess of 50% of all small businesses will fail within their first 3 years. There are no corresponding figures for the coaching profession specifically but anecdotal evidence would suggest that the failure rate is certainly not better than the average, indeed many coaching businesses never get off the ground in the first place.
There has been much research into the causes of such high failure rates and it is true that a proportion of business failures are caused by factors outside the control of the owner. But in the majority of cases, failure is caused by factors that could have been foreseen and managed. Peter Cochrane (ConceptLabs) cheerily writes 'the question isn't why they fail so often, more by what miracle any survive!' He goes on to site the key reasons that businesses fold: failure to identify and quantify an opportunity;failure to identify the customer and market; failure to search out the competition and assess risk; failure to address funding and financials. And finally, failure to draw up a plan. And guess what, all of the aforementioned omissions could have been addressed by the last - if only there had been a business plan!
Enough of the doom and gloom! Now for the good news. Drawing up your coaching business plan need not be arduous, tedious and costly. It can actually be quite easy; you probably do have much of it in your head already, you just need to pull it all together. And you can do it yourself, now you have me to help you either by following the guidance that will be published in this blog or using me as a one-to-one business planning coach. Trust me on the 'easy' and the 'diy' for now (more in a moment), but if you need further convincing, just take a look at the benefits of having a coaching business plan:
You get to see the big picture: your business with all its components, aligned with the rest of your life. You get the opportunity to stand back
You clearly define your vision, your mission, your philosophy and your ethics and align these with your personal values and beliefs
You focus right in on defining your product, your market, your client
You set yourself measurable outcomes, for which you are accountable
You have a step by step strategy along a timeline, for meeting those goals
You now have a focus for your time and energy, which makes you more efficient
You begin to address the risks, the 'what can go wrongs' and anticipate how you can overcome them, from limiting beliefs and skills gaps to lack of clients and financial issues
You can see whether it is financially viable from the outset, and at milestones along the way
You identify a business model that works for you: work life balance, nature of client, sales and marketing modes
Here's a thought. As coaches what do we get our clients to do fundamentally, at the start of the coaching process? Well - set goals, of course. And what do we encourage them to do as a key component of achieving their goals? Yep, write them down. (Remember the research: only 3% of the population write down their goals and those that do are five times more likely to achieve them). But back to coaching business plans. You'll see where I'm going on this. That's all a business plan really is: a set of goals, in writing, with more or less detail on the means of achieving. Are we coaches walking the talk here? How many of us have written down our business goals as a starter?
That's a very simple definition of a business plan. You can't get much more painless than that! Now to flesh it out a little, here are the fundamental features of a business plan :
In writing
Has a goal
Has a plan to get you from where you are now to where you want to be
Has some kind of performance measurement (likely to be the numbers bit)
Its dynamic. To be useful it will change over time: as circumstances change, you will need to 'course correct'
It will be unique to you
If you want the fully monty contents list for your coaching business plan, click here. But actually before you get hit by the overwhelm again, just take these 4 questions below and address them to give you the guts of your coaching business plan:
Exactly what is your product
What if you created the Worlds best MindMap to assist humans in using all of their knowledge, experience, observations and education to make the very best decisions for themselves, their companies, their government, their communities or children of the World? If you had such a thing who would you market it to? How would you get the word out; where would you start?In fact who on Earth would be your clients? Everyone I guess and this is exactly what our Online Think Tank came up with when reviewing this hypothetical concept of promoting the use of MindMaps to the humans of the planet. When I ask about a clients what am I really asking? You see in branding you have to know which questions to ask and what to do with the answers once you get th
There has been much research into the causes of such high failure rates and it is true that a proportion of business failures are caused by factors outside the control of the owner. But in the majority of cases, failure is caused by factors that could have been foreseen and managed. Peter Cochrane (ConceptLabs) cheerily writes 'the question isn't why they fail so often, more by what miracle any survive!' He goes on to site the key reasons that businesses fold: failure to identify and quantify an opportunity;failure to identify the customer and market; failure to search out the competition and assess risk; failure to address funding and financials. And finally, failure to draw up a plan. And guess what, all of the aforementioned omissions could have been addressed by the last - if only there had been a business plan!
Enough of the doom and gloom! Now for the good news. Drawing up your coaching business plan need not be arduous, tedious and costly. It can actually be quite easy; you probably do have much of it in your head already, you just need to pull it all together. And you can do it yourself, now you have me to help you either by following the guidance that will be published in this blog or using me as a one-to-one business planning coach. Trust me on the 'easy' and the 'diy' for now (more in a moment), but if you need further convincing, just take a look at the benefits of having a coaching business plan:
You get to see the big picture: your business with all its components, aligned with the rest of your life. You get the opportunity to stand back
You clearly define your vision, your mission, your philosophy and your ethics and align these with your personal values and beliefs
You focus right in on defining your product, your market, your client
You set yourself measurable outcomes, for which you are accountable
You have a step by step strategy along a timeline, for meeting those goals
You now have a focus for your time and energy, which makes you more efficient
You begin to address the risks, the 'what can go wrongs' and anticipate how you can overcome them, from limiting beliefs and skills gaps to lack of clients and financial issues
You can see whether it is financially viable from the outset, and at milestones along the way
You identify a business model that works for you: work life balance, nature of client, sales and marketing modes
Here's a thought. As coaches what do we get our clients to do fundamentally, at the start of the coaching process? Well - set goals, of course. And what do we encourage them to do as a key component of achieving their goals? Yep, write them down. (Remember the research: only 3% of the population write down their goals and those that do are five times more likely to achieve them). But back to coaching business plans. You'll see where I'm going on this. That's all a business plan really is: a set of goals, in writing, with more or less detail on the means of achieving. Are we coaches walking the talk here? How many of us have written down our business goals as a starter?
That's a very simple definition of a business plan. You can't get much more painless than that! Now to flesh it out a little, here are the fundamental features of a business plan :
In writing
Has a goal
Has a plan to get you from where you are now to where you want to be
Has some kind of performance measurement (likely to be the numbers bit)
Its dynamic. To be useful it will change over time: as circumstances change, you will need to 'course correct'
It will be unique to you
If you want the fully monty contents list for your coaching business plan, click here. But actually before you get hit by the overwhelm again, just take these 4 questions below and address them to give you the guts of your coaching business plan:
Exactly what is your product
When it rains, oil, antifreeze, detergents, pesticides and other pollutants get washed from driveways, backyards, parking lots, and streets into storm drains and then directly into waterways. Detergents in particular present a real problem not only for large bodies of water but also for water treatment facilities.Soaps containing phosphates are common contributors to storm water pollution. These phosphates create problems for Publicly Owned Treatment Works (POTWs) because these phosphates interfere with the cleaning procedures at the facility. Finding products that can replace harsh alkaline cleaners will help reduce pollution.Even detergents that are marketed as biodegradable can still have undesirable effects because they req
Enough of the doom and gloom! Now for the good news. Drawing up your coaching business plan need not be arduous, tedious and costly. It can actually be quite easy; you probably do have much of it in your head already, you just need to pull it all together. And you can do it yourself, now you have me to help you either by following the guidance that will be published in this blog or using me as a one-to-one business planning coach. Trust me on the 'easy' and the 'diy' for now (more in a moment), but if you need further convincing, just take a look at the benefits of having a coaching business plan:
You get to see the big picture: your business with all its components, aligned with the rest of your life. You get the opportunity to stand back
You clearly define your vision, your mission, your philosophy and your ethics and align these with your personal values and beliefs
You focus right in on defining your product, your market, your client
You set yourself measurable outcomes, for which you are accountable
You have a step by step strategy along a timeline, for meeting those goals
You now have a focus for your time and energy, which makes you more efficient
You begin to address the risks, the 'what can go wrongs' and anticipate how you can overcome them, from limiting beliefs and skills gaps to lack of clients and financial issues
You can see whether it is financially viable from the outset, and at milestones along the way
You identify a business model that works for you: work life balance, nature of client, sales and marketing modes
Here's a thought. As coaches what do we get our clients to do fundamentally, at the start of the coaching process? Well - set goals, of course. And what do we encourage them to do as a key component of achieving their goals? Yep, write them down. (Remember the research: only 3% of the population write down their goals and those that do are five times more likely to achieve them). But back to coaching business plans. You'll see where I'm going on this. That's all a business plan really is: a set of goals, in writing, with more or less detail on the means of achieving. Are we coaches walking the talk here? How many of us have written down our business goals as a starter?
That's a very simple definition of a business plan. You can't get much more painless than that! Now to flesh it out a little, here are the fundamental features of a business plan :
In writing
Has a goal
Has a plan to get you from where you are now to where you want to be
Has some kind of performance measurement (likely to be the numbers bit)
Its dynamic. To be useful it will change over time: as circumstances change, you will need to 'course correct'
It will be unique to you
If you want the fully monty contents list for your coaching business plan, click here. But actually before you get hit by the overwhelm again, just take these 4 questions below and address them to give you the guts of your coaching business plan:
Exactly what is your product
Most probably you have heard of several success stories in franchising. Perhaps you have given it a lot of though and are thinking of wading into the business just to test the waters. Before you do, here are some other questions you might like to chew on just to determine if franchising is indeed for you.Have you manage to limit you choices of a franchise to a specific product or service? You must have at least the basic knowledge on the franchise business you are planning on getting into. If you have an extensive military background perhaps a security agency franchise might be a better option for you than a pre school franchise.Do you have enough money to purchase a franchise? Most franchise offers have a projected return of i
You have a step by step strategy along a timeline, for meeting those goals
You now have a focus for your time and energy, which makes you more efficient
You begin to address the risks, the 'what can go wrongs' and anticipate how you can overcome them, from limiting beliefs and skills gaps to lack of clients and financial issues
You can see whether it is financially viable from the outset, and at milestones along the way
You identify a business model that works for you: work life balance, nature of client, sales and marketing modes
Here's a thought. As coaches what do we get our clients to do fundamentally, at the start of the coaching process? Well - set goals, of course. And what do we encourage them to do as a key component of achieving their goals? Yep, write them down. (Remember the research: only 3% of the population write down their goals and those that do are five times more likely to achieve them). But back to coaching business plans. You'll see where I'm going on this. That's all a business plan really is: a set of goals, in writing, with more or less detail on the means of achieving. Are we coaches walking the talk here? How many of us have written down our business goals as a starter?
That's a very simple definition of a business plan. You can't get much more painless than that! Now to flesh it out a little, here are the fundamental features of a business plan :
In writing
Has a goal
Has a plan to get you from where you are now to where you want to be
Has some kind of performance measurement (likely to be the numbers bit)
Its dynamic. To be useful it will change over time: as circumstances change, you will need to 'course correct'
It will be unique to you
If you want the fully monty contents list for your coaching business plan, click here. But actually before you get hit by the overwhelm again, just take these 4 questions below and address them to give you the guts of your coaching business plan:
Exactly what is your product
Writing ebooks is one activity which is outsourced with a great deal of frequency. Ebooks are books which are published and distributed in a software format. Some consider them to be much more convenient than regular books because they can be downloaded to computers, laptops and a number of multimedia devices making it convenient for the individual to take the ebook with them everywhere they go. Another advantage of ebooks is they are typically less expensive than traditional books. This is because the publishing costs associated with publishing an ebooks is significantly lower than it is for publishing regular books. Outsourcing the writing of ebooks is a fairly common practice. There are a few simple guidelines which should be followed when sel
That's a very simple definition of a business plan. You can't get much more painless than that! Now to flesh it out a little, here are the fundamental features of a business plan :
In writing
Has a goal
Has a plan to get you from where you are now to where you want to be
Has some kind of performance measurement (likely to be the numbers bit)
Its dynamic. To be useful it will change over time: as circumstances change, you will need to 'course correct'
It will be unique to you
If you want the fully monty contents list for your coaching business plan, click here. But actually before you get hit by the overwhelm again, just take these 4 questions below and address them to give you the guts of your coaching business plan:
Exactly what is your product
Who are you selling it to
How can you be sure that they want it
How much will it cost you to provide. How much will you sell it for.. Will that make you enough money?
Remember this: having a business plan is a significant indicator of a successful business. Only 25% of small businesses will have a business plan. Which group do you want to be in? If you want to learn more about drawing up your coaching business plan, watch this space or subscribe to my monthly newsletter. Alternatively, email me on info@yourcoachingbiz.com to find out how I can help you one-to-one. You can read Peter Cochrane's full article in silicon. com Other useful sources of information on business plans can be found at Business Link and is4profit
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