In this blog, we will explore 10 bad reasons for not starting a life coach business or practice.
I have come across many friends, who aspire to become life coaches or want to start a life coaching business but hesitates.
Starting life coaching practice or business like any other business can be overwhelming, and daunting.
In this blog about 10 bad reasons for not starting a life coach business, we will discuss and debunk common excuses used by aspiring life coaches.
So grab that cup of coffee, this post will help you to reframe those thoughts and take your first step confidently.
10 bad reasons for not starting a life coach business
Fear-Based excuses
1 “I am not experienced enough”
Any new coach feels this way, the problem is we compare ourselves with established professionals.
Many new coaches believe that they need years of experience and spotless track record to start life coaching practice.
Life coaching is a process and your client is looking for someone who can guide them through their challenges.
Start with a few free sessions in your social circle, maybe some friends, colleagues or family members can gain benefit from your life coaching skills and you get experience.
Everyone has to start somewhere and sometime, unless you practice how you are going to gain experience.
2. “What if I fail?”
Fear of failure is a natural and most common excuse we come across from aspiring life coaches.
This fear can be paralyzing and often results from overthinking about the worst case scenario or all the negative outcomes.
Failure is feedback, it gives you opportunity to learn and enhance the skills needed skills to start a life coaching business.
Set small and achievable goals for yourself, and start taking action. Once you achieve those small goals, it will build your confidence.
3.”I am not good Enough”
Those who enter a helping role face imposter syndrome and which is common also.
One might feel he has a lack of wisdom, skill or life experiences to truly make an impact.
In reality, I suggest all life coaches should have reading habits, it helps to understand clients better, and you also gain a wide range of anecdotes and examples to share.
Your authenticity shall resonate with your client, do your research, understand his concerns and go prepared for the session.
Understanding clients’ demography, history, and interest can help you build great rapport.
You can use the Milton model language pattern to understand your client better during the session itself.
Practical Concerns
Here are some of the practical concerns aspiring coaches face while starting their coaching practice.
4 “I don’t have right certification”
No doubt a valid certificate can provide credibility in the eyes of the client.
However, certifications can not be the only measure for a coach’s effectiveness, many esteemed coaches gain clients by the result they deliver.
My view is it could be good to have a certificate but results would matter more.
You can start your coaching business with initial clients, and with help of their feedback you can gain even more clients.
Consider offering free consultation, gain following and feedback at the same time to work on the certification that works best for you.
Remember, clients care more about your ability to help them achieve their goals whether you have a certificate or not.
5. “ I don’t have enough money to start.”
Frankly speaking, setting up a coaching business does not require any investment.
You can start your coaching business just with a google account, and a regular bank account. No need to have a website or visiting card just now.
However, having a proper business plan with a website can scale up your growth, but that can be figured out as you go.
Do this, start with your any social media account like Linkedin, Twitter, Facebook or Instagram, Create content related to your coaching business.
There are plenty of coaching tools you can explore, some of them provide free models also.
6. “I need a perfect website or branding first.”
If you are thinking about having a website and branding first but it is an excuse for not starting a business.
You can start by giving free coaching and build your client base first, simultaneously you can work on your website and branding.
Your brand evolves as you gain experience from the results you get for clients, frankly they are more interested in the value you provide than your logo or website design.
You can start by starting a simple service page on Linkedin, focus on building your client base and later on you can work on website and branding.
Mindset and external factors
7.”The Market is too saturated”.
We are living in the time where people are raising awareness about mental health and self-care, thus coaching is a growing and evergreen business.
You may feel overwhelmed with countless life coaches promoting their business, however every market has a scope for newbies.
Saturation is a myth.
To beat this excuse, I will suggest you carve out a niche where you can outperform or identify the audience you want to cater to.
You can choose to work with middle management corporate employees, teens, or parents whatever suits you.
8. “I don’t have time right now.”
I am also a victim of this excuse, I have a full time job and other commitments where I feel I may not have time for this blog.
However, I do small things for this blog regularly like reading, researching, interacting with my audience over an email.
Don’t procrastinate on your dream of starting a coaching business, plan out small activities, block a few hours or even minutes in your day.
Here is what I do, I tell myself I will do this task only for 5 minutes, but end up doing it for hours.
Waiting for perfect time can take forever, take small, consistent steps that can lead to significant progress.
9. “I don’t know where to start.”
We get stuck in too much analysis and it gets overwhelming the more we analyse.
Have small targets and start doing it anyway, you may not have all the answers in the beginning but you will learn things over a period of time.
Start by identifying your ideal clients and offering free sessions to gain experience, attend training and events and build your network.
10. “I need to be more successful myself first.”
Well, clients care more about the results you get for them, rather than what you achieve in your life.
You are their coach, not their mentor. Where they have to follow your steps, while you guide them to find their own path.
Focus on reading and gathering as much information as possible, you are not required to give your life examples in the session.
Conclusion
Many of these excuses are beliefs you build over a period of time, you can use the NLP Belief change process to overcome that.
You don’t have to figure out everything, every coach was once a beginner just like you.
What’s one step you are going to take today to start your coaching business?
Further Reading
