After graduating from Duke University and Columbia Business School with an MBA in Marketing, I spent 23 years at major international advertising agencies and heading up marketing at some of the largest franchises in the United States. In the later part of my career, I have turned my attention from Wall Street to Main Street. For the last 14 years, I have been helping small businesses improve their top and bottom lines as their business coach and trained others to do the same. The journey to becoming a successful business coach involves a combination of training, experience, strategic and action planning.
With my wife Pam, I now run a business advising program called Business Growthology™. In addition to coaching our own clients, we provide the tools, training, and support to create an effective and lucrative business coaching practice. We help improve the ability of coaches to create positive change; where being a “business coach” carries real meaning and is more than a mere title. It means you are qualified and able to help business owners implement strategies that provide them with the time and financial freedom they dreamt of when they first started their businesses.
Whether you’re transitioning from a different career or starting fresh, let me give you some guidance to help you launch your business coaching career.
Before diving into the process, it’s crucial to understand the role of a business coach. Business coaches help entrepreneurs, executives, and business owners develop strategies, improve performance, and achieve their goals. They DO NOT do the implementation. They provide guidance, support, and accountability, drawing on their expertise and experience to offer tailored advice.
Successful business coaches typically have a strong background in business management, leadership, marketing, accounting, financial management, or entrepreneurship. Reflect on your skills and experience to determine how they align with the demands of business coaching.
Here are the following:
- Business Acumen: Experience in running or managing a business is invaluable.
- Leadership Skills: Proven leadership abilities are essential for guiding clients.
- Problem-Solving: Strong analytical and problem-solving skills help address client challenges.
- Communication: Excellent communication skills are crucial for effectively conveying advice and feedback.
While formal education isn’t always required, obtaining relevant education, training and certifications can enhance your credibility and knowledge. If you can, consider pursuing a certification from a reputable coaching organization. However, beware. Many certification programs typically only cover coaching techniques and ethics. So while the International Coach Federation (ICF) or the Center for Credentialing & Education (CCE) or IPEC are solid, they completely ignore three of the major aspects of a successful coaching practice:
- Lead Generation: Generating a Consistent Flow of Qualified Business Owner Leads
- Client Acquisition: Having Predictable Conversions to High Ticket Engagements
- Client Retention: Getting Those High-Paying Clients Real Business Results so you Sustain them Long-term
Hands-on experience is critical for becoming an effective business coach. After all, is a coach without clients really a business coach? Doing some Pro Bono coaching can be a great way to gain practical experience.
Continuous improvement of your coaching skills is essential. Focus on developing the following key areas:
- Active Listening: Hone your ability to listen actively and understand client needs.
- Questioning Techniques: Learn to ask powerful questions that provoke thought and insight.
- Feedback: Practice giving constructive feedback that motivates and inspires clients.
Specializing in a specific niche can help you stand out in the competitive coaching market. Consider focusing on areas such as:
- Startup Coaching: Helping new entrepreneurs navigate the challenges of starting and growing a business. But make sure they are funded and can afford your services. Beware of working for free or only for equity unless you are truly confident in the prospects of that business.
- Micro and Small Business Coaching: Assisting small business owners with strategies for growth and sustainability.
- Industry-Specific Coaching: Specializing in coaching for specific industries such as technology, professional services, the trades, or finance.
A strong personal brand and online presence are crucial for attracting clients. Create a professional website that showcases your services, expertise, and client testimonials. Utilize platforms like LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter to share valuable content and engage with your audience. Publish blogs, articles, and videos that demonstrate your knowledge and provide value to potential clients.
While networking and building relationships can also help grow your coaching business, setting up your business operations efficiently is also essential in managing your practice effectively. You must create a detailed business plan outlining your goals, target market, and strategies for growth. Choose a legal structure for your business (e.g., sole proprietorship, LLC) and register your business accordingly. Obtain professional liability insurance to protect your business. Invest in tools and software for scheduling, client management, and financial tracking.
Lastly, effective marketing is key to attracting and retaining clients. Optimize your website for search engines to increase visibility. Build an email list and send regular newsletters with valuable content. Showcase success stories and testimonials to build credibility and attract new clients. However, all that is meaningless unless you have a powerful and magnetic Position of Market Dominance… a way of differentiating you from all the other business coaches. We provide our coaches with one so powerful and magnet, business owners eagerly wish to meet with them.
All that I mentioned above are part of what we do in our system, Business Growthology™. We provide you with our proprietary business coaching platform, as well as an online business academy we call PROFITUNIVERSITY™, so it looks like you spent over a million dollars creating it. It was designed to provide you with the option of “enrolling” struggling business owners into a “self-guided”, DIY coaching program where they can receive access to the strategy videos and workbooks our advisors use to train, teach, and coach their one-on-one and group clients to build successful and highly profitable businesses. And best of all, our business center handles all the administration for you… so this program is totally hands-free for you. You charge these clients a small monthly fee ($97 to $397 per month) and begin to build a lucrative passive recurring revenue stream for you and your family. Just 20 online members can generate close to $48,000 in annual passive income for you.
If you are looking to become a successful business coach capable of delivering real measurable results to clients (not empty promises), then contact us. Our advisors are part of one the fastest-growing Business Coaching companies that have advisors operating in the US, Canada, Australia, India, and South America. As part of Business Growthology, they get access to our lead generation, client acquisition, and business advising systems that deliver consistent and predictable results for both our advisors and their clients. Sounds interesting? Let’s have an initial call and see where it takes us.
Scott Lippitt has over 25 years of experience in marketing and advertising for some of the biggest brands in the US, such as Progressive Insurance, Black & Decker, Hallmark, Hershey’s, Arby’s, Dunkin’ Donuts, and Old Spice.
Fifteen years ago, he and his wife Pam got tired of turning millionaires into billionaires (or at the bare minimum, multi-millionaires)… ‘they weren’t that grateful nor were they that generous!” So, they turned their attention from helping Wall Street to helping Main Street.
Now, Scott Lippitt works with small business owners to help them double and even triple their profit while spending little to no additional monies on marketing to do so. He also offers a program that provides advisors, consultants, and coaches with the tools, training, and support to generate a consistent flow of qualified leads and predictably convert those leads into high-paying clients ($440-$1,180 per hour!) To learn more or to contact Scott, go to www.businessgrowthology.com or email info@businessresultants.com.