Mini Challenge Day 2: Bulletproof Your Coaching Business
You Have To Know Where You’re At Right Now To Measure Growth & Figure Out What You Should Be Working On
Are you ready to take your coaching business through this period I am calling Code Red for survival? In order to get some explosive growth later when we get to Code Green?
Great.
Maybe you are one of the coaches who had already started working online in which case you may be surviving quite well even in these crazy times. You are in what I call Code Orange. But if you had not made the transition and your coaching work has been very much focused around one to one, personal time together it is definitely time for a rethink. So before you start to plot and plan what you want to do to get to Code Green and having the thriving coaching business you dream of, doing what you love and making more than enough money for your lifestyle it’s important to stop and look at where you’re at right now.
Are you at Code Red — income dwindling away as your clients pull back into their survival mode?
Code Orange — a dip in income and no immediate prospect of new paying clients but not wiped out?
Code Green — coaching business taking off and many new niches, opportunities and markets opening up to you?
Business planning for future success is all about data. You can work most efficiently and spend your time and money most effectively if you know exactly where you are starting from. By recording data, you can start to see what’s working, what isn’t, and what trends are starting to play out. And it all starts with recording where you’re at right now.
Let’s take a look at some of the things you want to record. First though, you should decide how you want to record this information. You can write it down by hand in a notebook, open up a word document to do it digitally, or use a spreadsheet. I prefer a spreadsheet because I have the option to have it calculate additional information like weekly and monthly averages and even map it all out in graphics to help me get a clearer picture. I’m not great at using spreadsheets but that level of use is pretty simple and it helps.
Traffic — Where are your clients coming from? Coaching work requires different marketing methods to many other businesses and so referral and word of mouth are usually a coach’s best friend. Look back and write down what has worked for you in the past. Website, network, word of mouth, referral campaign….
List / Subscribers — How many people do you have on your database who have been clients in the past? Who are they? What are they doing now? Your next goal is always the people who already know like and trust you. You may also start to see what is common amongst these people — type of issue, type of work, gender, age, how long they stayed with you…..
Income & Expenses — Last but not least, look at your bottom line. This is your typical accounting data. You want to keep track of your income as well as your expenses. Even if your income is rock bottom right now you need to get this recorded but do it in a way that you can plot it against what you did make before. That way you will get a good sense of how much you need to be bringing in again to get part certain milestones. I find it helpful to look at profit for the month, but track income on a daily basis. This is a good time to do these kind of forsensic explorations of your business while it is quieter if you are in Code red or Orange.
Keep your mindset resilient and optimistic. There are good opportunities coming out of this crisis and we will find many ways to get you to Code Green.
Now that you have your initial data collection set up, make it a habit to update the numbers regularly so you can see what’s working, what isn’t and we move through the next two vital months.
Just imagine if the next 5 years is like the last 5 years? How are you keeping your self financially secure, happy and living your life of purpose helping people succeed?
Elizabeth specializes in helping you Get Your Coaching Business Back On Track. Sign up for her highly-acclaimed free challenges and webinars to find out how to FutureProof your Coaching business.
“Yes please, I’d love to find out more …..”
https://forms.aweber.com/form/76/1704509576.htm
