by Eric Dombach | Business Coaching Systems
I’m guessing that when you began your coaching practice, your goal was freedom.
Free time, free cash flow, freedom of lifestyle, freedom to choose what you do with your life and when you do it, freedom to hang out with the people you want to hang out with, freedom to work with the people you want to work with. You just wanted the freedom that business ownership and entrepreneurship promise.
Now that you’re into your business coaching career, how’s it going?
Many business coaches realize that they spend more time than they wanted working, worrying about where the next new client is coming from, and taking on problem clients just to get the bills paid.
But that freedom is still possible. It just requires some shifts in the way you think about your business.
Why You Need More Leverage
Leverage is commonly defined as “any influence which is compounded or used to gain an advantage.” So with that general definition in mind, I’m gonna share with you my definition of “business leverage.”
In my thinking, business leverage is anything you can use to compound the results of your own personal effort to grow your business for the benefit of all. Notice that I’m saying “compound the results of your own personal effort.” Business leverage is anything you can do to compound, grow, and magnify the results of your own personal effort—and it’s what creates the freedom you crave!
Business leverage is anything you can use to compound the results of your own personal effort to grow your business for the benefit of all.
Now, there are really only two ways that I know of to leverage in business coaching: people and technology. Let’s look at each in turn.
People-Leverage
Back when I was building my first firm, I used people-leverage.
I had seven coaches working for me, delivering these KPIs:
- The average coach produced $214,000 in revenue and took home $107,000 per year.
- There were about 11 clients per coach, and an average sale per month of $1,800.
- There was an average 10-month retention for coaches in their first year.
- The firm generated about 23% operating profit on $1.1 million in sales.
This means that it wasn’t incumbent on me to do all the coaching and selling; I had empowered others to do it on our behalf. I gradually extricated myself from the day-to-day operation of running the firm, and eventually, I was able to sell it for $1 Million. And because they didn’t pay the entire thing in cash up front, it produced a passive income stream for me, while the business continued to produce essentially the same amount of revenue for them—without me!
Technology-Leverage
The other form of leverage that translates to freedom for business coaches is technology-based.
It’s now possible to build a business coaching firm with substantial amounts of revenue based not on your personal coaching production nor the coaching production of associate coaches, but based instead on passive income from things like information products and membership sites.
Once you get these products up and running, they have nothing to do with your personal revenue production day in and day out. It’s going to cost you some cash upfront, typically anywhere from $500 to $5,000 depending on how complicated the product is. It’s also going to cost you some time upfront, could be 20 hours or even 200 hours. But once you get it up and running, and you’ve marketed it effectively, it’s going to produce positive cash flow! That cash flow could be $500 a month, or it could be $5,000 a month, or even $50,000 a month if you’re a real legend at this!
Once you’ve got the initial investment down and the marketing going strong, your Effective Billable Rate is infinite! You’re spending no time, week in and week out, to produce totally passive income—and you’re generating lower-priced clients you can convert to higher-paying clients down the line.
If you want more freedom in your business coaching practice, it’s time to start thinking holistically about business leverage, so that you can create the business and lifestyle that made you choose business coaching in the first place!
by Eric Dombach | Business Coach Marketing
Hands down, the most important thing we’ve ever done to grow the Coaches’ Coach was to launch our membership site.
It allows clients and prospects access to valuable content 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. It builds loyalty, creates massive value, and even supplies our business with a steady stream of hot, ready-to-buy prospects.
Not only that, it’s revolutionized the way I coach.
After all, clients DON’T get results from information. They get results from applying information correctly. When I moved all my coaching online with the Coaches’ Coach membership site, I was able to direct clients to a video training for each specific strategy. Then, instead of using the coaching session to teach the strategy, I helped them apply the strategy to ensure they were getting results.
Once I did this, my clients’ results increased by more than 50%…and my attrition rate dropped by 70%. I went from an average client relationship that lasted 11 months to 18 months or more.
But that wasn’t the only way it revolutionized the Coaches’ Coach.
More Leverage, More Profit
Because of how much easier it is to train our users and members, I was able to launch our Rock Star Coaching Program—which is a cohort-based model that allows us to combine the efficiency of group coaching with the effectiveness of one-on-one coaching.
That’s because members have access to the tools and training they need inside the membership site. Then in our coaching sessions, they come together to apply and receive feedback on what they learned, based on real-world scenarios in their actual businesses. In this case, the group is an added benefit—being with other coaches at about the same stage of business growth as they are helps them feel more connected and engaged!
PLUS, with the curriculum fully in place, we’re able to bring on additional Certified Coaches’ Coaches (well-qualified, of course), without experiencing a drop-off in results or quality of training.
It’s been a game-changer.
Now clients are with us for a longer length of time and getting better results—while my Certified Coaches’ Coaches and I spend less time coaching, with more consistent quality.
More clients, who are with us for a longer length of time, getting better results—while my Certified Coaches' Coaches and I spend less time coaching, with more consistent quality.
That’s a recipe for scalability, stability, and increased profits.
There are several ways you can do it, from out-of-the-box options with someone else’s curriculum to fully custom sites featuring your exclusive IP. But whatever you choose, if you don’t have a business coaching membership site yet, it’s time to get one.
And, of course, you should check out our membership site! Learn how to take your practice to the next level with our Rock Star Coaching Program.
by Eric Dombach | Business Coaching Systems
Remember the Wright Brothers? You know, the guys who invented the world’s first airplane?
Well, back in 1903 the race was on all around the world to invent the first plane that could fly. Most people became utterly obsessed with “the engine.” People started building larger and larger engines with more and more horsepower and strapping them to planes, while completely ignoring the aerodynamics and the wings.
Well, this resulted in some of the fanciest and most powerful engines the world had ever seen, but it also resulted in planes that couldn’t get off the ground.
They were great to look at, but completely useless.
The Wright Brothers took a different approach. While the whole world was obsessed with engines, the Wright Brothers were obsessed with aerodynamics. They focused first on a plane that could glide WITHOUT an engine.
When they had the recipe right, they strapped an ordinary engine to it, and VOILA! The world’s first airplane was invented!
Now, I want you to pause for a moment and let this next point really sink in because it’s a big one and it’s almost the exact opposite of what everybody else out there is feeding you. Today in the business coaching industry we are repeating history all over again, like the obsession with putting engines on airplanes that can’t fly.
What Does this Have to Do with Business Coaching?
Most business coaches are totally obsessed with the hottest new online traffic sources and trendiest social media tricks, while completely overlooking their need for a predictable, proven system for converting their leads and coaching their clients.
Most business coaches are obsessed and frenzied over the latest new Facebook ads feature, the trendiest new way to retarget people, or the latest webinar software, when in reality they’re just strapping a larger and more powerful engine onto a fundamentally flawed plane.
They have no idea how to convert the leads they already get or coach them successfully.
First you have to focus on the “aerodynamics” of business coaching. And that boils down to two things:
1). A predictable, proven process for generating and converting quality leads.
2). A predictable, proven process for coaching those clients into raving fans.
That’s it.
Because in the end, it comes down to this. If you can’t predictably generate and convert leads and coach those clients into raving fans, then you don’t have a business and never will.
What it Takes to Win
If you’re not making the income that you want in your business coaching practice then let me ask you these two very simple questions:
1) How many Complimentary Coaching Sessions did you do in the last 7 days?
2) What did you do in the last 7 days to schedule Complimentary Coaching Sessions?
You see, in the business coaching game it’s easy to get distracted by all sorts of activities and new shiny objects, but the cold reality is that you need to do these two things above everything else. The rock stars in the business coaching game, the players with 6- and 7-figure incomes and true wealth have a predictable method for converting and coaching clients.
While the rest are out there watching the latest new marketing gimmick video, or reading every new business opportunity that comes into their email bin, or applying for another credit card to cover the bills since things aren’t working out, the rock stars are quietly, consistently spending their time and money generating Complimentary Coaching Sessions and closing their prospects into clients so they can bank $10k, $20k, $30k, or more, every single month. Then they are looking for business coaches that they can hire to help them consume the demand that they’ve created.
Bottom line? Be like the Wright Brothers! Focus on the fundamentals and the rest will soar.
by Eric Dombach | Business Coach Training
These days, you can look around and see lots of people calling themselves “coaches.” They’re spiritual gurus in your Instagram feed. They’re self-help experts touting ways to achieve enlightenment, maximization, or peak performance. They have get-rich-quick or heal-yourself pills, potions, and processes. But there’s a huge difference between coaches like these—practicing what we might broadly term “life coaching”—and business coaching. Let’s explore.
The Similarities
First, let’s look at the similarities. Any kind of coaching, from athletics to business to life, has some degree of overlap. For example:
- Coaching is goal- and outcome-oriented. Whether it’s winning a championship or overcoming a personal challenge, coaching relationships tend to be outcome-driven (vs. more open-ended, “process-driven” relationships such as therapy).
- Coaches provide frameworks. From offensive and defensive schemes in sports to our own 21 Silver Bullets, most coaches provide education and theoretical frameworks to help clients improve in their targeted goal areas.
- Coaches meet clients where they are in order to give individual feedback. There’s a reason folks hire a coach instead of simply reading books or taking online courses. Coaches help their clients apply the educational frameworks to their specific situations, providing feedback that accelerates results.
- Coaches hold clients accountable. Ask any coaching client, and they’ll tell you that one of the most important reasons to hire a coach is the accountability piece. Lots of people know what they should do. Actually doing it sometimes requires extra help.
So what are the key differences?
Difference 1: The Content
First, the content for business coaching is different from life coaching. As I’ve stated elsewhere, “Business coaching is empowering entrepreneurs with awareness, education, and accountability. This happens through powerful mentoring relationships between coaches and clients. Business coaches offer their clients the awareness of possibilities, education in business best practices, and accountability for execution. The result is the transformation of client companies into profitable, life-enriching investments.”
In other words, the coach and client come together to solve a particular type of challenge—business challenges—and the content is focused on business best practices.
Life coaching, on the other hand, is more about personal counseling, troubleshooting, and personal growth. Folks come with particular challenges in their personal lives or looking for ways to improve themselves, and life coaches help them reach their goals.
As business coaches, we’re people working with people, and so of course personal challenges sometimes come up. But as business coaches our primary objective is to help our clients’ businesses thrive and to analyze personal challenges in light of their impact on business.
As business coaches, we're people working with people, and so of course personal challenges sometimes come up. But as business coaches our primary objective is to help our clients' businesses thrive and to analyze personal challenges in light of their impact on business.
Difference 2: The Value Proposition
The value proposition between business coaching and life coaching is different as well. As business coaches, our results are concrete. Does the coaching lead to increased profits or not? Do the strategies, best practices, and accountability processes actually lead to a better, more streamlined, more profitable business or don’t they?
Results with life coaching, on the other hand, are more subjective. Does a person feel better? Do they perceive themselves as being more effective or resilient?
While improvements to a client’s business can also have positive impacts like helping a person feel better and more effective, these are secondary results, not the primary outcomes we’re pursuing in a business coaching relationship with a client.
Difference 3: The Relationship
Finally, the relationship between business coaches and life coaches has to do with the nature of the relationship between client and coach.
The relationship between business coaches and their clients remains professional: you are professionals, working together as professionals on professional challenges.
Almost by definition, life coaches tend to delve into deep, significant personal issues with their clients (it’s a common enough theme that questions have been raised about the relationship between life coaching and mental health services such as therapy, and if/how life coaching should be regulated accordingly).
While it’s possible and appropriate to develop meaningful relationships and friendships with business coaching clients, the nature of the relationship is significantly different because it’s framed around different kinds of conversations.
So What?
Both business coaching and life coaching can be rewarding, lucrative professions. But it’s important to understand the differences so that you can pursue the path that will help you reach your professional goals. Occasionally, we’ve had life coaches check out our program only to realize our content isn’t right for them. That’s because the Coaches’ Coach is specifically designed to help business coaches launch, grow, and scale profitable practices.
by Eric Dombach | How to Become a Business Coach
Whenever I get a chance to talk to new business coaches, I warn them about the most serious mistake I’ve seen others make.
OVER-COMMITTING.
Sometimes this comes from unscrupulous business coaching franchises or other “self-help” gurus that say you need to “burn the ships” and commit yourself by “investing” huge sums of money and quitting your day job. These folks will argue that is the only viable approach for anyone “serious” about becoming a business coach. However, nothing could be further from the truth!
This approach is ONLY good if you’re a career business executive with a large net worth, have just lost your job, and you WANT to commit to something new as quickly as humanly possible.
That’s because it requires time, learning, and most of all money to launch and grow a business coaching firm.
Don’t Be Like This Guy
Here’s what can happen to new business coaches if you OVER-COMMIT by investing too high a percentage of your net worth or quitting your day job too early.
If you run low on working capital because it takes you longer than you expected to succeed, you’ll end up with a very bad case of “sales breath” — that subtle, repulsive sense of economic desperation that actually repels the very clients you so desperately need.
You’ll end up putting yourself under extraordinary mental and emotional stress as you work yourself to the bone to recover your investment and get your business up and running before you totally deplete your remaining cash reserves…
As you get closer and closer to running out of cash, it will become harder and harder to attract clients because of your beleaguered and desperate mental and emotional state…
And, eventually, no matter how strong you are, you’ll simply give up on your coaching business and on your dream lifestyle.
Listen: this is not what I want for you, and I know it’s not what you desire for yourself.
What to Do Instead
Here’s the secret I say to new business coaches: do some math and make a level of financial commitment that allows you at least two years to learn the business of business coaching before you expect to earn a living from it.
Simply start the business part-time if you’ve got a stable full-time job and begin the process of learning the coaching business WITHOUT a huge outlay of capital so you don’t have such intense pressure to quickly recover your investment…
Do some math and make a level of financial commitment that allows you at least two years to learn the business of business coaching before you expect to earn a living from it. Simply start the business part time if you've got a stable full-time job and begin the process of learning the coaching business WITHOUT a huge outlay of capital so you don't have such intense pressure to quickly recover your investment.
When you avoid OVER-COMMITTING, you never have to worry about the dangers of burning out or going broke…
Just imagine what your life will look like when you make an appropriate level of commitment!
You’ll wake up every morning, knowing that you’ve got as much runway as you need to learn all you need to know about the business of business coaching…
You’ll have an appropriate amount of cash set aside to develop and refine marketing campaigns that will bring your ideal clients to you quickly and easily…
And, you’ll have supreme confidence in your ability to convert leads to clients because you can pour yourself into building relationships with your dream prospects without being in a rush and exhibiting the nasty “sales breath” that’s so common among your competitors…
The benefits of this simple tip continue to astound me because it’s worked so well for the thousands I’ve given it to over the years.
Work hard, work smart, and build this thing in a sustainable way.
You got this!
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