A few widespread myths cause coaches, who are setting up a practice, headaches, problems, maybe a few tears here and there, and in the worst-case force, to stop doing what they love to do.

It’s time to bust these myths for good and give every entrepreneur putting themselves out there the best chance to build an aligned and prosperous business.

“I don’t know what I want to become – I think I’ll study economics. This gives me so many options, so I don’t have to decide just yet” said the silly 18-year old me back when bright colors and mullets were actually cool…

To be honest this was not even my idea. I wanted to be… maybe an architect or an interior designer. Something where I could create things and work with structure.

But then life in the person of my parents crossed my romantic views about these two choices and I decided to “be on the safe side” 😮  .
(Honestly, where did I get this idea from???)

Fast forward 2 years: My enthusiasm with economics is less than lukewarm and I have to decide on my majors – how could that happen so fast?

Well, there is really only one topic, that I am excited about: marketing and diving into how people tick, why they buy, what triggers their behavior…

Unfortunately, the professor in Passau where I study at the time (yes, this is the little Bavarian town with 3 rivers and 300 boats shipping international tourists down the Danube) is all set on calculating selling curves and his curriculum does not sound exciting at all.

Anyway, marketing products seems a bit boring, so I want to learn everything about marketing services and get a good dose of customer psychology…

I set out to find the best University to study services marketing – turns out, not many even focus on this niche.

Not until years later did I understand that I followed a golden rule of customer behavior without being aware of it:

You can’t know all about a special immune disease if you’re not aware of how our immune system works… (I know, this is not very precise, but I’m no expert on this one 😉  )

And still, most coaches starting their health or life coaching biz, think it’s enough to have the certification and hang up their sign (may it be physical or virtual) and clients will come.

They could not be further from the truth!

So, in this article, I want to address a few myths that are widespread and cause coaches, who set up a practice, head-aches, problems, maybe a few tears here and there and in the worst case having to stop doing what they love to do.

I think it’s time to bust these myths for good and give every entrepreneur out there the best chance to build an aligned and prosperous business.

Shall we?

Yes, you do. Because it will make everything easier.

Without picking a niche, you don’t even know, who you are talking to. And chances are good, that your message will not appeal to anyone, because:

• You either don’t understand their situation
• You don’t know about their aspirations, goals, and hopes
• You don’t know what they need.

Believe me. Getting clear about these things is difficult enough when you know who you want to serve…

Clients, who don’t care who will take care of their health and how are probably not inclined to pay extra or even a premium price to get your help.

You might be awesome in what you do, but how would the right people even know?

Plus, niching down will also help you gain clarity about what exactly you do.

You can’t niche without getting super-specific and this clears up your target group, your offer(s), and your messaging.

Boom.

That is devastating.

Are you solving a specific problem? If yes, do you put this at the forefront of your communication? And is this a problem your ideal clients need to solve? 

If not, it is time to niche down!

I know, I know, picking a niche sounds strenuous and not like a lot of fun, but I created a process around it, that actually is fun – because it also takes you into account.

Get the niching workbook (with checklist) here:
(You will see, how much easier your marketing gets after picking a niche!)

You just got your certification and are a bit lost about how to set up your practice?

You learned everything about how to help your clients, but not about how to get them… 🤔

So, you spend some time on the internet to see what others are doing. If it works for them, why not you?

Fair enough! But…

• How do you know, it works for them?
• Why would the world need another coach just like the one you are about to copy – it’s not like cookie cutters and the more cute easter bunnies we create the better…
• And is this even what you want to do and why you started your coaching certification?
• And – taking a step back – do you understand from your message what you are doing? I mean… exactly, in detail?

Aha, I suppose I got you thinking (or you already got a really awesome positioning – why are you even reading this again? 😉 )

Beware of buzz words!

One, that is floating around in the coaching space for a while is “transformational coach”. It all started years back when coaches learned that transformation is key.

Being specific about what the transformation looks like is key. In a way, that speaks to the deepest hopes and wishes of the people you want to work with. It has to paint a picture in your ideal client’s head, that is desirable.

Sounds good right? You’ll get to do what you love and getting paid for it!

But this is often a fallacy. Because this decision is made from an inside-out perspective. And there are tons of heart-felt desires out there that are really just a hobby or have a very small potential customer base.

It is so easy to fall in love with our ideas. The more we work on an idea and the more we turn it around in our head the shinier it often gets.

But we need a reality check!

And this reality check is called market research. Talking to people that fit our idea of an ideal client, getting to know if our idea hits a nerve, offers something they think is worth paying for…

If you realize that after talking to say a dozen people in your ideal target group, maybe one might be thinking about being interested… Reevaluate!

It might not even be the offer itself, it could also be a right offer to the wrong person or your messaging does not hit a nerve.

But you need to get data before you start your business and put all your hopes on what your heart tells you. Because for business decisions our heart can be treacherous…

Just starting to niche? Or do you want to make sure the niche you picked is worth your time?

Well, aren’t you a lucky duck, because with my niching checklist-style workbook you are all covered.

Get it here:

In the coaching market, there are so many people around that want to sell you their system. Which might work – or not – or not for you!

Mostly it comes with fantastic testimonials about their students earning huge amounts of money, making their investment back within days or weeks.

I don’t want to say this isn’t possible, but I looked at a lot of systems offered and there is always substantial work involved.

But when these systems are sold to you they give the impression that it is super easy. 1,2,3 and you are done, up and running, and raking the dollars in…

It’s not that the systems don’t work. What they don’t tell you is that it can take a lot longer than they make it appear and that it might not work for everyone.

And this is because of the personal component. There might be tasks involved you are not good at, or you might even excel at doing them, but you hate it more every time you have to force yourself to do it.

The biggest problem I see with this is that it might make the coaches who are not successful with one of these systems feeling like a failure.

Because it is painted as being so easy.

But success does not come overnight.

I’ve been an entrepreneur for about 20 years and I ventured in different areas, founded more than one business, and even in the businesses where the clients were there from the start, I had other areas where I struggled.

I had to catch up on skills and learn about all areas of entrepreneurship, even nowadays I encounter something new every few weeks or months (that is if I’m lucky).

I bought into “100% success guaranteed” systems that did not work for me, others I just put aside because I hated the details and they did not align with how I want to lead my business.

So yes, success can come fast, but it normally does not come overnight, and we have to put the effort in and be aware that new struggles will show up.

That’s why it is so important to build a business that is aligned with your values and that you build a solid foundation because from there you can grow.

P.S.: Got questions? Just send me a quick email and I might write my next blog article on it…

Photo by     Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash