Mistakes to Avoid With Your
Coaching Practice


Do you want to avoid making mistakes?  If yes, you’ll want to read this blog post. In this article, I will show you mistakes to avoid when starting a coaching practice so that you can build a business that is profitable. I’ll then show you where you can get the skills to run a successful coaching practice that attracts the right clients.

Many people set out to start a coaching practice with excitement, and in their zeal make costly mistakes. To be successful in the coaching business, one needs to do it the right way and engage professionals who can help them acquire the right skills.

Coaching others brings transformation to the lives of others. As a life coach, you can find deep fulfillment as well as honor God by effectively bringing out the best in those you work with.

“As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” Proverbs 27:17

By treating your coaching practice as a business, and employing best business practices, you will get it right the first time. You don’t have to be perfect, only be willing to start. Your job is to show up, learn all you can, pray and then watch what God can do with your willing heart.  

As you learn what you need to do, it’s also important to understand potential pitfalls if you don’t guard yourself from these critical 6 mistakes.

Avoid These 6 Mistakes


1. Treating your coaching practice as a hobby and not a business

A coaching practice is a business, not a hobby. It may be something you love doing but you have to take it seriously if it is to bring in a profit. Many people start a coaching practice without learning how to operate it as a real business. They are good with mastering the coaching side but struggle with the operations, accounting, sales and marketing.

It’s important to learn business skills so that you can have a thriving coaching practice that gives you a good income. When you take your coaching practice seriously, others will too. Begin to see yourself as a business person who does work that is life changing.

2. Trying to offer your coaching services to everyone

Many new coaches make the mistake of trying to offer their coaching services to everyone without much success. Not everyone can be your client because you have not been wired to serve all people in the world.

Offering your services to a selected niche will help you narrow down your focus and become the best at what you do. For example, if a corporate professional wants coaching to become more confident, he or she will greatly benefit from a coach who can help with that particular problem.

When you become a general practitioner, you can’t offer specialized services that will solve your clients’ problems. This may feel like it is limiting, but it is not. Find a niche that works and offer them packages that solve their unique problems.

3. Expecting the business to sell itself

There are coaches who start a practice and expect their business will sell itself without any marketing effort. The truth is that clients will not just come to your coaching practice. You need to create awareness of what you do. Then you will attract your ideal client, someone who wants your service as much as you enjoy working with them.

As a coach with a new business, you need to position yourself so the right clients who will benefit from your services can find you.

Attend networking events and talk about your business to let others know what you offer. Make use of business cards and your social media to market your practice to potential clients. Being specific in the services you offer will help your potential clients connect with you faster.

4. Not having a value proposition

When you don’t know the value you offer your clients, you will only tell them that you can coach them, but never specifically about what.  

You may have heard life coaches telling others they can coach them on any area in life, and the prospective clients smile and that is the end of the conversation. Clients need to know exactly what value you offer them with your coaching skills. How can you help them solve their one big problem that’s keeping them up at night?

The truth is that people don’t wake up thinking, “I think I’ll hire a life coach today.” Instead, your ideal client has a burning problem they need help with and they are looking for the best person to work with.

Having a value proposition means that you identify the problem you are helping your clients solve. Then you effectively communicate it to them.

When your potential clients recognize that you provide their answer, you will not struggle to sell your coaching services. In fact, they may come to you willing to pay for your services because they need you.

COMING SOON IN THE CCLC PROGRAM ... New Training on how to control your thoughts so they create manageable emotions, better behaviors / actions and amazing results.

5. Trying to be perfect before starting

There is the temptation to wait until you feel ready to make a move and start a coaching practice. There will never be a right time, and as long as you have received training, you can go ahead and open your coaching practice.

“If you wait for perfect conditions, you will never get anything done.”  ~ Ecclesiastes 11:4

As you work, you’ll get better at coaching and keep improving on your services. It is not until you begin serving your clients that you’ll know where to tweak your services to better suit the needs of your clients.

After coaching a number of clients, take stock of what works and what doesn’t, and make the necessary changes. Once you see how clients respond to your coaching, you can customize your services in a way that gives great results to those who patronize your business.

6. Not having a coach

A mistake that some coaches make is thinking they don’t need a coach because they are in the business. What they don’t understand is that a coach will help them work through their issues and this will help them become better coaches. They will understand first-hand how their clients feel when being coached.

A good way to receive coaching affordably is to partner with fellow students in your coaching class. (Be sure to participate in the free, private forum we now offer for students and graduates of the CCLC/CPLC class.)

Group members can trade coaching services with each other for free. You can also request a group member to become a practicum client for you, while you can do the same for them. I encourage you to keep in touch with your classmates after your training. Make use of their services so each of you can become a better coach.

Next Steps:

Avoid the six mistakes listed here and see your coaching practice soar and reach higher heights. My goal is for you to offer the very best coaching services to your clients and watch them fulfill their calling too.

I encourage you to participate in the best training available at Certified Christian Life Coach & Certified Professional Life Coach (2 certificates for one course).  In this CCLC/ CPLC course, you will also learn to identify the type of Christian coaching to which you have been called, and then how to start your own practice. Enroll today.

© 2020 Leelo Bush, PhD, All rights reserved.

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