Not long after hanging your new coaching certificate on the wall, you probably realized that starting and running a coaching business required more expertise than any one person has.
That needed expertise can only be obtained two ways: time or money. Throughout the life of your business you’ll need to be withdrawing capital from one or the other. If your time is tight, you’ll have to hire expert help. If money is scarce, you’ll have to figure out how to do most things yourself.
In an ideal world, you would have both tons of time and oodles of money. Just in case you haven’t noticed, we do not live in that ideal world. Thus like me, you probably have more of one than the other.
With that truth staring you in the eye, you are faced with three choices. (Many new coaches think there are four choices. Don’t make that mistake. There are only three.)
- You can build a dream team of professionals who will perform the necessary tasks of running a business for you.
- You can become your own dream team (and think how smart you will be once you learn all those things – very impressive!)
- You can use a combination of the above.
- The Anti-Choice: You can pretend that your coaching business will magically grow on its own just because you really, really want it to. (Thankfully, you are too smart to think this is a viable option.
The three choices: time, money or a combination of both. Which one will it be for you?
Whichever option you choose, here is the dream team every coach needs and the best options for using either your time or your money.
A Coach’s Dream Team
Attorney/Legal Help – Why do you need legal help? Because you want to make the government happy (and sleep better at night) by creating your business lawfully.
Time: Many coaches successfully research all the necessary requirements using the Internet and file for incorporation on their own.
Money: For other coaches the peace of mind that comes through using an attorney is well worth the expense.
Combination: If you feel comfortable with it, you can use an online legal service such as LegalZoom.com.
Graphic Designer – Many new coaches want a professional logo and additional branded marketing materials, such as business cards and brochures.
Time: Are you naturally creative and artistic with a flair for design? For you, designing your logo and marketing materials may be fun.
Money: If you aren’t artistic, please get professional help. It’s better to have no logo at all than to have a less than professional look. People can tell the difference.
Combination: You can use an online service such as http://www.logomaker.com/ which will guide you through the process of making your own logo. Or you could hire a budding professional who is eager to get experience at any price at http://fiverr.com/, where prices start at just $5.00.
Web Designer – Having a professional website is a must for any coach. Even if you market your business face-to-face, people will go home and check out your website to make sure you are credible.
Time: There are some beautiful “plug and play” WordPress.org website templates on the market that allow complete novices to build professional looking websites. Be warned, even DIY websites can involve a learning curve.
Money: You can hire a web designer to make a customized site, but the cost may run into the thousands of dollars.
Combination: Some of the WordPress.org template sites such as http://www.woothemes.com/ have a service that will help you get their prebuilt website up and running for you.
Copy Writer – Your web copy is very important, and writing compelling web copy is harder than it looks.
Time: The Internet is full of blogs that will teach you how to write great web copy for free.
Money: There are lots of professional copy writers who would love to help you communicate the benefits of coaching to your web visitors.
Combination: You can take a copy writing course which will benefit you now and throughout your business career.
Virtual Assistant – Most marketing activities can be maximized through use of the Internet. Marketing online is one of the cheapest ways to reach your target audience.
Time: Posting blogs, writing newsletters, setting up email campaigns and more are all activities you can learn to do and that you can continue to do throughout the life of your business.
Money: I couldn’t afford my VA when I hired her, but I knew that if I hired her it would give me more time… more time to market, which meant more clients, which would hopefully pay her bills. I agonized over this decision for more than a year. I wish I hadn’t. She more than paid for herself within the few two months.
Most virtual assistants can perform any Internet related function that you need done, and they can do it in about ¼ the time it would take for you and me.
Ask yourself this question: What client (and revenue) generating activities would I be doing if I had a VA?
Combination: Most VA’s work by the hour, so it’s up to you how much work you do on your own and how much you decide to delegate.
Bookkeeper – Thankfully, coaching businesses don’t use math on a regular basis. (If they did, I would have gone out of business a long time ago.) But we do have to keep track of expenses, profits and pay taxes.
Time: Bookkeeping isn’t hard to do – it just takes time.
Money: Hire a bookkeeper. This is the one member of my dream team that I’ve yet to hire, but I am longing for the day when I can throw Quick Books away.
Combination: Use bookkeeping software such as Quick Books or a free online accounting system such as http://waveaccounting.com/.
Coach – The number of coaches who don’t have a coach always surprises me. I know you can’t afford one, but you know that having one will make you more successful and your business more profitable in the long run. What are you waiting for?
The Poor Man’s Dream Team
I couldn’t afford a single member of my dream team when I graduated from coach training school. The bank account was dry, so I had no choice but to put in whatever time it took to get my business off the ground, and it took A LOT of time.
Like most coaches, I had other things to do with that time. I needed to work, cook, clean, do ministry, run errands and more.
I felt stuck because I didn’t have $40-100 an hour to pay for professional help no matter how much I needed it.
Then it occurred to me that I could ‘buy’ myself more time to work on my business if I had less busy work to do in the other areas of my life. It was brilliant.
For less than $10 an hour, I hired a teenage girl to run all my errands, cook some meals and clean the house. I immediately gained 4-6 hours a week. It was priceless, yet cheap.
If you can’t afford professional business help, what other things can you delegate to give yourself more time to do what needs to be done? Pray about it, and get creative.
God is not stuck :). He has a way for you to do what He is calling you to do.
Take time now to honestly evaluate your resources and your needs. Where is your bottleneck? Do you have time to learn how to do it and then do it yourself? If not, hire it out. But whatever you do, don’t assume that because this is important it will somehow get done on its own.
What members of the coach’s dream team have I overlooked? Leave a comment and let us know.
You are so creative! Your final section on the poor man’s dream team is an interesting alternative to find more time. I like it. Thanks for sharing your experiences Kim.
Marrying well has been a huge asset in building my team (and for LOTS of other reasons). My wife is skilled bookeeper who runs her own business as a photographer. That provides me with a graphic designer AND someone to watch my finances.
In the earliest days of my business, my teenage brother in law who was living with us was a great errand runner, chore do-er and even social media assistant. It cost me next to nothing, but it was a nice incentive for him.
When I read your posts, I feel like we are sitting alone together at a coffee shop, just chatting and getting to know each other better…Thank you for the personal touch!
This is the comment I’m “chewing on” for now. Yes, it is brilliant, Kim. It’s got me thinkin’
Thanks, Pam. You are such an encourager – I appreciate you sharing your encouraging words with me 🙂
OK. (This is part TWO of my comment. lol) THIS is the comment I’m chewing on for now. I cut and then I guess I forgot to paste the comment. So here it is: “Then it occurred to me that I could ‘buy’ myself more time to work on my business if I had less busy work to do in the other areas of my life. It was brilliant.” THAT was brilliant. So, thinking of how to apply that…