This is a guest post written by Melissa Cartew. Want to contribute? Check out the 2018 publishing calendar. 

Coaching has become a really big thing in recent years. More and more specialists from different fields strive to build their own coaching business to share their experience and knowledge with other people and make it a stable source of income. When you are launching your company, you have to make important decisions every step of the way and it is important to understand that each decision will influence the success of your enterprise in the future!

How not to miss out your business opportunity? What mistakes to avoid? In this post, we will talk about the top seven vital decisions that can ruin your plans and lead to a complete failure of your enterprise and discuss how to avoid making a wrong choice!

What mistakes can destroy your business?

There are many obvious mistakes that aspiring entrepreneurs make and below you will find out more about the seven biggest ones that you should avoid to establish yourself as a great coach with a flawless reputation.

1. Not writing a business plan

Having a good plan is a must! Of course, it can be quite challenging to create it for an aspiring entrepreneur, but luckily, you can easily find many helpful tips on writing out a comprehensive business plan on the internet. You can also opt to use a free template to get you started on writing your business plan

You can also enlist the help of a professional business plan writing service, to get professional help on your business plan 

2. Not creating a good website

It does not matter if you are planning to create online classes or webinars or if you just want to focus just on one-on-one coaching sessions – in any case, having a well-designed and user-friendly website is always important.

For any business, the website is like a calling card but in a digital format. Besides, when your potential clients are searching for suitable opportunities online, they will not be able to see you or talk to you, and thus, your site is exactly what creates a long-lasting first impression.

3. Talking more than listening

Of course, coaching requires certain leadership skills from you that would help keep your audience interested when you are saying something. However, being a good listener is one of the essential qualities of a successful coach. Therefore, you should find a perfect balance between talking and listening. You need to listen to every customer and try to understand the feelings of each – this way you will be able to find an individual approach to everyone and, as a result, build a brilliant coaching career.

4. Not identifying your target audience

You can be a passionate coach with vast experience, but you should understand that any business requires some professional marketing and it should start with identifying your “ideal client.”

You have to determine your niche and target audience beforehand, otherwise, you risk making lots of mistakes that can lead to a failure - such as creating marketing campaigns that have no target audience, which can cost a fortune with no real benefit or being too vague in your message that it doesn't resonate with anyone.

You have to feel comfortable and enjoy providing a specific type of information to a particular type of client – only in this case will you have a chance to succeed.

5. Not growing professionally and personally

Everything requires practice, be it a hobby or job, and that is why it is important to constantly work on self-improvement to become a better professional.

Being a great coach means you are constantly learning, growing and improving both as an individual and as a professional every day – this will help you reach your goals faster and help your clients in the best possible way.

6. Not finding a personal approach

All of your clients are different people with different personalities, backgrounds and needs - meaning that each of them may require a slightly different approach. You have to be flexible and always look for alternative methodic that would work for every client who comes to you.

Of course, it's not uncommon for coaches to have specific programs and packages for their coaching services - but this doesn't mean that you have to take a cookie-cutter approach with every person. 

7. Not being a role model

No matter what niche you have chosen for your coaching career, you have to be a role model for your clients. For example, if you are teaching your audience how to increase the popularity of their social network pages, having your own page with a decent number of followers is a must, as it will show your clients that you really know what you are talking about. 

Sharing your knowledge and expertise in concrete ways will show your clients that you are well-informed and able to help them and can attract other potential clients who are looking for answers to their own challenges.

About Melissa Cartew

Melissa Cartew is a competent essay writer and a qualified educator.  She enjoys traveling, painting, and  discovering the world. Her motto is “If you believe, you can achieve".