Build a Brave Business #1
As you notice from the post title, I have gone for understatement. This is the start of the down and dirty for your business. The guidance is directed towards coaches because I am a coach frustrated with the lack of thorough, usable, business-based guidance for coaches. Yet, what you will read here is applicable to psychotherapists and service-based solopreneurs.
I’m not selling magic, or positive thinking, or anything, come to think of it. All the guidance and tools in this series are free, to legal extent.
I’m teaching you to get your coaching business off the ground, how to measure its progress, identify pitfalls, show you the tools you need, when you need them, and what you do not need. I’ll borrow and share what I admire from the web, books or personal advice. If I really want or need something that doesn’t exist, I’ll create it myself. No reinventing the wheel. In fact, it is so crucial to manage your time well, I’ll often say “good enough”. Perfect is not the goal. A thriving business based on your insights and creativity is.
Why a ‘Brave’ business? Simple. Because that’s who you are.
It took bravery to return for an MSW or take coach training, and the call does not end there. Maggie Craddock, successful coach, consultant and all-around decent human recently said, “In the past it was enough to be smart and work hard. Now, to have a great career, you need to be brave.”
You, like my career coaching clients, want a great career. You recognized in yourself a desire to help others make change and have experienced the powerful sense of satisfaction as reward. Now you’re considering starting your own business, which according to Seth Godin is the new hard work.
How do we start?
- The fastest way for me to cut through the noise out there is to talk to people who have been coaching for 1, 3, 5, 10 years and ask about their experiences. The results will be posted here.
- At the same time, I’ll post to “Build a Brave Business”. The posts will cover stages of business, diagnostic questions to allow you to identify where you are, the tools most needed for that stage, and questions to prod yourself forward.
What questions do you want answered most by coaches and solo-preneurs? What kinds of tools perplex the most? Comment with your questions and I’ll go get answers.