Even you’re not seeking funding for the upcoming coaching business you’re about to launch, creating a business plan is a vital element for the success of your endeavour.

You may be tempted to skip this step and jump right into the business building phase but the business plan will be a great way to bring together all your disparate ideas (I bet you have quite a few laying around!) and formulate a solid foundation for your business.

In this article, I’ll share my top 5 tips to follow before creating a business plan for your online coaching practice that works for you.  

Conduct Market Research 

Statistics show that most online businesses fail in their first year of trading. Why? The reason is a lack of market research (understanding your niche, creating offers that solve your clients’ problems and positioning) and lack of experience. You might have the best business idea on the planet, but unless you’re in a very profitable niche, already have an audience your can tap into and you set it up in the right way, it’s doomed to fail. 

The good news is that market research doesn’t have to be a grind; it’s all about reframing your attitude to the task at hand. You can literally do market research on any fields, any industry, any country, any niche from the confort of your own office or home . For every problem in any niche, there’s an opportunity to do market research, identify competitors, identify gaps in the market and gather information for your SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Threats and Opportunities).

Whether you’re a wellness coach helping women improve their business following their natural cycles, a business coaching helping serial entrepreneurs to grow their business portfolio with fast food companies for sale or a life coach helping HR professional to leave their 9-5 corporate jobs to host yoga retreats around the world; Whatever your industry, I guarantee you’ll be able to find information for market research and the data you’ll gather will strengthen your business at its foundations.  

Identify Your Ideal Coaching Client

Knowing your ideal client (understanding their issues, knowing where they’re at and the
transformation they’re desperately seeking) is an important step when setting up a business.

Over the years, it’s an exercise that I’ve been doing over and over again for my own business and with my corporate and coaching clients. You may know it as a customer avatar or buyer persona.

Remember to pick just one!

Once done, it will become a central piece of your business plan as well as your marketing plan. It will help you decide on which service to provide, which courses to create or which products to offer to your audience as your message will be in tune with their desires (from speaking the same language to understanding their problems and offering the perfect solutions to them).

Check out this article on my top 3 marketing tips to focus on in 2022.   

Summarise the Ideas 

Unless you’re an experienced marketing person with a few business plans under your belt, you may find it hard to know how much or how little you’ll need to include in your business plan.  Don’t spend too much time to be creative or have a stylish business plan, your main focus at this stage is to gather the information and compile everything in one document. 

Remember that this document isn’t set in stone, it’s a living document that will evolve as your business evolves and grows. 

Don’t try to produce a 20 page document that you’ll never look at it again. It’s better to have 5 to 10 pages (or less) worth of information but you know you can easily scan it quickly and retrieve the information you’re looking for.

Use a Plan Template 

Even if you are a rookie in your industry, you don’t need to behave like one; whether you want to secure investors or partners, it’s best to set your stall out according to industry standards.  

Every industry is different, and each has its particular style when it comes to business plans. If you don’t know much about the standards for your industry, but you need to pitch a business plan, simply use an industry template. Industry templates are available online, and they work.  

Listen to Expert Advice 

You’ve read articles, watched videos, and maybe ran your documents past some friends or family members; everything looks good, but not so fast; there’s always a chance you’ve overlooked something important. Always seek out an expert opinion before you go full steam ahead. 

Are you feeling stuck and not sure what to do first or where to even start to create simple business plan for your coaching practice?

Do you have that feeling of dread when it comes to making decisions around launching your business?

If you’re feeling ready to make significant progress at this right moment with your coaching business and want to get a clear roadmap before jumping into the deep end, I can help you.

You don’t need to do it alone nor spend thousands of hours and $£$ to get started with your business.

I am inviting you to book a 60-min business consultation for only $99 (or £74 / €87) so that we can go over what’s stopping you from achieving what you want.

This power hour includes a 20min follow up session a week later for honest feedback and extra guidance.

I’m ready to book a 60min consultation!

Be ready to take your coaching business to the next level!

Unsure if this is for you? Book a free call to find out more about my working style so that you can start making serious progress in 2022 and sign more of your dream clients.