Having a coaching business is a people sport. Working as a coach supporting people every day can bring great meaning to our working lives. The pros are that it’s your business and this business can be built to enact your personal purpose. You can be in control of the game! The cons are that it’s pretty lonely being a professional coach and it will take time to replace your previous income and running the business side is hard. The rules of the game are also hard to find out before you play!
Five years into running my own business I don’t have time to dwell on working on my own, but I do remember what it was like in the first year. It was lonely because, as with all entrepreneurs, it takes time to build a business and, if you have chosen to leave a job to build your new career as a self-employed person, you start to miss your team environment and even the odd “thank you” for your efforts at work! It also took me some time to learn about what was needed and how to make the necessary changes required to run my own business.
Coaching is a support profession and we give our all to help our clients with change and make their goals come to fruition. Clients will come and go and, after receiving your help, will be ready to change. Sometimes it’s easy to forget that we need the same support to effect our own change and transition to being a Solopreneur.
As a Supervisor to many newly qualified coaches I have noticed that in the first few years of business they arrive in Supervision with more business build questions than client work questions and this was the insight that drove me to write the resources “The Coaching Solopreneur” Book. It launched this week and as hoped many Coaching Training companies are very keen to support it as we all feel that there is a gap in coach training that prepares people to go into business.
The coaching profession is growing by 7% year on year according to the latest ICF report and I would like to be part of supporting coaches to take a share of that market after their qualification. I want to see more coaches succeed in business and see more newly qualified coaches make a faster start to getting the return on their qualification investment.
The insight that coaches were losing confidence in their coaching abilities due to lack of support for their business build was enough to collate my learning into a model – ‘The coaching house’ which is core to the book. It is simply a guide for newly qualified coaches or those stuck in their business build to understand their Why and What is needed to build a coaching business to house their coaching services.
The writing of the book has led me to believe that we all need a sense of Community to be a Solopreneur so I hope use of the book will help coaches to find that community within the profession of like-minded coaching business builders. Launching with the book is a community forum and support membership pages filled with additional resources for coaches to reflect on their Why, What and How! They will be ready for joining the TCD for example as they will be clearer on their offer and how they want to be found.
Why have I done this? In its foundation year I hope that the book and community mean fewer coaching businesses fail and we all get to share in the market growth and do the good work that society, organisations and the ecosystems we live in need right now.
I plan to work with the community to share more of my experiences and encourage all the coach members to do the same – we all have so much to give our profession to make it a happy, successful choice to be a supported solopreneur.
Kate Freedman – ICF Professional Certified Coach, Coach Supervisor & Author – Kate is dedicated to helping new coaches make their mark on the coaching profession and build the business that supports their coaching offer. Over the last 5 years Kate Freedman has taken many wrong turns on the way to building her successful and sustainable coaching business. In her new book, The Coaching Solopreneur, she offers up a refreshing slice of honesty about the challenges we face along our journey as solopreneur coaches and a roadmap to avoid the many pitfalls that hide round every corner.
“This is the go-to book for setting up a coaching business. This is rocket fuel, practical, accessible and confidence building. I wish this book existed when I was starting out.” Jackie Sanders, PCC Coach
“The central metaphor of this book is such a gift for coaches building solo practices outside the safety of an employment setting. No such thing existed when I trained a decade ago. The Coaching Solopreneur can serve as your way to navigate the nuts and bolts of starting up. I picture coach wariness and weariness melting away thanks to the practical wisdom Kate so generously shares.” Kate Hammer, PCC Coach
Read more blogs from Kate: Does a newly qualified coach need supervision?
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An experienced accredited Executive, Leadership and Team Coach, Supervisor and Mentor