Are you a life coach or a business coach? If have a passion for people and enjoy motivating, mentoring, and supporting others on their journeys to success, you might be considering starting your own coaching business. It is a rewarding career path and it can be quite lucrative too.
But, before you jump in, first think about the type of coach you want to be. While a business coach helps entrepreneurs to grow their businesses and achieve their business goals, a life coach is focused on helping people to get clarity on their personal goals and achieve them.
If you're having trouble deciding whether becoming a business coach or a life coach is best suited to you, you must be able to draw the distinction between whether you want to help people become successful in business or on a personal level! It is as simple as that.
To find your niche, think about your best qualities, your strengths and the areas in which you have the most knowledge and expertise!
Let’s look at life coaching
Life coaching is a good career choice for you if you are naturally empathetic. Your role would be to listen, encourage and coach people through challenges to reach certain milestones. There are many soft skills that you should have to be a successful life coach. You need to be a good communicator, an active listener, and have good patience, and high standards of integrity.
People who seek help from a life coach are stumbling in one or more areas of life or just want to improve. Areas that they could need guidance with include relationships, marriage, spirituality, health, fitness, work-life balance and self-development. As a life coach, you must understand how to communicate succinctly and inspire your clients to take action. Courses and training would equip you with the methods and techniques you can use in order to help your clients in the best way possible.
To be an awesome life coach, you should be…
1. A great communicator
2. Empathetic
3. Open and honest
4. Self-aware
5. Creative
6. Non-opinionated
7. Challenging
8. Observant
9. Positive and enthusiastic
10. Passionate about helping people
Let’s get down to business
The International Coaching Federation defines business coaching as “partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential. Business coaching is a distinct service and differs greatly from therapy, consulting, mentoring, or training.”
A business coach helps business owners to plan and prioritise the goals and strategies that are needed to drive their business closer to their vision and goals. When hiring a business coach, people are looking for someone to show them a proven path and to provide them with the steps and guidance to grow their business. An effective business coach focuses on helping clients to increase the profitability, efficiency, and overall success of their client’s businesses.
Yes, you will find yourself in the role of motivator and sounding board, but your focus is coaching them to achieve their higher aspirations in business, not their personal goals. Ideally, you should know how to succeed in business and have experience in the corporate world or as a successful entrepreneur. Business coaches are experts in their field, so with their experience and knowledge, they understand what it takes to set up a business for success.
To be a great business coach, you should be…
1. Experienced in business and have achieved success in running or building a successful business
2. An active listener
3. Passionate about people
4. A strong communicator
5. Goal-orientated and organised
6. Accessible and approachable
8. Disciplined
9. Strategic and analytical
10. Knowledgeable
Becoming a business coach
People feel reassured when they know they are working with someone who has the knowledge and experience to guide them in navigating the challenges they face in their business. You need to invest in your own personal development. Make sure that you have qualifications behind your name and continually strive towards growing your list of credentials.
It is recommended that you get professional training, enlist a coach or a mentor, and network with industry-thought leaders. By joining an established and recognised coaching franchise, network, or franchise, you get the value and credibility that comes with it. The more prominent the brand you are associated with, the greater the gains will be in terms of exposure and credibility.
ActionCOACH is the world’s number-one business coaching franchise with more than 25 years of experience. When you become an ActionCOACH, you are instantly part of an established, credible and trusted community of business coaching experts. The training is unparalleled, the ongoing support is unmatched and the access to the library of ActionCOACH’s proven systems and processes will set up your coaching business for success and put you ahead of the competition. Find out the how today!
Remember that coaching is a passion
Be clear about why you want to get into coaching and once you are in it, don’t lose sight of why you chose this path. You must have passion. Coaching, whichever is your niche, is about growing people and helping them to bring their big dreams to fruition!
The next steps
Don't let the feeling of missed opportunity hold you back from advancing your coaching career. Taking a step forward with ActionCOACH by booking a strategy session can equip you with the necessary knowledge and tools to grow your coaching business and reach new levels of success. Click here to book a discovery session.
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