Last week in the Start a Profitable Coaching Business Series we dove deep into Picking the RIGHT Name for Your Coaching Business.
This week, we’re kicking off with one of the most misunderstood decisions that all coaches and entrepreneurs need to make in their business – deciding their ideal client!
Now, I want to be super transparent here and tell you that everything you’re about to read probably goes against most advice that you’ve heard online. Most business coaches are wrongly teaching that in order to start a profitable coaching business you have to be crystal clear on your ideal client from day one. The more you understand who you work with and market to, the better.
WRONG!
Here’s the thing, while having a very clear ideal client CAN definitely be helpful in your business… It’s something that more times than not just keeps you stuck from moving forward or ever really understanding who you want your ideal client to be.
So let’s get something straight – I’m in by no means against the idea of picking a very detailed ideal client.
What I am against is the idea that you need to figure out this out right away.
Personally, I think this wrong advice is setting you up for failure. It’s asking you to figure out something that you absolutely have ZERO data for? How do you know who you want to work with if you’ve never even worked with anyone? You don’t.
I’m going to give you my two cents on this topic and finally help you figure out how to EASILY decide who your ideal client Is!
What is an ideal client?
An ideal client is simply the perfect fit for you programs or services. That potential lead who finds your services or programs to be the perfect solution to their struggles or the perfect vehicle to their desires. It is someone who can’t wait to work with you as much as you can’t wait to work with them.
Why most business coaches are giving you the wrong advice when it comes to deciding your ideal client?
Because while clarity and understanding of your consumers is a key component of your business, it is also nearly impossible to have such a high level of clarity when you’re first starting out. If you try to get so many details for your ideal client at the beginning of your business, you’ll most likely find yourself stagnant and confused for months (sometimes even years) trying to figure out answers that only come with time, experience, and/or market research.
How do you EASILY decide who your client is (even when you’re just getting started as a coach)?
Easy, peasy, lemon squeezy! You don’t! You give yourself permission to explore before you try to dig out unnecessary details of your ideal consumer. Instead of trying to create the perfect persona (which let’s face it, at this point you probably don’t even know if it exists), you focus on understanding how your programs create a real transformation and start investigating who’s more likely to crave that transformation most. With time, experience, a little bit of coaching, and testing the waters… You’ll start getting more clarity around your ideal client than you’ve ever thought possible. This only happens though, if you give yourself permission to start moving the business forward before you nail your ideal client down to the T.
While this may go against most traditional advice around deciding who your ideal client is, I promise you that after 6+ years in this industry I’ve seen more coaches get stuck trying to figure out their ideal client than coaches thriving from this decision.
You will unveil the details of your ideal client and those details will help you scale… But you don’t have to get absolutely everything down if you’re just starting out.
Next week, I’ll be teaching you how to decide what the best way to call yourself as a coach is!
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