The #1 Mistake New Business Coaches Make

The #1 Mistake New Business Coaches Make

July 01, 20223 min read

Whenever I get a chance to talk to new business coaches, I warn them about the most serious mistake I’ve seen others make.

OVER-COMMITTING.

Sometimes this comes from unscrupulous business coaching franchises or other “self-help” gurus that say you need to “burn the ships” and commit yourself by “investing” huge sums of money and quitting your day job. These folks will argue that is the only viable approach for anyone “serious” about becoming a business coach. However, nothing could be further from the truth!

This approach is ONLY good if you’re a career business executive with a large net worth, have just lost your job, and you WANT to commit to something new as quickly as humanly possible.

That’s because it requires time, learning, and most of all money to launch and grow a business coaching firm.

Don’t Be Like This Guy

The #1 Mistake New Business Coaches Make

Here’s what can happen to new business coaches if you OVER-COMMIT by investing too high a percentage of your net worth or quitting your day job too early.

If you run low on working capital because it takes you longer than you expected to succeed, you’ll end up with a very bad case of “sales breath” — that subtle, repulsive sense of economic desperation that actually repels the very clients you so desperately need.

You’ll end up putting yourself under extraordinary mental and emotional stress as you work yourself to the bone to recover your investment and get your business up and running before you totally deplete your remaining cash reserves…

As you get closer and closer to running out of cash, it will become harder and harder to attract clients because of your beleaguered and desperate mental and emotional state…

And, eventually, no matter how strong you are, you’ll simply give up on your coaching business and on your dream lifestyle.

Listen: this is not what I want for you, and I know it’s not what you desire for yourself.

What to Do Instead

Here’s the secret I say to new business coaches: do some math and make a level of financial commitment that allows you at least two years to learn the business of business coaching before you expect to earn a living from it.

Simply start the business part-time if you’ve got a stable full-time job and begin the process of learning the coaching business WITHOUT a huge outlay of capital so you don’t have such intense pressure to quickly recover your investment…

Do some math and make a level of financial commitment that allows you at least two years to learn the business of business coaching before you expect to earn a living from it. Simply start the business part time if you've got a stable full-time job and begin the process of learning the coaching business WITHOUT a huge outlay of capital so you don't have such intense pressure to quickly recover your investment.

When you avoid OVER-COMMITTING, you never have to worry about the dangers of burning out or going broke…

Just imagine what your life will look like when you make an appropriate level of commitment!

You’ll wake up every morning, knowing that you’ve got as much runway as you need to learn all you need to know about the business of business coaching…

You’ll have an appropriate amount of cash set aside to develop and refine marketing campaigns that will bring your ideal clients to you quickly and easily…

And, you’ll have supreme confidence in your ability to convert leads to clients because you can pour yourself into building relationships with your dream prospects without being in a rush and exhibiting the nasty “sales breath” that’s so common among your competitors…

The benefits of this simple tip continue to astound me because it’s worked so well for the thousands I’ve given it to over the years.

Work hard, work smart, and build this thing in a sustainable way.

You got this!

Eric Dombach is an investor, entrepreneur, senior executive, and consultant to PE firms and family offices. He has founded two professional service firms that achieved 7-figure exits. As the leader of a business consulting firm and a network of more than 6,300 business consultants, Eric is dedicated to developing leaders, building dream teams, and growing SMBs. He is also a published author, known for his Amazon best-seller, "The Million Dollar Business Coaching Firm." Eric has an MBA from the University of the People and a B.S. in Engineering from Messiah University. He has been married to Deborah since 1993, and they have four adult children. He enjoys reading, world travel, and playing jazz-fusion guitar.

Eric Dombach

Eric Dombach is an investor, entrepreneur, senior executive, and consultant to PE firms and family offices. He has founded two professional service firms that achieved 7-figure exits. As the leader of a business consulting firm and a network of more than 6,300 business consultants, Eric is dedicated to developing leaders, building dream teams, and growing SMBs. He is also a published author, known for his Amazon best-seller, "The Million Dollar Business Coaching Firm." Eric has an MBA from the University of the People and a B.S. in Engineering from Messiah University. He has been married to Deborah since 1993, and they have four adult children. He enjoys reading, world travel, and playing jazz-fusion guitar.

Back to Blog