I’m a 29M. 2.5 years ago I quit my job to go full time in my online coaching business. I’ve had some ups and downs, but this entire year has been down.
The most I’ve ever made in a month was just over 6k
But lately it’s been hard for me to get over 2k per month
I barely have enough money to do the basic things and would like to hire some help but literally can’t afford it right now
Should I close the business down? Or get a job and do the business on the side?
Haven’t had a “job” in 2.5 years so I don’t imagine it will be easy to get, but I’m broke and open to anything
Any ideas?
There information for everything out there. There is most likely a definitive reason why you aren’t doing well. And there’s definitely been someone in your exact same spot who posted about it online, hard part is finding that information and applying it appropriately to your business. Giving up is always an option, don’t let it be THE option.
Depends. A few quick questions to help:
- What’s been the biggest challenge in getting new coaching clients?
- How did the previous clients find you when you were making 6k/mo?
- What’s been the biggest reason for client churn (i.e. why did so many of your clients stop working with you?)
I’ll guess the answer to 3 is that they got the help they needed. I had a coach a few times. Once I had what I needed, I didn’t need to consult with them any longer.
Yeah get a job and keep running this on the side until you can grow it more
- There are jobs all over. I can’t remember the last time I went out in the world and didn’t see a now hiring sign?
- What is online coaching? Is it like teaching elderly people how to use the internet?
no
Is there something you’re not currently doing or seeing that can allow you to grow this business? Possibly running ads of some sort, getting more exposure in some way, receiving help from a coach that is more successful, outsourcing simple tasks so that you have more time to spend on doing the things that actually bring in clients, etc.? I’m sure you already know what to do as you’ve been doing this for the last 2.5 years, but just some initial thoughts.
I look at it like this. Every time as a business owner you get to that point and keep going it’s a point someone else gave up and there’s one less competitor.
What’s the coaching business about?
What’s your current marketing strategies?
What’s working and whats not working for you?
What’s working well for your competitors?
There’s a lot of question to ask before i can give some advice
Growth Archive has a lot of b2b growth examples that you could test out.
If you want a peace of mind, then get a job and carry on growing this coaching business on the side.
The ways I see it is customers are communicating to you by not continuing your services. Do some self reflection and see what you might need to bring to the table to create word of mouth referrals. That might mean talking to previous clients about what was helpful and not helpful
[insert Hormozi video]
Don’t close it down. Just do it on top of the job. I have a coaching business. I got a job last year because it’s a grind paying my workers and myself. I decided to get a job so I could keep my workers. As soon as I got a job, I raised my prices by 40-80%. Since I didn’t need the money to survive, I was much more comfortable asking for higher prices. I got the same amount of business (about $10K monthly). I just stacked the money in the business to build a cushion.
It’s tough doing everything. Just make sure to have an ATS (applicant tracking system) friendly resume that is optimized for the jobs you want. If it’s possible, try to avoid highlighting that you were the owner of the business. I gave myself an organic title when I was going for interviews.
Also whenever you price coaching, always price in future help. That was what hurt me. I priced enough to cover myself. I didn’t price it enough to cover my 2 workers and all the freakin SaaS tools that add up.
I got fired from both jobs (I am a shitty employee lol) but that gave me enough savings and bought me enough time to invest in some things. I am back at it full time.
What sort of customer feedback do you get after you provide your service? Are your clients 10x happier after your service? Are they leaving a review afterwards, perhaps a quick video with their happy faces? How much do you charge them and have you tried raising prices in those 2.5 years at all - what was the response? Is the service B2B or B2C? How many clicks does your site get in a month? What’s your SEO ranking, are you building backlings? Who is your main competition and what are they doing differently form you? You’re asking us to help you but have literally provided 0 data. Business is a game of data and analysis my friend, you can’t just magically expect the world to give you that number one place. Sounds like all this time you are trying to work harder, but maybe it’s just about working smarter.
What even is “online coaching”?
Bro you need a coach, get a job
Do you have an email list? I wouldn’t shut it down but if you gotta get a job, get one. Then focus on building a list and marketing to it.