The other day, a coach asked me if their ‘big coaching business idea’ was worth doing…

“…all the experts say it will fail,” they told me.

I said “Don’t listen to them.”

“Your idea sounds great… go for it.”

They said “Great!…I was going to try it anyway, but now I feel better about it.”

I laughed, “Then why did you ask me??”

The coach said “Because I wanted to make sure it was ok.”

And I realized…

…they were asking for my permission…

…to do what they already knew was right for them.

Too many coaches get derailed by…

• Waiting for permission.
• Blindly following the ‘righteous advice’ from gurus.
• Getting discouraged when their guru says “bad idea”.

It’s YOUR Coaching business and YOU get to make the decisions.

Isn’t that partly why you started your coaching business?

…so you wouldn’t have a BOSS telling you what to do?

So why would you blindly let some GURU tell you what to do?

They can’t know everything about you and your coaching.

YOU know you (and your coaching) best.

That said…

You WILL pay a price if your coaching business idea doesn’t work.

It’s not the guru’s problem if you’re wrong.

How do you decide whether to blaze your own coaching path?

Or…

listen to the GURUS?

Here are some things to consider when you’re not sure if your ‘big coaching business idea’ will work…

Test it.

There are no rules in the coaching business.

Nobody knows for sure if your business idea will get paying clients or not.

Even the “experts” are only making educated guesses.

Ideally you want to test your idea…

• with as little financial risk as possible.
• as quickly as possible.
• on the smallest scale possible.

Think about the coaching you’ll provide within your big idea.

Offer that coaching to a few people.

Ask them to tell others about it.

If anyone raves about your coaching…

If anyone is willing to share your coaching with others…

…then you might have a winner.

But don’t expect raving fans overnight.

Give yourself time to find out if you have a winner.

For example, you could keep track of your enrollments for 6 months.

After 6 months, if you got the enrollments you needed, then congratulations!

And if you don’t, then consider…

…if you only need to make adjustments to make your idea work, or…

…if your idea is doomed to fail.

There are no rules in the coaching business.”

What’s the worst-case scenario if your big coaching idea doesn’t work?

Can you afford to be wrong?

Do you have a ‘day job’?

Do you have 6-12 months of your expenses saved?

If not…

What happens if you’re wrong?

You may have to go back to your job, possibly for YEARS…

…before you can afford to try your coaching idea again.

If that’s what you’re risking, it might be better to follow the GURU’s advice.

That way, IF they are right about your ‘big coaching business idea’…

…you’ll have paying clients, and can take care of your family.

You have nothing to lose by waiting to try your idea.

Your coaching business idea will still be there once you’re ready.

No matter what direction you decide…

Do Something!

If you’re serious about your idea…

• Talk to potential clients.
• Follow your passion.

And so what if it might not work?

So what if you don’t have the perfect business plan?

So what if you don’t have perfect coaching chops?

If you don’t give your ‘big coaching business idea’ a chance…

Are you always gonna wonder…

“Could my idea have worked?”

Consider ignoring the experts.

Test your coaching idea to see if it flies.

If you hate the ‘guru’s alternative’ to your big idea…

…then you’re not going to follow their advice anyway.

Your coaching business is better off when you’re DOING SOMETHING…

…talking to hundreds of people.

Even if your idea is bad…

Even if you say all the “wrong things”…

Even if it’s not working…

…yet.

Do it, and learn from it.

Do it, and learn from it.”

You can enjoy your passion AND a profitable coaching business…

…but you may not get BOTH from the same source.

You might build a profitable coaching business that doesn’t ‘light you up’…

…but it brings in the money.

That money can free up enough time to enjoy your passion…

…even if that passion never makes a cent.

You don’t HAVE to make money from your big coaching idea.

You can still have it all.

Can your guru still help you even if they are wrong?

Yes.

Don’t fire your guru ONLY because they didn’t like your big coaching idea.

Firing them could deprive you of some great advice.

They could still help you make your big coaching idea work…

…even if they disagree with it.

Kennedy said “We choose to go to the moon”…

…and engineers at NASA said that going to the moon was impossible.

Then (rumor has it) Kennedy hired all those engineers DESPITE their disagreement.

Why did he do that?

Because he wanted people working on the problem WHO UNDERSTOOD THE PROBLEM.

He wanted OTHER POINTS OF VIEW.

You aren’t going to agree with ALL of the advice of ANY GURU.

Use their best advice…

…and leave the rest.

Bottom line?

“Don’t ever let GURUS tell you…

You can’t do something”

Do you remember the movie “The Pursuit of Happiness?”

There’s a scene where Will Smith’s character is playing basketball with his son.

He basically tells his son that he won’t ever be a good basketball player.

Why?

Because Will’s character was a bad basketball player HIMSELF.

Then his son throws the basketball away, as if to say…

“If Dad says I’ll never be able to do it….why bother trying?”

Will’s character realizes that he’s transferring his own limiting belief to his son.

So, he corrects himself, saying…

“Don’t ever let somebody tell you…

…You can’t do something.”

“Not even me… alright?”

I think that applies to pretty much everything…

…in your coaching business.

…in your coaching.

…in your life.

And it ESPECIALLY applies to GURUS telling you what you can’t do.

Don’t ever let any guru tell you what you can’t do…

Even ME.

Alright?

Kris “Don’t Let me Tell You” Thompson

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