When starting a life coaching practice you will undoubtedly experience both pleasure and pain. Like any business, there are ups and downs; it’s one wild roller coaster ride, and the ride seems to never stop!.

This post is all about the PAIN. The next post will lift your spirits, brighten your soul, and make you feel good about starting a life coaching practice; it will be all about the pleasure!

5 Reasons You Will Feel Pain When Starting a Life Coaching Practice

• Clients? Where are the clients? You will start out at zero and it will seem like an eternity before you land your first client. That is painful! Long hours and little reward is often the definition of a new business. Starting a coaching business is the same as starting any other business; it takes time, patience, and perseverance. To paraphrase what the voice said in Field of Dreams, “build it and they will come.”
• God, I can’t coach. Until you hit your stride, and that may take some time, you will have moments of self-doubt and critical introspection. You may feel like the worst coach on the planet. Keep your chin up and remember why you started a life coaching practice in the first place – because you CAN coach. Remember this old Hasidic saying, “The man who has confidence in himself will gain the confidence of others.”
• I cannot stand the rejection! Why do people reject you? Often it has nothing to do with your personality or your skills as a coach. Rejection is a part of life. And it is definitely part of business. Get used to it and embrace it. Yes, I said to embrace it; use it as a motivational tool to work harder, smarter, and more efficiently when starting a life coaching practice. Many great innovations or successes are the product of rejection.
• Help! People walked out of my presentation! Giving free or paid presentations is often a way coaches promote their services. If you give presentations, people will get up and walk out. It happens! It can be embarrassing. Get used to it as it is just another form of rejection. A boo always seems louder than a cheer, but one boo doesn’t mean you’re a failure. Though a boo may seem louder; it only takes one cheer to balance the score.
• Afraid of the wild goose chase for clients? If you don’t like wild goose chases, then starting a life coaching practice is probably not for you. By learning effective marketing strategies and researching and implementing new ways to promote your business, you will lessen the possibility of wild goose chases. However, the wild goose chase for clients is part of the hunt. They happen! Once again, embrace the chase and use it to inspire and motivate.

Starting a life coaching practice can be a painful experience. Investing money and time in a business with no guarantee of success can be painful. Don’t sweat the small stuff; don’t even sweat the big stuff. Use all the rejection as motivation to learn more, work harder, and search for effective ways to improve your business. There is no greater reward than the satisfaction you feel from creating a successful coaching practice after starting with zero clients and zero profits. You don’t know what pleasure is until you’ve experienced pain.

Fred Philips
Business Coach
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