If I Had To Start My Coaching Business From Scratch
Episode Summary:
Did any of you guys have one of the first MacBook Pros with the giant computer screen that was really thick and very heavy? I have vivid memories of lugging my giant MacBook computer up the stairs at my local coffee shop up to the conference rooms so that I could do my little life coaching workshops up there with the cord trailing behind me, just begging me to trip on it I wanted to tell you that story and share some thoughts from the early days of me starting my coaching business today on the podcast because I want you to be successful from the start of yours! I’m dishing the three things that I would do the same, three things that I would do differently. Listen in then let me know which ones resonate with you! Or, if you’re a veteran business owner, I’d love to know your own list of what you’d do differently and keep the same.
Topics Discussed:
Why Anna favors sustainable business advice rather than sexier advice that may be trending
The power of releasing your ego and showing up proud of your work and other things Anna had to let go of as a new business owner
How choosing simplicity can create momentum in your coaching business
The necessity of believing in yourself and your business and reaffirming this as you go along
Why Anna wishes she invested in coaching and VA support earlier on in her business
Why you should focus first on filling out your 1:1 practice and then move into group programming
How to know how much content you should batch ahead of time
Episode Resources:
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google | Stitcher
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Anna Rapp (00:00):
Did any of you guys have one of the first MacBook Pros with the giant computer screens, but they weren't very slim. They were really thick and really heavy <laugh>. I have vivid memories of lugging my giant MacBook desktop computer up the stairs at my local coffee shop up to the conference rooms so that I could do my little life coaching workshops up there. And I used that as my PowerPoint slide <laugh>, you know, like the cord kind of like trailing behind me, like me almost tripping on the cord. Anyway, I <laugh> wanted to tell you that story and I wanna share some thoughts from the early days of me starting my coaching business and three things that I would do the same, three things that I would do differently. I was recently asked this on a podcast interview, so thankful to everyone that supported my book launch, just launched 20 K Freedom Fund book, the talks to you about how to create complete financial freedom, peace, independence for yourself.
Anna Rapp (00:57):
And got to hop on different podcast interviews and talk about the book. And one of the interviewers asked me that question and I wanted to talk with you guys about it too, because I think it's just so fascinating. So let's do this. So first I just wanna say I miss you guys <laugh>, I kind of batch record my podcast and I haven't recorded in a few weeks. And I just wanna say how much I am thankful for this platform and to connect with you here on the podcast. And I don't take it for granted. There's a million podcasts you could listen to with the fact that you're here in the heart center entrepreneur com entrepreneur community. I feel it every time you listen, every time you DM me, it means the world to me. And I feel like we're best friends and I really am so grateful for you and I do think of you and pray for you and send you positive thoughts more often than you know.
Anna Rapp (01:49):
So if you are having a down week or a down day, I hope you know that I am continually sending positive thoughts and positive energy your way. It's say I was having a con one of conversation with one of my good, best friends recently, like, like life is hard, right? Life is hard. Whether it's, you know, something that happens to us directly or someone we love or something in the world. You know, we're we all face challenges? And so I just wanna send you the biggest virtual hug right now and just positive energy if you're needing that today. Okay, so three things I did, right? Three things I would do different. I just, I mean, I just have so many vivid memories right from this chapter of starting my coaching business. I started in 2016, so I feel like now seven years into my coaching practice, I feel like a coaching grandma. And I feel so proud of that fact because I feel like the way that I have built my coaching business and teach my clients to build their businesses in particular coaching businesses, it really is a foundational, a sustainable way. And so know that when you tune in for advice, business advice and strategy, it's r here on the podcast. It's really stuff that is sustainable and it's gonna last. It's not
Anna Rapp (02:58):
Always gonna be as sexy as you might hear on other shows, but I really feel like it's the stuff that's gonna help make you money and impact in the long run. So anyway, appreciating the choir. <Laugh>, another funny story is <laugh>. So in those days when I would lug my computer up to the top of the coffee shop upstairs, I also used flyers a lot for my marketing. And so I remember printing these flyers, spending way too long, designing the flyers, anyone else, but printing them and hanging them around at the local community college, at the local coffee shop. There's just something recently when I launched my book, I wrote a piece of paper and at my local community gym, they have like a community board. And on the community board I shared with them, you know, about my book launch and how they could buy the book.
Anna Rapp (03:46):
And I think there's something, no matter how big we get, no matter how much we rely on, you know, social media or even paid advertising, I think there's something powerful about being willing to show up even in your personal circles, even in your personal life, proud of your work, right? It doesn't mean you have to be selling to your friends all the time, but I think there's something about just releasing the ego releasing the, any shame we have around the fact that like, hey, I have this business that's actually the fir I was gonna use it as the last point, but let's talk about that as the first point. So three things I did right. Number one, simplicity in all areas of my business, including my message visibility offer. I'm gonna talk about that. Number two, my strong belief and why I feel like that's foundational and I'm gonna talk about how to create that if you don't have it.
Anna Rapp (04:37):
But first I wanna talk about this third one, which is I really feel like in starting my business I had to release a lot of my good girl tendencies. And what I mean is that I grew up fortunately with amazing parents and strong ethics, right? But in this process of going from a very traditional workforce, I never owned my own small business before, really, right? I'd always worked for other people and was a very good worker for other people. <Laugh>, who was a very good employee. I was a very hard worker, right? It was just a completely different paradigm to change to the entrepreneurial world and the online space. Fortunately for people that are really good employees of other people, they tend to actually be really good CEOs too, because if you're gonna show up for someone else with a hundred percent, you're likely gonna show up for yourself with that same energy, right?
Anna Rapp (05:30):
But there is just a lot of like different paradigms. Like I think I've shared with you guys before, like, I remember googling so much <laugh>, like is it ethical to be a coach? Is it legal to make money online? Like I was really worried with the ethics and legality of making money doing something I loved, to be honest, like it almost sound too good to be true and weird and spammy and like I just searched all the Facebook groups were like, like, is this weird? Right? <laugh>, excuse me. And so I think like online business shatters a lot of our perceptions when it comes to making money, when it comes to work, when it comes to, and maybe that's even a fun journal prompt is word associations. Like maybe even this podcast and ask yourself what's the first word that comes up when I think about money, when I think about work, when I think about a boss, when I think about, you know, doing what I love, like what comes up?
Anna Rapp (06:29):
And I think there was just a lot of earth shattering things and I had to do a lot of like dropping my ego, dropping what I knew was true and being willing to become a new person and have a new identity in many ways to be able to do this. And I know that sounds like really maybe vague and complex, but I had to be willing to challenge a lot of my beliefs, right? For example, I had spent a long time and a lot of money on a counseling degree, right? On counseling, you know, certifications, right? And then suddenly I was going into coaching, which does not legally require a certification, right? And I think certifications are great and powerful and training is awesome, but it's not necessary to be a coach, right? You can charge money as a coach without any certification legally.
Anna Rapp (07:19):
And so, I mean that it was just a little bit I had to kind of step into this gray area of I felt gray to me. It felt like, I remember telling my husband at the time when I was making money, when I was first getting paid, like, this feels icky, this feels wrong. I think when we do things that are new, it can often feel wrong or unethical even if it's not <laugh>. Or I remember when I launched my first group program, I, <laugh> finally got over myself and I was like, maybe I don't need a fancy course platform. Maybe I just need to like, if this is a six week course, maybe I just need to send them six emails, one each week. And in that email I need to send them a worksheet that I create and that's my online course and I can charge money for that, right?
Anna Rapp (08:06):
And so I think it, I had to release a lot of perfectionism. I had to release a lot of ego, I had to release a lot of identity, right? Who am I as a businesswoman? And so I would say that's the first thing that I did right? Is I was willing to be very, very, very, very uncomfortable. I mean like, just even talk about, you know, people always come to me as they're starting their online business and they're getting on social media for the first time and getting vis visible and they're like, I don't know what's wrong with me that I can't just figure out how to get visible online. I'm like because it's very challenging, right? Because public speaking is the number one fear in humans have even over death, right? And being on social media and saying your opinion and putting your face online when maybe you don't feel very confident about your face sometimes is very challenging.
Anna Rapp (08:55):
It is, right? But I think number one, it gets easier as you practice, right? But being willing to, to look silly or not get it right, get it, you know, you and my friend Kim and I were talking about this when it came to money, right? We made so many money mistakes, but we're kind of glad we made money mistakes because that's what you learn from, you learn from the mistakes, right? You learn from getting out there and riding your bike and like getting the scuff knee. So I would say that's the number one thing I did, right? Releasing my good girl tendencies and or being willing to look silly and or being willing to ride in the gray and put my ego on pause. And I think this is so true in every chapter of business, every chapter of business, right? As we're getting ready to scale and grow, right?
Anna Rapp (09:41):
I think there's always stories that our brain tells us, like, oh, we should be further along by now, right? Or, you know, you should know this, this should be easier. This shouldn't be a struggle for you. You shouldn't have made that mistake, right? Instead of the story of like, I'm learning it, it's okay. I'm exactly where I need to be and I'm not gonna question my path, right? So ask yourself right now, how can you release a little bit more of what other people are thinking and or even what you are thinking of yourself and how can you affirm like I'm on the right path and it's gonna be a little messy, it's gonna be a little bit of my control. It's gonna require a little bit of courage, but that's okay, right? That is business to its core is the necessity for resilience, the necessity for pivots.
Anna Rapp (10:28):
Like you even see giant businesses out there, right? Even giant like Coca-Cola, right? They release something and then they redact it, right? Like, who's to say that us as small business owners shouldn't go through that same thing, okay? So that's number one. Number two, let's talk about simplicity. Something that I did right, that I would absolutely do again if I was starting my coaching business from scratch is I would choose simplicity. And what I mean by that, I would, I think what really helped me get momentum in my coaching business after I kind of stalled out for a while is I finally started getting serious about the simplicity, right? When I first started my business, I kind of had like several different offers. I was kind of on several different online platforms. And then my coach at the time, Lacy told me, Anna, for 90 days, can you just calm down for a minute and pick one, offer, one message one.
Anna Rapp (11:21):
And I was like, ah, how dare you <laugh> don't you know I'm an e NFP N Agram seven and I'm multi-passionate and I cannot be boxed in. I cannot be confined because it really felt like my business was such a reflection of me that it felt like picking one offer or one niche or like, it felt like it was like constraining me. You know what I mean? And while our business should be congruent with us, I do not believe our business is a direct reflection of us. Let me say that again. Our business should be congruent with us, meaning in alignment with our values, but it is not an exact reflection of us, right? I think men typically have an easier time with us than women, right? I want you to think about in your lifetime, you may own multiple businesses, you may have many money making ventures when you think about your day job, right?
Anna Rapp (12:07):
Of course you wanna be aligned with your day job, but your day job isn't everything. It isn't all of your essence. There's lots of parts of you. And so when I think when you allow yourself to be like this complex human, but have a refined niched business, life gets a lot easier. So picking one clear message, meaning one clear title, one clear target audience, one clear problem that you solve that people are willing to pay for emphasis on people are willing to pay for, right? One clear message, one clear place that you're visible, that for me at the start of my business was my Facebook group. I was like, I'm gonna neglect all of their platforms. Meaning I had been showing up a little bit on Periscope and you remember that platform <laugh>, I had been using Instagram a little bit, but I was really like, mm, there's something special about this group.
Anna Rapp (12:56):
And to this day, seven years later, I still am obsessed with my Facebook group. But I really picked that one place, right? And then I picked one clear offer, a three month, one-on-one coaching offer. And that's how I was able to sell out my offer in 90 days is by really keeping it super simple. And if I was starting my business from scratch, I would do the same thing. One platform, one message, one, you know clear offer. So I think I did that right, but because I had a coach telling me to do that, <laugh> the other thing that I did right, that I would do again, is I really came in with strong belief. Strong belief, you guys. And while it's important to like have a good coach and have good friends and have a good partner, like at the end of the day, there has to be something inside of you that says, there's this thing that I want and I'm gonna make it happen.
Anna Rapp (13:47):
Have you gotten to that place in your business and or do you need to recommit? Because even my clients that have successful businesses that are almost on the precipice of like scaling, maybe they, they've just hit about six figures and they're working to go to multiple six figures right? There gets this to this point where it's risky again. And we have to recom into that belief of like, the success that I had thus far was not a fluke. And I'm at a new ceiling and I'm just gonna go up from here, right? I think sometimes we get in this contract energy if we've had some success and we're like, I need to be able to hang onto the success. I need to be able to like grasp it tightly so that it doesn't go anywhere, right? Instead of like, no, it's actually really hard to like stay exactly where you are.
Anna Rapp (14:29):
So like instead of that, why don't we focus on continuing to grow, right? And I really had this belief. I remember telling my coach in a very early coaching session, like, I don't know exactly what my business is gonna look like at the end, but I know it's gonna be successful and I know I'm gonna figure it out. Can you say that out loud to yourself right now? Whatever challenge it is that you're facing, whatever's in front of you, can you say, I don't know exactly what the solution is, but I'm gonna figure it out and I'm gonna be more successful and I'm gonna sign more clients and I'm gonna make more money. I don't care what shifts I have to make along the way. I was also, I mean, I had the belief that I was gonna make an f ton of money online, right?
Anna Rapp (15:09):
At least I had like 80% belief. I think there was definitely 20% of me that was like, this is wild and this is never gonna happen. <Laugh>, I'm a big fan of like getting to like 80% belief, right? But are you 80% like, yes, yes, this is gonna happen and are you willing to do whatever it takes to make it happen? Like I think when I was starting my coaching business, I was almost like, you know what? I don't really care too much on what platform it is or what need, like I wanna show up and serve in the world. I wanna show up and make money to me and God in the universe. Like I really felt like that was my commitment. Like, I wanna show up and I wanna make a difference and I wanna help women. I also wanna make a ton of money, right?
Anna Rapp (15:48):
And I'm really open to like, over the years, social media platforms are gonna cha like everything in life is continually changing. But what are the non-negotiables, right? Maybe you're a website designer and maybe for you it's like, God, I had this like gifted ability to be creative and design, right? And I wanna be able to use that gift. I wanna be able to show up in the world and I wanna make a ton of money more and more every single year in that process. And maybe there's something else like, and I wanna be present for my kids, right? But I would really challenge you to ask yourself like, what are the non-negotiables and what can you let go of, can you be a little more flexible? I think sometimes we make these rules for ourself in our business. Like, I'm never gonna show up on Instagram.
Anna Rapp (16:28):
I hate Instagram, right? Or I'm never gonna do this or that. Instead of like, you know what, I'm, I'm willing to try anything once I'm willing to see if this can work for me. Right? but anyway, I digress. Main point being is it, at the beginning of my business, I really did have a strong belief of like never done it, dunno what it's gonna look like, but I'm for sure gonna make a ton of money online. Like for sure, for sure, for sure, for sure. And then in the days of doubt, right? I was able to refer back to the belief I had the day before. Cuz we all have down days <laugh>. And also I just wanna normalize days of crying in the shower. I don't really have those as much anymore, but at the start of my business, I would say like the first year in my business, I mean, this goes to the first year of anything, like first year of motherhood.
Anna Rapp (17:12):
Oh my gosh, I had so many crying days in the shower, right? First year of my business, so many days of like, what is going on? Right? This launch isn't going as I wanted. So I just wanna normalize it. If you've ever cried in the shower, normal thing to happen, right? Okay, so let me say those again. Three things that I would do again if I was starting my kochi business from scratch. Simplicity in my message slash visibility slash offer like simplicity. Second is strong belief, strong belief. And then that final one that I actually talked about first was really releasing some ego, really willing to be courageous, releasing some of the good girl tendencies, having some of my beliefs be challenged around what I had previously known to be true around money, career, all of that stuff. Okay? Three things that I would do differently. <Laugh>,
Anna Rapp (18:04):
It was hard to narrow it down, but I narrowed it to three, which is also like, another great point is like, like it's okay to make mistakes in your business and still make a ton of money. You guys know one of, if you're a client of mine, one of the beliefs I share with my clients all the time is like, it's safe for you to make money when you're in a bad mood, right? It's safe for you. Like you're not gonna do it perfect, right? I also share that like I set goals in my business all the time that I don't hit, I don't hit all my goals, right? Like permission to do things wrong, like on the way to doing a lot of things, right? You're gonna do things wrong. In fact, the more you do right along the way, the more mistakes you're gonna make, right?
Anna Rapp (18:40):
Because you're just, it's almost like when I first started my business, I wasn't hearing a lot of nos on sales calls because I wasn't really hopping on sales calls with people that were on the fence. I was only like hopping on sales calls with people that were already committed. Yes. Which isn't bad, but you can make way more sales if you're willing to take on more sales calls from people that are kind of on the fence, right? But in that process, you're gonna hear more nos, right? Think about it like the same thing. If you have a bigger email list, you're gonna have more unsubscribes if you have a hundred people on your email list, right? Maybe you get two unsubscribes. If you have 5,000, maybe we're gonna get, you know, 10 unsubscribes. Like when you play a bigger game in life, you're gonna get more nos and rejection along the way.
Anna Rapp (19:23):
But don't focus on that, focus on the bigger thing, which is you're gonna have more success in the, in the bigger picture, right? Okay, so three things I would do different. Number one, I would've hired support and invested in my business even earlier. I did this pretty early, I would say about three months in, I hired my first coach. But I wish I would've done it even earlier because honestly, and I see this from my clients all the time that hire me and or other coaches, even in week one, they're like, oh my gosh, why didn't I do this earlier? Oh my goodness, right? For a few reasons. Number one, there's that accountability. Number two, there's the tools and resources and the shortcuts, but also when you invest <laugh>, this is why people always feel bad for like, you know, having their clients pay the money.
Anna Rapp (20:09):
I'm like, don't the fact that your client pays you money means that they're actually gonna show up and be invested in that process, right? They are decided, they are in, they are ready to, to do the thing, right? I think when I really invested my time and money and energy in a coach, it was me saying, I'm ready to take my business seriously. I'm ready to do the work. So let's say you're a relationship coach, right? When someone pays you money to coach them on their relationship, they're not just buying into your program, they're also buying into like, yeah, my relationship is worth giving another chance, right? Whatever it is, they're like, okay, I'm gonna dedicate 12 weeks to working on this thing, right? I'm gonna take it seriously. So, and I do feel like I hired a VA fairly soon into my business, but again, I wish I would've hired support even if it was just a VA for one hour a week.
Anna Rapp (20:56):
I wish I would've hired that even sooner. Okay? Another thing I would do differently if I was launching my business from scratch is I would wait on launching group programs. I love group programs to this day, but I really actually started my business by selling groups before I really like leaned in hard to like, okay, I'm gonna do this serious. I'm gonna sell my one-on-one. As a life coach, I was again nervous about the ethics of serving a one-on-one client. And so I started by filling a eight member group program, which I'm glad I did because I was taking action, but my audience just wasn't ready for that yet. In order to like launch a group program, it's not, it's less of a, a, a reflection of your expertise and more of a reflection of your audience size. You just need a lot of people to fill a group program versus one-on-one, right?
Anna Rapp (21:45):
And at the beginning of your business, you just don't have that. And I just didn't have the audience size to be consistently filling groups. And so in hindsight, if I were to do it from scratch, I would a hundred percent start with one-on-one and then go to group coaching. Okay? Another thing I would've done different <laugh>. So many of you guys know my story. I fully book my business for the first time while I was pregnant, about to go on my maternity leave. So I was in full on nesting mode. It was also my, you know, it just, there's a lot of transitions going on for me. So as a part of, part of it was good that I content batched as much as I did. I batched about six months of content for my business <laugh>. And part of me is like, I'm really glad I did.
Anna Rapp (22:26):
But part of me is like, I think part of that was me needing certainty and control when so much was out of control in that season of my life. And in hindsight, I would've batched about two or three months of content. That would've been plenty. It's a little bit different too. A lot of my clients now who go on maternity leave I end up attracting a lot of clients that are either gonna have children or have children. And so I actually have a maternity planner. I have them complete. And fortunately a lot of my clients already have existing businesses as they can even partially repurpose some of their content. I was the place where I was just starting, so I didn't have any content to repurpose. But if I was starting my business from scratch and going on a leave shortly after starting, I would've batched about three months of content, maybe even two months.
Anna Rapp (23:11):
And that would've been fine. That would've been enough. You know, there's this like fine line in batching between preparing but also not like over preparing, right? Okay. Hope this was practical and useful for you, <laugh>. And I would love to hear from you, like if you are starting your business from scratch, whether you, you know, aren't fully booked yet or maybe you're shifting in your business, which of these tips most stood out to you? I'd love to hear that. Or if you're an established business owner, I would love to hear what your list is. Like. Do you have a list of like what you did right? And what, what you would do different? I'm just so, so curious. And a reminder too that I have a program called Get and Coach, your first client. If you are a coach of some type of any type relationship coach, health coach, life coach, business coach, or you're thinking about adding a coaching offer to your business, I have a program that will take you from that idea to developing your coaching or consulting offer.
Anna Rapp (24:10):
All of the logistics you need on the backend as far as like how to onboard a client, how to offboard a client, what questions to ask them in session. I have a workbook that teaches you how to coach with like coaching tools, but I also go through how to land that client. How to get your first ping client, all the marketing and launching it takes to launch your coaching business. It's the best program on the market for this <laugh>. I've seen so many programs out there and I'm like, please do this program because it really hits both ends of like how to get your client but also how to serve your client well and how to, cuz ultimately that's what's gonna make your business last for the long run is when you're delighting your clients and when you're showing up for them. Well, and I know if you're listening to this podcast, you wanna do that.
Anna Rapp (24:50):
So feel free to join the wait list for that. I'll put the link below. Or I have a freebie called 12 Profitable Coaching Niches that you can download to and you can get in on that. And you can always message me and ask me any questions you have about that program. But would love to have you join the wait list because then you get a discount when the door is open. As always, thank you so much for joining me. I feel so honored to have you here. Hope you have a beautiful rest of your day.
PS: In the midst of this challenging time I’ve been asking myself what I can do to help? One of the #1 ways I support my clients is by helping them simplify their business so that they can increase the flow of money without creating extra work. In this season simplified visibility and sales is needed more than ever.
So if you’re craving personal support as you reposition your free and paid work, I’d love to help you simplify your sales process so that you can produce income in your business even during a challenging time. If you want support you can check out my services and book a free discovery call here, or you can send me a DM on Instagram.