business plan


The 12 days of coaching resources – recap

The festive season is often a busy time for many people so in case you missed any of the 12 posts here is a quick recap with links for each day.

A mix of different topics providing support and solutions for a range of problems and questions were deliberately selected. You’ll notice that there is a mix of books, audio and other products spaced throughout the 12 days. Some will be more appealing if you are new to coaching, whilst others will be more attractive if you have more experience.

I invite you to explore the following and decide which one is most useful for you.

Day 1 – “The Life Coaching Connection: How Coaching Changes Lives” by Steve Chandler

Day 2 – Get Clients in 30 Days by Elizabeth Purvis

Day 3 – Playing Cards For Happy Managers & Happier Employees

Day 4 – The One Page Business Plan: The fastest, easiest way to write a business plan by Jim Horan

Day 5 – “Effortless Success” by Michael Neill

Day 6 – “The 8th Habit: From effectiveness to greatness” by Stephen R. Covey

Day 7 – Time Trade

Day 8 – “Coaching for performance” by Sir John Whitmore

Day 9 – Maestro Conference

Day 10 – “Get Unstuck & Get Going … on the stuff that matters” by Michael Bungay Stanier

Day 11 – From Non-Coach to Coach Discovery Session

Day 12 – Adopt A Word

There are many other coaching resources out there, like on this list, some are complimentary and others require an exchange of money. Coaches, if you were to add one extra coaching resource to this list what would you add and why?

Feel free to share you thoughts in the comments box.


12 Days of Coaching Resources – Day 4 1

Day 4 in our 12 days of coaching resource is:

The One Page Business Plan: The fastest, easiest way to write a business plan by Jim Horan

Coaches often refer to goals/objectives and work towards achieving a vision with their clients. Granted, depending upon your background and the situation you are using that language you may use different labels with your clients.

So you may expect coaches establishing a business to comfortably create a business plan that focuses upon things such as the business vision, mission and objectives. Yet several “myths”and perceptions about how a business plan “should” look or be created can get in the way.

Today’s coaching resource is, “The One Page Business Plan: The fastest, easiest way to write a business plan” by Jim Horan. It addresses many of these myths, such as business plans must be long to be good.

This book is designed to help you get your business plan onto paper. Containing several types of exercises and questions to stimulate you, it is deliberately simple allowing you to start at any point and jump around in the easiest way for you.

The plan you’ll produce with this book will be short, concise and to the point. It will be something that you can pin on your wall and see daily – it’s not such a weighty document that it gets put on a shelf to gather dust and never looked at again!

This book also contains examples of what does and doesn’t work for each situation. If you go to buy this resource, you may notice that there are editions for different countries that allow specific examples from that country to be used.

In addition, “The One Page Business Plan” also comes with a “creative entrepreneur’s toolkit” CD. On the CD you’ll find:

bullet point   Interactive Exercises and Templates

bullet point   Sales Calculators

bullet point   Budget Worksheets

bullet point   Sample Plans

bullet point   Score Cards

bullet point   Bonus Tools

(All in either a word or excel format)

A business plan can have multiple uses and sometimes it’s about meeting other peoples specific requirements to get funding. It’s worth noting that if that is your primary reason for looking at this resource it will get you started getting clarity around your ideas and give you a strong foundation to build upon. However, you will need to take it further to adapt that to the specific requirements for the person/group you are seeking funding from.

Find the book on Amazon uk, or Amazon.com

Missed Day 3’s Coaching Resource, find it here


Coaches Need Coaches Too

In this week’s guest post Angus MacLennan shares his expertise and thoughts about what a coach should have if they want to succeed.

Angus is also offering a special offer to readers of Coaching Confidence, the coaching blog. You’ll find the details at the bottom of this page for you to read after this post.

Coaches Need Coaches Too

By Angus MacLennan

Every coach should have a coach if they want to succeed! I have a coach and I have coached many coaches over the last few years. Coaches who were great at helping their clients get the results they need but not so good at making a living from coaching. The reasons tend to be the same – they need help with what I call the Business Essentials.

Some of the basics that need to be covered in any coaching business are:

  • Clear Message – have a clear and concise message.

Many coaches try to be all things to everyone they meet. You need to have a good answer when someone asks you what you do and you need to get it across quickly. I recommend you have a niche and know how to pitch to them – across social media and face to face. If you can’t explain your offering and how to buy it in four points then you are overly complicating it. Keep it simple and interesting and people will want to know more.

  • Business Plan – without a plan you are guaranteed to struggle.

Keep it simple. A one page plan is a good place to start. Make sure you answer all the questions you need to in that one page and you will know where your business is going and what you need to do to get there.

  • Marketing Plan – you need a marketing plan to succeed.

Coaches who want to be successful need to create a plan and work it consistently. Something simple is what I recommend. If it is longer than one A4 page then you are going into too much detail. It should cover online media, networking, referrals, direct marketing, newsletters and advertising. Focus on where your target market “hangs out”. Remember that action gets results and massive action gets massive results.

  • Financials – always be on top of your incomings and outgoings.

Have a simple schedule to invoice and a procedure to follow up with anyone who pays late. I personally ask all my clients to set up their retainer payments by Standing Order payable at the beginning of the month. Charge fees that reflect the actual cost of doing business. The money you charge for one hour actually pays for the many hours you put into the client including your preparation time and follow up time.

  • Time Management – manage your time or it will manage you.

If you are not getting the results you want then go back to basics. Have a prioritised To Do List, SMART 90 day goals and make sure you manage your interruptions. I recommend the Spinning Plates Process. It’s a great process to get your business and life under your control. Create a weekly schedule that includes all the key results areas in your business and then stick to the plan until you start seeing the results.

Running a successful coaching business is not easy but it can be simple. Focus on the Business Essentials and make sure you have someone to hold you to account and you will get the results you deserve. Get yourself a coach!

For an introductory Coaching Session follow the short link http://bit.ly/bLrhrM

Have a great day.

Angus MacLennan

About the Author/Further Resources

My name is Angus MacLennan and I am a Business Coach who gets results with motivated Entrepreneurs and SME Business Owners by providing practical no-nonsense support.

I enjoy writing articles about Business Growth and Development and I am lucky enough to be published in the UK, USA and Australia and to have my work incorporated into multiple training and support programmes.

My mission is to deliver a quality service to help every client develop their business and enable them to have the work/life balance they want.

Over the past 7 years I have had hundreds of hours experience coaching business owners across three continents.

I am a Master Practitioner of NLP, a Master Results Coach and have a Degree in Industrial/Organisational Psychology and a Post Grad Dip in Personnel Management.

Special Offer

Angus is happily setting aside time for anyone who comes via here for an Introductory Coaching Session. He will also give 3 readers 1/3 off his 3 month program if they sign up before the 8th July.