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:

   Interactive Exercises and Templates

   Sales Calculators

   Budget Worksheets

   Sample Plans

   Score Cards

   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

Playing Cards For Happy Managers & Happier Employees

Today’s coaching resource is designed to assist team leaders and managers in business.

The resource is a set of playing cards with a difference. At first glance you will see that the 52 cards have the traditional clubs, spades, hearts and diamonds. Each card also contains coaching style questions following a specific theme, depending upon the suite of that card, all important in people management.

Each set consists of 52 cards, a Joker and two explanatory cards. They are currently available in English, German and Dutch, and further languages are available on request.

The design of this resource means that you have lots of flexibility about how you can use them to create enthusiastic, high-performing and engaged teams. Just some of the ways that you could use these cards:

  Pick a random card to act as a catalyst in a meeting when energy and inspiration is low

   New managers can use the cards to identify areas to strengthen and take action accordingly.

  Generate discussion points in team meetings with each member randomly selecting a card – allow the team to learn from each other and their experiences.

  A fun game in a training environment allowing enlightening discussions in a gentle manner

If you are reading this blog and have got this far through this post I suspect I don’t need to tell you the benefits of such coaching style questions or the positive impact that enthusiastic, high performing and energised teams can have for a business. To find out more about these cards or even get your own pack(s) visit www.selfcoachingcards.eu

Missed Day 2? You can read that here

It is a homestudy kit that can be applied regardless if you are just starting out or have more experience.

So you can get a taste of Elizabeth’s style let her explain in her own words a bit more about this resource.

Get Clients in 30 Days

Are you marketing like crazy and still aren’t getting the clients you need? If you’re doing, doing, doing and still not seeing results, I can practically guarantee you’re missing at least one of the steps in the shortest and most direct path possible to enrolling new clients.

In this homestudy course, I’ll will walk you through the 4 essential steps, plus you’ll get:

  Proven systems to quickly enroll new clients and fill your programs (these allowed me to create a multi-six-figure business while my tribe was still well under 1000 people)

  Simple ways to become irresistible to your peeps and design your offerings so that they instantly “get” what you do (without having to push, cajole or explain)

  Step-by-step instructions (plus tested and proven done-for-you marketing) to get your ideal clients raising their hand to have a conversation about working with you

  Detailed information on how to have rich and juicy invitation conversations that give value and serve your potential clients’ highest good – while leading them to take the next step

Plus time and money saving templates, scripts, and copy to support you in taking inspired, aligned action (instead of energy-draining “throw it up on the wall and see what sticks”)

Ready to stop “churning” and start serving? Get your copy today here: http://www.getclientsin30days.com

Missed yesterday’s coaching resource? Day 1 can be found here

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

The last time I checked Steve Chandler had written 30 books which have been translated into 25 different languages. He also runs a year long course for coaches to empower them to get clients and build their practices to strong levels of prosperity.

It’s from this background that you’ll find this book shares the knowledge, wisdom and observation of decades of experience by coach Steve Chandler.

You’ll find that the writing style is very easy to read and conversational. The book is divided up into 51 chapters – many just a couple of pages in length making it very easy to pick up and read, even if you think you are challenged for time. It also means that the message of each chapter is concise and to the point.

Within the pages you will find many stories both of his own, that of his clients, colleagues and teachers. As you may have guessed from the title the overall theme is coaching and the impact it can have on an individual. It also contains thoughts and expertise to provoke thoughts and actions from coaches

Steve provided one of our guest posts back in July and generously offered that I could share a pdf copy of this book with Coaching Confidence readers. To get your copy email stevechandlerbookcoachingconfidencecouk

One thing I’ve noticed with clients and myself, over the years, is that we can be exceptionally good at scaring ourselves – we can create all sorts of horror movies and stories within our own heads.

Sometimes the plot can be aided by others contributions either personally or via the media etc but even those who may not consider themselves creative or imaginative can do a great job of scaring themselves out of taking the next step towards what they want.

One of the things as coaches we can do is to provide an external set of eyes and ears to a situation so it can be easy to spot when a client is making up their own personalised version of “nightmare on Elm Street.”

However, even as a coach, whilst we may have moments of insight and spot if we are doing it personally, it’s not always as easy when you are engrossed in a story we are making up ourselves.

At some stage we’ve probably all seen a TV show or film with a scene normally on a dark and stormy night where the lone hero goes off to investigate a strange noise! You’ve probably also had a thought at that moment along the lines of “You don’t want to do that.”

The outcome of that particular action will normally depend entirely upon what sort of TV show or film the script writers set out to create – if it’s a horror or crime show then the noise is quite possibly a mass murderer. If it’s a show about rescued animals then the noise is far more likely to be a lost cat.

When we are engrossed in the story it can be easy to be directed into the response that the scriptwriters were pointing us. Yet if something distracts us momentarily we may spot various inconsistencies that may suggest other possibilities.

You may have your own personal version of a story you tell yourself that spooks you into not taking action.

Perhaps as you gain more experience you may tell yourself that you are just not ready yet to take that next step, even when offers are right in front of you. Maybe you even compare yourself with other coaches, mentors and trainers you have encountered over time and concluded that you are not yet at their standard.

I can often see coaches getting stuck focusing upon negative thoughts such as:

• “Am I good enough?”
•  “Why would anyone want me as a coach?”

And

• “No-one would pay me that much to coach them.”

At first glance these questions and thoughts may appear reasonable. Yet the question can spook so much that the coach may not actually answer the question that is so scary.

They either freeze and not take any more action or try and distract themselves by “just” doing something else rather than addressing the question and providing an honest answer.

For instance, I have found an increasing number of individuals who have undertaken and successfully completed a coaching training yet have not taken any further steps to use those skills and knowledge with “real people.” When questioned fear often plays a part for their inaction.

Personally, I feel that it is a real waste to have invested all that time and energy to develop such skills and knowledge. I also think it’s a huge waste of potential – just imagine the difference skilled and knowledgeable coaches can make to other people.

I’ve recently designed a new program called “Start coaching ‘real people’ in 90 days” to provide support for those who really want to coach yet have found it too scary to coach a “real person”.

I invite you to consider one of the questions I had in mind for participants when designing the coaching program:

What if you didn’t scare yourself out of your potential?

What would be your very next step that you’d take?

Love

Jen

P.S The link to find out more about “Start Coaching ‘Real People’ in 90 Days” is www.StartCoachingRealPeople.com

I think it is such a waste that I keep talking to individuals who have developed their coaching skills and knowledge yet are not doing anything with them.

They have fallen in love with coaching but are afraid to take that next step by working with a “real person” outside of that safe training environment.

You have invested time and effort into training and practicing; you may even have a bit of paper that declares to the world that you are certified. Yet I keep meeting coaches where something is holding them back from coaching “real people”.

Now I understand the fear and/or procrastination that can happen – even to coaches! We can get caught up in our thoughts – full of what if’s and negative suggestions about our own capabilities and value.

This often results in either not taking any action or keeping busy “just” doing yet another course or task before actually doing any coaching.

Today may be Halloween, a day traditionally associated with scary stories, but I want to offer an alternative to any fear of using your skills and knowledge with “real people” you had.

I invite you to share your skills and knowledge with others. I understand that may seem a huge task to do on your own. So I have designed a special program to make that easier – “Start coaching ‘real people’ in 90 days”

It is a program that when you show up powerfully and take action you will be coaching real people and so much more comfortably than when you started. If you want to have your own coaching practice this is also a program that will move you forward much quicker.

This will be a program that supports you as an individual coach. Here are just some of the results that are possible for you in our time together:

• Actually be coaching real people!
• Overcome your fear about coaching
• Feel happier with the prospect of someone giving you money for your coaching
• Identify how to charge for your coaching
• Move closer to becoming the coach you really want to be
• Have created a Welcome Pack that you are using with your coaching clients

For full details about how you could “Start Coaching ‘Real People’ in 90 Days” click here

Because this is the wording that is being used in the questions and searches, for clarity I’ll stick to that language throughout this post.

I will however, highlight that the question suggests that it is not behaviour demonstrated by a person that would make them “uncoachable” but who they are as a person.

It also suggests that it is possible that if someone is “uncoachable” in this present moment that they will always be “uncoachable”.

I mention this so that, as a coach, you can consider for yourself how this fits with your beliefs about coaching.

Now, I know that in the past one of our guest posters mentioned being uncoachable, which explains why the search engines are sending people this way, but as the number has increased I wanted to address this more today. I specifically want to focus upon how you can use the information gained from the question, who is uncoachable?

Before I go any further, I invite you to spend a moment to consider, the answers that sprang to your mind when you read the title, “Who is uncoachable?”

In my experiences each coach will have their own answer when they think about whom they would consider uncoachable.

Any coaching training you have already experienced may influence part, or all, of your answer(s). Perhaps you have been told that there are certain situations or types of behaviour you should not be coaching in.

Your answer may also have been influenced by an experience of working with a specific client in the past and it’s not an experience you wish to repeat! Maybe you reason that you have learnt to look for specific signs.

Your answer may also be influenced by other beliefs and expectations about what behaviours a client should demonstrate.

If you have ever looked for a definition of coaching you will have found that different people and organisations use different wording (sometimes you’ll even find more than one definition from the same group.) So it’s not surprising that whilst there are some overlap that different coaches have their own opinions about who is uncoachable.

So, what is your answer? Once you have your answer, what are you doing with the information?

My suspicion is that there is a training school somewhere that has asked their students to answer the question “who is uncoachable?” If that’s the case I hope that those students are encouraged to do more with that information other than just write it down to pass an assignment.

I believe that knowing your thoughts about who is uncoachable is information that as a coach you can make useful.

I know that the most common explanation I was given in some coaching trainings was that it is there to ensure that you don’t accept to work with clients who would be better suited seeking other forms of support and help. (Which depending upon your country of residence may potentially have insurance/legal implications)

This is certainly an important aspect of knowing who you think is uncoachable. I personally think that you can also use your answer for other benefits. Here are just some ways you could use your answer:

• It can uncover your own beliefs about how you expect a new client to behave. This information can be useful to know so you can determine if it’s a useful belief to keep.
• Does your answer help highlight behaviours that a client can demonstrate that assists them to get the most from your work together? If so how can you encourage your clients to use more of the highlighted behaviour?
• How can you use the information from your answer in how you invite people to experience your coaching? Are there ways to discourage those you feel are uncoachable to not contact you whilst encouraging those you feel are coachable?
• When you talk to potential clients, what can you look and listen for during the conversation that would indicate to you that someone matches with your definition of uncoachable?

When I was employed as an in house trainer in the corporate world, I remember being involved in the training of a new piece of software. It was something that many of the customer facing staff would need to use fluently in order to do their jobs.

There was one particular section that when most people first saw it they thought that it looked really complicated with an overwhelming amount of information.

I’ve written before about the stretch comfort and panic model to learning (Click here to read it again.) What happened for those individuals is that when they first looked at that was that they skipped from comfort, through stretch and straight to panicking about how difficult it looked and “how would they ever be able to use that system?”

This is not the most useful state for someone to be working in and learning something new!

However, some individuals looked at the screen and didn’t panic. It didn’t really cross their mind that this could be “difficult”. They were quite happy with the idea that they could learn to use the screen and the system.

Then there were others who would react somewhere between those two extremes.

These were groups where we did not know every delegate so it was impossible to know in advance who was likely react to that screen in which manner.

As a coach we often use our questioning and language skills. It’s also not outside the realms of possibility that you introduce a new concept or exercise to a client. So what would you say to introduce that section to an individual?

Before I share how I approached this, let me share the outcome I wished from the words I selected.

I personally wanted something that would fit with all possible reactions.

• For those who would take one look and potentially panic I wanted something that would reassure that it was easy to learn.
• I also didn’t want to suggest that this could be difficult for those who would look at the screen and not see any potential problem with it. I didn’t want to risk creating an added complication for them.

Now, when I coach, I have the same wish for my clients when I introduce something new – whether that be during the actual session or as an “action assignment”. I’m looking to act as a catalyst to making the experience as easy as I possibly can.

So what phrase did I often use in the case of the training situation?

“The next section is much easier to use in reality than it may first appear.”

• For those who used to take one look and panic, instead they took one look and were relieved that it was easier then it looked!
• For those who used to look and didn’t even consider it would be difficult, looked and not only continued with that belief but loved the fact it was even easier.

Using just one sentence of carefully chosen words meant that what had been a stage of the training where many of the delegates worried and panicked actually relaxed and often laughed. Which apart from being a much more pleasant experience for them meant it was noticeable how much more easily and quickly groups would start using that part of the program.

Today I invite you to consider the language that you are using to introduce either new concepts or homework to your clients. How can you use your language to make it even easier for your clients to quickly and effortlessly focus on taking action?

Looking back I’m pretty certain that my belief system was that to get a degree in history you would need to know every single historical fact. It didn’t seem to have crossed my mind the number of facts that are associated with the entire billions of years that the Earth has been in existence!

At some stage of studying more history myself I changed my belief and expectations about having that specific qualification meant I would know the answer to any history question. In fact the more I studied and learnt the more I became aware of what there was still to explore.

As Socrates said, “The more I learn, the more I learn how little I know.”

So why am I talking about history in a post about coaching? It’s prompted by the number of conversations I have with people who are putting off coaching and assisting “real people” because they don’t know enough.

A proportion of these individuals will “keep moving the goal posts” as they learn more and identify other areas they would like to know more about and develop more skills etc. As that happens they put off using the skills and knowledge they already have.

It means that there can be very knowledgeable individuals, who often have been able to demonstrate skills in a training environment, and yet won’t share this with people and groups they could be assisting now.

Before I go any further I want to make it perfectly clear I am not in any way shape or form suggesting that you immediately stop looking to increase your skills and knowledge. I’m also not suggesting that you don’t bother learning them in the first place.

What I do encourage you to explore is any underlying beliefs around knowledge and not knowing something. Let me ask you a question, would you be OK with not knowing everything and still using the skills and knowledge you already have?

Notice what your response was to that question.

Being comfortable with not knowing something does not mean that you cannot choose to gain that information. It just means you don’t have to feel bad about not currently knowing it!

You may also notice what you imagine “using the skills and knowledge you already have” would mean you would be doing.

Did you interpret it as asking if you have set up your own coaching business coaching lots of paying clients? If that’s what you want to be doing, then personally I think that’s fantastic.

However, that’s not the only way that you can use your existing coaching knowledge and skills. How can you use what you already have in your every day life?

• If you are a manager how can you use your coaching knowledge and skills to benefit your team?
• If you are a sales person, how can you use your coaching knowledge and skills to benefit your sales figures?
•  Perhaps you may even be able to use your knowledge and skills in your personal life, to assist you as a parent or as a partner.

Personally, I think it is such a shame and complete waste when individuals have knowledge and skills that won’t start using because there is still more to know. I invite you to consider how you can be using your knowledge and skills to be making a difference now.

I also am going to end today’s post with one of my favourite quotes:

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate,

Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It’s our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves: who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?

 You are a child of the universe.

Your playing small doesn’t serve the world.

There is nothing enlightening about shrinking,

So that other people won’t feel insecure around you.

We are born to make manifest the glory of the universe

that is within us. It’s not just in some of us: it is in everyone.

And as we let our own light shine,

We unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.

And as we are liberated from our own fear,

Our presence automatically liberates others.”

(Marianne Williamson)

This is not going to be a post about how not thinking of a coaching practice as a business can impact upon your business success. For now, I’ll let you consider those implications for yourself. (or you can read some previous posts such as this guest post by Nicky Kriel)

This is going to be a piece about that word practice. A dictionary definition gives more than one meaning for the word including “the professional work, business or place of business of a doctor, lawyer etc.”

I personally think that the one of the aspects that contributes to a professional work or business is being successful in using specific skills.

Looking at the origins and historical use of the word, in the early 15^th century the word practice was used as meaning “to perform repeatedly to acquire skill.” It’s this part of a definition that I want to focus upon today.

I speak to many coaches who are at the start of their journey as a coach, some have had more training than others and all are passionate about coaching. Yet some have had more practice than others.

Some may place the “blame” for lack of practice on the structure of training courses or perhaps because of some sort of character flaw such as procrastination. Personally, I don’t think placing the blame is overly useful for the individual in that situation. I’m far more interested in finding a solution that will get that individual coaching more.

The same applies if you have “taken a break” for a while – perhaps you did lots of coaching whilst doing a course but then haven’t done any for a while. Maybe you have got further with your coaching and then you prioritised something else either by choice or necessity.

If you do find yourself in that situation rather than asking why, how about considering the following questions?

What would have to happen so I can practice my coaching more?

What is the very first thing that I could do?

The answers to those questions will very easily vary from person to person:

• Perhaps it is as simple as identifying just one person who you think your services could assist – and then invite them to come and play.
• Maybe for you it’s about putting a support system in place.
• Or just spending some time to “script” out how you could actually invite someone to experience your coaching.
• Possibly, it’s practicing inviting someone to experience your coaching that will allow you to practice your coaching more!

Sometimes what is actually stopping a coach from practicing more is the question of “When to start charging?” I’ve shared in a previous post various different approaches to this question and invited you to see which appealed to you.

Whatever you find your answers to those questions are, I invite you to consider taking action to make a difference for your coaching practice and for your clients, both present ones and your clients in the future.

For the ease of consistency I am going to use the label homework through this piece but will also add that for some clients and niches such a label will potentially provoke resistance and negative connotations. In such an instance you could work on that negative reaction – or just use a different label and avoid the issue all together!

As far as I can establish there are three different ways of working with clients and setting homework.

There are some coaches who follow the same process for each and every single one of their clients. They work on a principle that if it is session 2 then their client gets set homework B.

Another way of working is to look at where each individual client is, what they are working on, and set a bespoke piece of homework just for that individual.

A third way is a mix of the above, having certain pieces of homework that each and every client will be set and others that you will create that is bespoke for them.

I’m sure that if you were to think about each approach you could see positive and negative points for each. You may already be aware of points from a marketing perspective, others from a customer service viewpoint etc. As always, my own personal opinion, is that if whichever approach that you are using works for you and your clients than that is great!

But regardless of which approach you are using how do you create a piece of homework? Here are just some of the questions you may want to consider:

• What is currently getting in the way of this client getting what they want?
• What outcome do you want by setting this homework? How will you know that outcome has been achieved?
• What would move your client a step closer to what they want?
• What’s going to make the biggest difference for your client?
• What’s the easiest way for that outcome to be achieved?
• What’s the most fun way to work towards that outcome?
• What is going to appeal most to your client?
• How willing is your client to do suggested homework?

I invite you to pay attention to the questions you consider next time you set a client homework. Feel free to share more questions and comment below…

As this is all the information the individual gave I will be writing generally for reasons that I will explain in a moment. If you are the person who made this request and we need to go more detailed to be of assistance to you by all means get in touch with more details.

I’m going to start by saying that, for me, the best locations are the ones that work for you and your clients.

There are several variables that can influence where you choose to hold a coaching conversation and session. These are some of the questions I consider when choosing where to hold a coaching session.

What medium are you planning on using for your coaching?

A coaching session via the phone can have different practical requirements to a face-to-face coaching session. To start with to coach via the phone you physically need to be able to make a call. This will mean either a landline or ensuring that you have a strong enough mobile signal.

Who are you coaching? and What state do you want your client to be in?

Some clients will feel more relaxed in different settings so it’s possible that the location you pick can influence the work that you do together.

For example, some clients may prefer a setting of a corporate office meeting room. Others may find that environment intimidating to meet in. Some may prefer a room in an educational setting – others may have negative connections to such a setting.

What is the purpose of your coaching? What outcome does your client want to get from your coaching work together?

This may place practical implications about where you want your coaching to happen.

For example, imagine that you are in a business setting coaching call centre agents concerning performance skills. It could be beneficial to have a coaching conversation “on the floor” about how the last call had gone. This has the benefit of the call being fresh in the agents mind and memory. It also allows for any action agreed upon to be immediately put into action.

Perhaps you suspect that physically having that coaching conversation in a different setting will make a difference. A client may be more relaxed/less distracted in a neutral setting giving them the space to see things from a new perspective.

This may be in a public setting, your own/independent office or perhaps even in an outside location.

What are your preferences as a coach?

Where will assist you to fully focus on your client without distractions and allow you to be in the most useful state for your coaching?

What other practical aspects/implications are there?

I know that overhead costs can affect coaches decisions about where they coach. Not only with potential room hire/lease but other costs such as travelling can also influence either your pricing or where you coach.

Coaching from your own home. I’m certainly no regulatory and legal expert, especially as that will vary depending upon which country you are living in. Do be aware that there may be certain clauses in renting agreements, building and content insurance policies etc that apply if you have clients physically coming into your own home. Do check out how you will be affected and seek appropriate advice if needed.

Geography How much travel are you (and/or potentially your client) prepared to do?

Time This may also influence your decision. Is the location you are thinking off available when you want to coach? If there is travelling involved to the venue does it fit with your other commitments and if not are you willing to make it a priority?

A word of warning

I’ll also add that I’ve spoken to many want-to-be/trainee coaches who are not yet coaching giving the reason that they have nowhere to coach. I know that this can seem a big first step.

Please don’t let this get in your way of starting coaching. Personally I have had coaching conversations either as a client or a coach in coffee shops, hotel bars/reception, train stations, impromptu coaching conversations in stairwells etc.

As part of a big long-term picture – yes a location may play a part in making an impression, potentially make a coaching session easier and if you are running a coaching business could have overhead implications.

However, when starting out I personally think that not having a room can be used as a practical excuse for not starting just yet but appearing busy. In my opinion, one of the best ways to develop your coaching is by actually coaching real people.