So you’re running a coaching business, and it’s going pretty great. But you’re thinking of turning things up a notch because you want a little more than that…
If this has been on your mind, business expansion could be the change you’re looking for.
From launching a new coaching package to getting a franchise license, there are many ways you can expand your coaching business. Whether you want to improve your revenue or build an empire, this article will help you start.
Read on to learn what business expansion means for coaching professionals, strategies you can follow, and the risks you don’t want to ignore.
What Is Business Expansion for Coaches?
Expanding your coaching business basically means that you increase its reach and scale. Maybe you grow your client base, improve your services, or even build a team around yourself. Perhaps, even starting a franchise.
Expanding your coaching business typically goes hand in hand with growing your brand, whether that’s your own personal brand as a professional or one separate from you. This acceleration can lead to increasing your revenue and making your business more sustainable. However, it also comes with a few risks. Don’t worry, we’ll lead you through them in just a bit.
The Benefits of Business Expansion for Coaches
Increasing Your Revenue
As a service provider flying solo, you’re bound to reach a ceiling at one point in your business. To cast your net wider and get more bookings, you’ll need to outsource some of your business operations and marketing. This will help you get more contracts signed and consequently, bring more money home.
Bringing Long-Term Sustainability
Expansion in business will force you to polish up your business operations to run like a well-oiled machine. It will take some initial investment, but it will pay dividends in the long run, keeping your business revenue healthy and sustainable.
Growing Your Brand
Taking things to the next level in your coaching business will expose you to new markets, new customers, and an entirely new audience. This attention will help you build a reputation for yourself in the industry and work on your personal brand. It might also give you some extra motivation to grow further and develop new coaching skills.
When To Expand Your Business
Your coaching business needs to stand on stable ground for you to expand it. And how do you know that it does?
Here are a few signs that tell:
- You consistently have a high demand for your coaching services that you can’t keep up with anymore
- You receive an abundance of positive feedback and referrals from past clients
- You have additional revenue that you can invest in new developments
- You have a niche opportunity or market gap in front of you that you can act on
- You’re willing to spend more time working on the business vs in the business (aka coaching people), at least initially
- You’re good at managing a team and delegating tasks to reach your vision
- Or you’re just basically tired of the status quo and confident you can build something bigger
Business Expansion Strategies for Coaches
There are several expansion opportunities you can try for your coaching business depending on how much you want to invest in it and what’s possible on your market. Let’s have an overview of your options and why they might be good for you.
Venture Out Into New Coaching Niches
You’ve been making strides forward in your coaching niche and you’ve developed a client profile that works for you. Now, it might be time to explore new territories, also known as generating market expansion.
For example, if you’ve been working as a relationship coach, you might want to consider helping some of your clients with divorce coaching. If you’ve been in the business coaching niche, you can get additional training to coach executives.
Here are some ways you can identify related coaching niches to get into:
- Identify the most burning needs of your existing clients: What are the problems and concerns they most frequently approach you with?
- Run market research: Identify untapped niches related to your area of expertise.
- Stay updated on industry trends: Look for new emerging personal and professional challenges you can help your clients with, like work-from-home burnout or developing AI-driven business operations.
Develop New Coaching Products
Creating new helpful tools for your existing customers (aka your coaching clients) can be an easy way to grow your coaching practice. In business lingo, this is referred to as product expansion.
Besides your sessions, you can offer…
- Journaling prompts
- Checklists
- Templates
- E-books and guides
- Online courses
- Workshops and webinars
- Assessment tools
You can sell these services separately on your website and marketplaces like Etsy and Amazon or make them a part of your packages. Which leads us to…
Beef Up Your Coaching Services
Another strategy you might want to add to your business expansion plan is increasing the value of your existing services. This will help you create high-end coaching packages that you can sell at a higher rate.
Some of the additional services you can add to your packages are…
- Chat support
- Accountability
- Group coaching cohorts
- Downloadable materials
- Online training
- Client communities
Wondering what your clients would actually need and appreciate from these? Ask them! A client survey can reveal a lot about potential new ways you can support the people you’re working with and open doors to new expansion opportunities.
Once your new packages are complete, review your pricing structure. Make sure that your fees align with the added value you now provide while staying competitive in your niche.
Explore New Locations
There’s this great thing called the internet, which allows us to conduct sessions from anywhere in the world and create change in someone’s life sitting 10,000 miles from us. According to studies, online coaching has the same effectiveness as traditional or in-person coaching, so you don’t have to compromise on results to start coaching globally.
So long as your clients speak the same language as you (literally, in this case), the world is your oyster. Explore new channels and geographical locations in your digital marketing efforts and work on your online presence. Make sure all your profiles and websites are up-to-date, professional, and discoverable — a great SEO strategy will do the magic for you.
Build a Team
By now, you’ve probably noticed that expanding your coaching business is no small feat, so you’re going to need all the help you can get.
One way to offload your menial (and not-so-menial) tasks is to hire an external contractor to manage your projects, run your marketing campaigns, or take care of your accounting.
[ Read: The Ultimate Guide to Hiring a Project Manager for Life Coaches ]
You can also team up with associates and build a coaching brand that reaches beyond you personally. Having more coaches on board means a bigger capacity to serve new clients. Additionally, you can adjust your messaging to fit local cultures, languages, and tastes in the regions where your team operates by using the best online translator tools.
Make Your Intake More Sustainable
A low-cost solution for growing your business revenue is to minimize your client acquisition cost. This means having clients come to you without spending a dime on marketing.
One way to achieve this is to extend your customer lifetime value (CLV), in other words, get more repeat clients. Once you’ve solved a problem for your client, think of what the next challenge is in their life or business and how you could help them with that. You can also create loyalty programs for repeat clients to encourage them to sign up with you again.
Another way to get clients organically is to encourage referrals with rewards. Like attracts like, and referrals often bring in contacts who fit your ideal client profile.
Establish Your Personal Brand
Potential clients who know, like, and trust you are much more likely to sign with you. You can achieve this by building brand recognition and sharing your expertise through speaking and publishing opportunities.
Opportunities that can build your personal brand are…
- Publishing articles in industry-specific online magazines and journals
- Speaking at events related to your niche
- Getting interviews on podcasts, as well as YouTube, radio, and TV channels
- Organizing and advertising your own webinars
- Getting featured in online courses and training programs as a guest lecturer
These partnerships can expose you to new audiences and grow your reach within your target market.
Franchise Your Coaching Business
If you have a unique coaching methodology that you think others could successfully replicate, franchising your coaching business could be a great opportunity for you. It basically means licensing your business model and procedures to other coaches who then sell your branded products and services.
Using a franchising model can spread your brand like wildfire and bring in a significant amount of new revenue. However, launching it can cost you tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars, and it can be a highly complex procedure. Don’t jump into it before weighing your options and considering what you can afford.
Risks of Business Expansion to Look Out for
Now, we’ve talked about the good part. But we can’t wrap this article up without warning you about the potential risks of business expansion you need to look out for.
- Financial risks: Expanding your coaching business can come with significant costs that you’ll need to cover from either your own savings or from a business loan. If the expansion is successful, this will be a great financial investment. However, if it doesn’t bring the expected returns, it might lead to financial loss or debt.
- Operational Risks: Scaling up means dealing with more complex operations. You’ll need to rethink your processes and how you manage your coaching business. You may find that you have more on your plate than you can handle, and your new contractors might require some initial training before they can run the show.
- Reputation Risks: Rapid changes in your business can sometimes compromise the quality of your services, especially if you’re franchising it. You’ll need to run stricter quality checks to make sure you meet or raise your current standards and protect your reputation.
Of course, all these can be avoided if you manage your resources carefully and create a well-thought-out strategy. Make sure you develop a business expansion plan with a solid financial projection to mitigate risks.
How to Finance Your Business Expansion?
Expanding a business can come with significant costs, especially for small business owners like you. The cost of expansion in your coaching business will largely depend on your chosen strategies and the degree of how far you’re stretching yourself.
Funding business expansion can be done through…
- Raising money through crowdfunding platforms
- Bootstrapping using your business revenue
- Tapping into your personal savings
- Taking out a business loan
- Generating extra revenue through new online products
Whichever way you choose, make sure you have a well-thought-out financial plan before you involve external funds.
And while you’re in the process of scaling your business, you might want to check out Paperbell.
This all-in-one client management tool was created by coaches for coaches like you to help run your day-to-day processes like a well-oiled machine. It includes the payment process, contract signing, scheduling, and more. Try Paperbell now for free with your first client.
