Yoga for the Mind | Personal Musings from Andrea: Would you like a regular paycheck?
Dear Coach,
Would you like a regular paycheck?
For being a coach/doing coaching?
A paycheck that you didn’t have to market yourself to earn?
Oh, you would have to work for sure; you would have to retain the client and create results for them, generating word of mouth referral business that way…not a whiff of a question about that.
But if you could hang up your entrepreneurial hat, and stop the ‘hunt’ awhile…would you?
Because in a funny twist of the road, if you say ‘yes’ to the above, or believe you know coaches who would, you may be interested in some new developments occurring here.
For a long time now, I’ve been holding space for what I believe is the truly next big thing:
Figuring out how to bring clients to coaches, in a sustainable and ongoing fashion.
The entrepreneurial model is one that works. And, it’s not for everyone.
So where are the opportunities to be employed as a coach?
There have been a few handful of successful examples that I know of. And with the (re)opening of the consulting arm of my business this month, we’re discovering a few things:
(1) Although we do a passable-good job of teaching coaches how to use the multiple streams coaching model to build their business …a serious number of you would much prefer us not to teach it, but to do it for you.
(2) Of the coaches who are most interested in retaining our help to build and manage a passive revenue division for their business, all of them are well into six and seven figures of gross revenue.
(3) Six and seven figures of gross revenue not withstanding, these coaches are mostly still on their own, delivering everything, and experiencing more and more time/effort pressure. To keep earning, they have to keep working, every hour, every day.
(Contrary to conventional wisdom, many of these are coaches doing active coaching – no informational products yet – and earning quite decently. Or, the other category is very creative coaches who want other people to keep the passive revenue engine running.)
(4) As we help add passive and semi-passive, replicateable streams of earnings to these businesses, we have started to help them replicate themselves as well. This means hiring associate coaches to join their businesses.
(5) Although the numbers are still small, and this is early news, it looks like we may have the opportunity to create repeat connections between high earning coaches who want to work less, and not-necessarily-entrepreneurial-minded-but-trying-hard-at-it coaches who have first-rate coaching skills.
What do you think of all this?
One of the very interesting things at work here is what happens when I dig in and ask those 6+ figure ‘Hiring’ Coaches this question:
If you had 2 or 3 additional coaches selected by you on your team… would you still have to turn business away?
Their answers to date: “Yes.”
To which of course the consultant/coach in me says, “Well let’s get hiring then shall we?” 
Now before you send me your resume, hang on a sec. There will definitely be a time for that, and I’ll let you know how, when, and what in detail, probably early May.
And don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a call for hundreds or even dozens of ‘employee’ coaches as yet.
Scale is definitely an issue.
If this works on a small scale, meaning really works…the results being felt in pockets and hearts on all sides…
I’m looking forward to working together to scale the model up in numbers. But first things first.
What I wanted to share today is what I see as the beginning of a path in the grass…leading coaches whose natural gift is enrolment and marketing…to connect with coaches who enjoy the regularity of showing up to deliver great coaching.
Both are coaches…but with slight flavor differences.
I’m no expert in the lifecycle of a profession although I certainly have the curiosity and the heart to create something like this (big brush strokes) for coaching, if it proves itself out.
It seems to me that while we haven’t been looking, parts of the puzzle of ‘coaching as a meaningful and lucrative career’ have emerged more robustly than before, that we can now piece together.
I liken this to a big ole tap on the shoulder.
My own gift this last 30 days is in re-crystallizing my own value, in holding space for the solution, in connecting dots and people, in catalyzing, eliciting shifts in the conversation and watching for ‘what’s next.’
On a theme level, this is what I hope to act on, more, this year, with you.
It seems to me to be part of something that will allow more of us to relax into our individual genius work, and create a level of ‘genius’ work for the industry.
Relaxing. Not striving.
Now there’s a concept isn’t there?
So…what do you think? I’ll send out a ‘spec sheet’ on the first hires we’re doing as soon as we’re ready, in the next several weeks.
In the meantime, may I invite you to think about where you fit into this picture? What can you ‘not-help but’ do or be, when you’re being yourself?
#1: Do you naturally attract clients and wish you had more time in the day to service them?
Or…
#2: Do you naturally coach people to breakthroughs and effortless create change for the clients you have, loving the depth of relationship and connection each hour you spend on the phone?
#3: Other?
Email me which category you fall in and to express your thoughts.
Oh, and, if you’re so inclined…please don’t send in an application just yet. But just your thoughts at this point will help generate energy on the topic. Why are you interested and why do you think this is a worthwhile area for us to develop?
Thank you in advance. I look forward to exploring this hiking trail with you and will share progress as we go along.
