Many coaches have told me that all they wish for is a full coaching practice. This was also what a client of mine, Linda, really wished for. She mapped out exactly how she saw her full practice - 25 clients, each one signed up for her 2-sessions a month package.

After creating a marketing plan, and diligently using it to Linda got her wish. She had 25 clients she enjoyed working with, each one was signed up for her 2-sessions a month package.

But, she was still having some issues:

- She wanted to coach only three days a week and spend the other two days on in-person networking events, marketing and spending time with her family. This proved to be impossible, because she could not coordinate the schedules of 26 people (25 clients and her) to fit all the sessions into Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. As a result she didn’t have the free days to do her networking and marketing that she originally thought she would.

- She didn’t have time to market and network - because she didn’t have her free days, it became hard to fit her marketing and networking in-between her client sessions.

- After some time of working with 25 clients she became tired and overwhelmed She hired an assistant to schedule and re-schedule clients and take care of all the admin work. While doing that definitely helped, she was still feeling overwhelmed.

- She wanted to work with more people, but she could not physically take on any more clients.

She started not enjoying her work as much as she used to - she was tired, overwhelmed and she knew that she was not doing some of the things she needed to do. She wasn’t able to help everyone she wanted to help, she had no time for marketing, and, most importantly, she started not enjoying her work!

Be careful what you wish for. One question that I ask my new coaching clients is: “If I could grant any wish for your coaching business, what would it be?” Many coaches that I have worked with told me immediately that their wish would be for a full coaching practice. Many coaches believe that the only way to have a successful business is by having a full practice. And this is not true. There are many different ways to have an extremely successful coaching business:

- Some coaches don’t have to work with one-on-one clients at all. Some coaches I know only work with clients in group settings.

- You can offer create a very successful coaching business by helping your clients with information products. Teleseminars, audios, e-courses, ebooks, study guides - you can offer these information products in addition to your coaching services. That way you will be able to work with very few clients one-on-one and you will be able to help many more clients with your products.

There are many more ways to structure your coaching business. You could membership web sites to offer different levels of coaching programs. You could offer a group coaching program and give your participants an option to buy a few one-on-one sessions when they need additional help. You are only limited by your imagination!

You are running your own coaching business, which means that you set the rules. If the current coaching business model that you have isn’t working for you, map out the coaching model that will fit you better and then create a plan to achieve it!

Linda in the example above decided not to take on any additional clients until she was down to 15 clients. So every time a client graduated, she didn’t look for a replacement, but instead used the time she had freed up to market, build her list and create information products. Later, she decided that her ideal coaching business was a mix of 10 one-on-one clients, teleseminars and a membership web site.

What is a model of YOUR ideal coaching business? Post a comment and share with us!

Biana Babinsky

P.S. Learn how to create your ideal coaching business at the online business mentoring web site