Common Challenges Faced by Coaching Businesses

After years of executive coaching, I started noticing something surprising. No matter the company size, industry, or title, leaders tend to run into the same seven challenges again and again. These patterns form the backbone of where coaching has the highest impact. Here is a quick breakdown: 1. Strategy and Planning → Leaders need a second brain for refining strategy, mapping trade-offs, and deciding what not to do. 2. Org Structure and Systems → Structure is the bridge between strategy and execution. Misalignment here is one of the most expensive leadership mistakes. 3. Execution and Accountability → Execution breaks when ownership, rhythms, and decision systems aren’t clear. 4. Culture → Culture is what people do when no one is watching. Coaches help define, design, and reinforce the behaviors that truly matter. 5. Crisis Navigation → When playbooks fail, leaders need clarity, calm, and a neutral voice to guide next steps. 6. Communication and Influence → C-level roles are influence roles. How you communicate often matters more than what you communicate. 7. Personal and Career Growth → You cannot scale your company faster than you scale yourself. Coaching helps eliminate blind spots and accelerate growth. Have you experienced another theme with your own leadership team challenges? Add it in the comments and we may get to a “Top 10”.

I know this will make me unpopular with my own industry but I think the coaching world has a massive accountability problem and we need to talk about it: There is no barrier to entry worth mentioning. Someone can do a weekend course, print a certificate, call themselves an executive coach, and start charging founders £500 an hour on Monday. It doesn't matter if they have no clinical training, no business experience, no supervision, and no ongoing development requirements. Try that in therapy or medicine or law and you'd be shut down in a week. But in coaching, we've built an industry where the credentials are optional, the outcomes are unmeasured, and the bar for entry is essentially "I read Brené Brown and I'm a good listener." I say this as someone who's spent 20 years building a coaching practice. I've invested heavily in training, supervision, and professional development because the work demands it. When a founder sits across from me in genuine distress, navigating a co-founder breakdown or a potential company collapse, the stakes are real and the consequences of bad advice are real. The idea that anyone with a certificate and a LinkedIn headline can do this work safely is terrifying. The founders I see who've been burned by coaching (and there are a LOT of them) weren't failed by the concept. They were failed by practitioners who didn't have the skills, the experience, or the self-awareness to work in this space. And the industry's response is always the same: "Well, not all coaches..." as if the existence of good coaches somehow excuses the complete absence of quality control. We need standards, accountability, and to stop pretending that the market will sort this out, because the market is full of founders who can't tell the difference between a skilled practitioner and a confident one until it's too late. TAKEAWAY If you're a founder looking for a coach, ask for references from other founders. Ask what supervision they have and what happens when they're out of their depth. If the answer is vague, keep looking. The good ones will welcome the scrutiny. The others will tell you that coaching is "about the relationship, not the credentials." Run.

Building a successful career coaching business isn’t easy. It’s rewarding, yes. But it requires facing some uncomfortable truths. Here’s what you need to know if you want to grow in 2025: 1️⃣ You Can’t Serve Everyone. Trying to be everything to everyone will only leave you overwhelmed and ineffective. Pick a niche, specialize, and own it. 2️⃣ Your Experience Alone Isn’t Enough. Being a great coach isn’t just about helping people. It’s about running a business. You need systems, marketing, and sales skills to thrive. 3️⃣ AI Is Here to Stay. If you’re not leveraging AI to streamline tasks and improve client outcomes, you’ll be left behind. It’s a tool, not a threat. 4️⃣ You’ll Work Harder Than Ever at First. The early days are tough. Balancing content creation, client work, and marketing will stretch you. But if you stay consistent, the payoff is worth it. 5️⃣ Not All Clients Are a Good Fit. Saying yes to the wrong clients can drain your time and energy. Learn to say no and focus on working with those who align with your avatar. 6️⃣ Selling Is Non-Negotiable. You can’t avoid sales if you want to succeed. Learn how to sell authentically because no sales = no business. 7️⃣ Consistency Wins Every Time. Posting one piece of content won’t transform your business. Showing up regularly and staying consistent will. 2025 isn’t about working harder. It’s about working smarter. If you’re ready to take on these challenges, the opportunities are endless. Which of these truths resonates with you the most?

One of the companies/people I invested in 7 years ago made almost no profit for 7 years, and then, "Overnight," they took off. That person, Abby, founded a local one-location gym, and we've learned many important lessons from it: 1. You must know DEEPLY who you are, what you do, who you serve, how you best serve them, and how you'll present yourself to the world. Abby initially knew her coaching model, but she did NOT know their deepest beliefs around who their best fit members were. They learned they're a VERY EMPATHETIC "strength and accountability coaching program" for people who have greatly struggled to workout consistently. They have 0 athletes and 0 "firebreathers," and they're better for it. 2. You must build your operational model and ensure everybody executes on it exquisitely. About 6 years ago, Abby brought in another outstanding coach, Logan, who shares her beliefs in how and why to coach people, and they spent YEARS building their own version of education and training for their coaches. While you can learn from a textbook, its the consistency of delivering your own brand's hospitality that really attracts and retains members 3. You must boot people out who do not deliver on your brand's promise - in 5+ instances, Abby was forced to remove members and coaches who negatively disrupted the energy in their facility. There is a slippery slope here, but I too often find that founders default too soft, and it harms them. 4. You must SURVIVE FINANCIALLY until you figure out how to win. I understand that in "moon shot" companies, you must grow fast, but not every company is a venture company. Many people want to do good, grow nicely, and impact their members and themselves for decades. And, for MOST small business owners, they start too fast and run out of cash before they've internalized the business lessons costing them growth and profits. 5. You must figure out YOUR SALES OFFER - These will evolve, but so many businesses never find the "no brainer offer" that gets somebody who may be in the buying market to say "Dang! I need that NOW!" This is hard, but you must test and iterate until you find it. 6. You must market your a ton! Every day you must meet new people, more deeply understand your own audience/product/benefits, pitch those benefits to people, build great content and storytelling around your people and product/benefits, and build a very specific pathway for people to travel down to get to your offer and take it. **In this case, everything was working beautifully internally; Abby had great retention, an awesome culture, and a model/team that could effectively handle more members. And then, they found the sales offer and drove ads well to it and took off! 7. You must be resilient as all hell! Think about this - 7 years of skating by, of working your tail off, of not knowing if it'll work, and Abby and her team NEVER STOPPED. Not once. Congrats Abby. You deserve every ounce of it

The Coach-to-Coach Economy: When the Money is Made Off Other Coaches Don't get me wrong, there are some well-meaning coaches out there - I've worked with a few excellent ones myself. But my goodness, I get at least 3 DMs daily about sales funnels, podcasting strategies, and assessment certifications. It seems we've created a strange ecosystem where a significant portion of coaching revenue comes not from serving end clients but from coaches selling to other coaches. If I get another DM from a Founder/Coach trying to sell me on their supposed "silver bullet" for coaches to make 5-7 figure months, I'm going to blow a gasket. They all claim to have THE answer: "1:1 coaching is dead!" "You MUST coach within organizations!" "Team coaching is the ONLY ticket to success!" "Get high ticket clients ONLY!" As if working with anyone paying less than $5K per month somehow diminishes your worth as a coach. Here's the thing—if we aren't careful, we trade the corporate hamster wheel that we so desperately wanted to escape for the entrepreneur hamster wheel of endless masterminds and coaching gurus. Most of these self-proclaimed experts are making their 6-7 figures off the backs of actual coaches with a genuine passion for helping leaders and everyday human beings. This creates several concerning dynamics: - The perpetual education loop where coaches constantly invest in more certifications rather than actually coaching - An endless stream of "proven systems" promising to bypass the hard work of building a genuine practice - Credential inflation that pressures coaches to acquire more certifications to remain competitive - Financial strain as new coaches go into debt before establishing a stable client base - The focus shifts from impact to income as the primary measure of success - Newer coaches feel inadequate if they aren't commanding top dollar immediately - The industry becomes less accessible to those who could truly benefit from coaching Particularly troubling is that many coach-to-coach businesses sell hope and shortcuts rather than sustainable business practices. They showcase outlier success stories while glossing over the reality that building a thriving coaching practice typically requires time, patience, and genuine client results. As I enter my seventh year of coaching, I've had enough. I need quiet. I trust my intuition more, so I feel far more creative and excited about the next evolution of my business. The most successful coaches I know have built their practices primarily through delivering exceptional value to their clients, not by following the latest marketing formula sold in someone's DM funnel or obsessing over price point. Are you tired of the bamboozlement? Comment "sick and tired" if you've had enough of trading one hamster wheel for another and are ready to create your own authentic path. I said, what I said!🙃 #coaching #businessbuilding #coachingindustry

The Real Reason Coaches Get Stuck—and How to Break Through You know what surprises most leaders who leave the corporate world to become coaches? It’s not how hard the work is. It’s how uncertain the path can feel. These are experienced, accomplished professionals. They’ve led teams, delivered results, and made things happen in complex environments. So when they launch a coaching business, they expect clarity and momentum to follow them. But it doesn’t. Not right away. Instead, they find themselves in a swirl of questions: 👉 “Do I need a niche?” 👉 “Should I focus on leadership or career coaching?” 👉 “Is LinkedIn the best place to market?” 👉 “How do I even describe what I do?” It’s frustrating—especially after building a successful career. Here’s the truth I wish more new coaches knew: Coaching skills and business-building skills are not exactly the same. You can be an incredible coach and still feel unclear when it comes to building a business that actually works. The Trap of Overwhelm Most new coaches try to do everything at once— download templates, join Facebook groups, launch newsletters, tweak offers. It’s not for lack of effort. What’s missing is focus. You don’t need 17 strategies. You need one clear path that fits who you are. 🌟 The business you want is already in you. It’s in your story, your strengths, your values, and your experience. Designing it with intention starts by answering three core questions: 1. Who is the one type of client you’re best suited to serve? (Hint: They’re often a version of who you used to be.) 2. What real-world challenge are they facing? (Think productivity, retention, profitability, leadership presence.) 3. What outcome are you uniquely positioned to support? (The clearer you are, the more your message lands.) When you build your business around these answers, everything changes: ✅ Your message sharpens. ✅ Your content resonates. ✅ Discovery calls convert. ✅ Clients understand your value—and so do you. You Don’t Need Another Certification So many new coaches think the next credential will create momentum. But confidence doesn’t come from certifications. It comes from clarity. When you know who you serve and what you help them achieve, you stop second-guessing. You start showing up. And you attract the right clients. You Were Meant for This If you’ve been feeling stuck, scattered, or tired of trying to figure it all out alone—this is your invitation. ✨ You don’t need more noise. ✨ You need a clear, grounded structure that honors who you are. ✨ You need to build the business only you can build. One that reflects your full value. One that gives you both impact and freedom. One you actually love showing up for.

I asked a confused coach to answer three simple questions last month. Two days later, he called me: I just signed my ideal client at double my usual rate. Most coaches don’t struggle with marketing tactics. They struggle with client clarity. They post endlessly, tweak their offers, and burn money on ads— But the real issue? They don’t know who will actually pay them. 💡 Here’s how to fix it: Ask yourself these three questions: 🎯 What problems do my clients KNOW they have? (Not what you think they need—what they’re actively searching for a solution to.) 🗣 What exact words do they use to describe these problems? (Not coaching jargon—use their language, their frustrations, their pain points.) 🔍 What have they already tried that didn’t work? (This is your competitive advantage. If they’ve already spent money elsewhere and didn’t get results, they’re primed for your solution.) 💡 When coaches apply this, their results change instantly: Mark: From 0 to 3 clients in 3 weeks. Sarah: Raised rates by 40%—with no pushback. Jamie: Simplified messaging and doubled discovery call bookings. Getting clients isn’t about trying harder. It’s about getting clearer. What’s the biggest challenge you face when describing your ideal client? Let’s discuss below! 👇 #coachingbusiness #clarity #messaging #entrepreneurship #community

Here's why 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐥𝐞 to get clients (and 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐱 𝐢𝐭) A lot of coaches I talk to tell me the same thing: "I know I’m a great coach, but I just can't seem to get enough clients." They’ve spent years learning how to coach - getting certifications, working with mentors, taking courses - 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐧𝐨 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬. Here’s the truth: 𝐁𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬. If you’re struggling to get clients, it usually comes down to one of these 3 things: 1. 𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 A lot of coaches think they need to be generalists. “I help people transform their lives.” Cool… but what does that actually mean? When you try to speak to everyone, no one really listens. If someone asked, “Do you know a coach who helps corporate executives transition to entrepreneurship without burning out?” Would they think of you? If not, you’re probably too vague. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐱? ➡️ Get hyper-specific. Define who you help in a way that makes people say, “Oh, I know someone who needs that!” 2. 𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐲 Most struggling coaches still sell hourly sessions or vague programs that sound like: ❌ “6 sessions for $X” ❌ “A 12-week coaching package” 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬 - 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐬. A potential client isn’t thinking, “I need to buy 6 calls.” They’re thinking, “I need to get unstuck and finally move forward.” 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐱? ➡️ 𝐒𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞. Package your offer around a clear outcome, like: “6 weeks to land your first high-ticket client” “A 90-day system to scale from $5K/month to $15K/month” “Build your dream coaching business in 6 months” 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲’𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭. 3. 𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 This one’s simple. Most coaches say they need more clients… but they’re not actually talking to potential clients every day. I’ll ask, “How many people have you had a real conversation with this week?” And they’ll say, “Uh… maybe two?” That’s not enough. The fastest way to get clients is to have more conversations. If you’re not talking to people daily, your business will struggle. Period. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐱? ➡️ Block out 30-60 minutes a day for connection. Reach out, follow up, and engage with your network. The more you show up, the more opportunities will come your way. Which one of these is keeping you stuck right now? Drop a #1, #2, or #3 in the comments - and if you want help, DM me. I’ll hop on a free strategy call with zero selling to help you get unstuck.

The path to scaling a coaching business to $10M is a tough one once you’re around $1M-$3M in ARR. From the clients I’ve helped scale to $10M+ per year, they almost always get stuck between $1M-$3M for about a full year or two until they change a few things. Here’s what I see (from a marketer/media buyers perspective and the pivot to scale to $10M+) 1. When they start reaching $1M-$3M per year, most of these coaches have virtual assistants and a few specialists/agencies running their business…with the client still heavily involved in marketing, sales, and fulfillment. Their time is really limited and most of the time running with their heads cut off just trying to survive the week with all the checklist items they got. Hiring an executive team is usually the fix to offload more day-to-day and have departments for ownership (a CMO, COO or Head Coach, Head of Sales, CFO). 2. Employee performance churn is the 2nd largest bottleneck on why a coaching company can’t past the $3M/year mark. Hiring is a hard skill, and being a good CEO is also a hard skill to learn for whatever business you run. Since they’re having to hire more, they’re also having to fire more often too when employees don’t hit KPI’s. For this particular client, we went through a year of 2 different exec teams and many setters / closers to finally find ‘our people’. 3. Lead quality dropping for your coaching offer is the last thing that often see as adspend increases When you start spending over $100k-$300k/month on Meta, depending on how broad your niche/TAM is…I’ve seen lead quality be an issue. It makes it really important to improve your messaging to qualify in the ad copy / creatives, but also in the landing page and targeting. Can also always add more friction to your optin form or booking form so that Meta is only sending the highest intent events. 4. Making the most of your leads during this phase is crucial. A lot of my clients built their businesses solely on paid ads to cold traffic which is great… …but leveraging organic to nurture the cold is what’s going to increase your ROAS significantly. The hybrid model really is the best approach whether just starting or been in the game for a while. But when you get more established and want to grow to $10M+, if you’re able to leverage organic social simultaneously with paid social, you’ll see a huge LIFT in ROAS. The amount of times I’ve seen clients start making long form YouTube content and Instagram content and seeing the customer journey converting them on an organic piece of content is wild. Anyways, lmk if youyou agree , completely disagree, etc. This is from my perspective being with certain clients for years on what I’ve seen. And what else do you see on the path to $10M+?

I struggled to get clients, but I found a way out. Here is what I’ve learned the hard way to build my coaching business: ❌ Mistake 1 : Selling Coaching, Selling Processes ✅ Lesson : No one wants to buy coaching. People want to buy OUTCOMES. Share success stories, create possibilities. ➡️ The Shift: Once I understood this, my conversion rate jumped from 20% to 80%. How? By asking the magic question: "What would SUCCESS look like if we were to work together? ❌Mistake 2: Wanting to coach everyone because….“If I “niche down”, I will reduce the number of potential clients”  ✅Lesson: This is the exact opposite. To survive in this crowded industry, differentiate yourself. Narrow down your niche. ❌Mistake 3: Loving coaching, despising the business of coaching  ✅Lesson: Leverage and invest in your coaching skills to become a great salesperson: 1. Listen with empathy 2. Understand pain points 3. Ask powerful questions 4. Create a sense of urgency for immediate action. ➡️ Remember: Your coaching skills are your business superpowers. ❌Mistake 4: Being afraid to post on Linkedin, afraid to be judged. ✅Lesson: People might judge you but people will see you. Stick to your values. Stick to your mission. Share how you want to help and the impact you want to make.   LinkedIn is the best platform to create awareness and generate leads. ➡️ Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there. What would you add in # 5 ? What lessons did you learn? I am Geraldine, founder of GoMasterCoach PS: If you enjoyed this, save it and follow me for more on coaching and leadership in future. #mistakes #entrepreneur #business