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Forbes
3 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
Elevating Your Coaching Quality While Building Your Business
Elissa Kelly is a Solopreneur Business Coach guiding leaders from corporate roles to thriving solopreneurship. You didn't climb the corporate ladder by delivering mediocre results. So, why would you build a coaching practice any differently? For executives entering the coaching world, the real challenge isn't choosing between quality and profitability; it's discovering how exceptional coaching can become your most powerful business strategy. While in my experience, much attention is given to business aspects—marketing, client acquisition and revenue generation—the fundamental quality of coaching services is paramount to sustainable success. Today, I'd like to explore the critical elements that ensure excellence in coaching practice, creating a foundation upon which a thriving coaching enterprise can be built. The Often Overlooked Foundation: Coaching Excellence In the excitement of launching a coaching business, many new coaches focus primarily on business strategies, neglecting the very service they're selling. This oversight creates significant risk, both to client outcomes and to business sustainability. High coaching quality isn't merely an ethical imperative; it's a business necessity. Clients who experience transformative coaching become your most powerful marketing assets through referrals and testimonials. The clients who have become my most important sources of referrals are those who experienced transformational coaching that resulted in breakthroughs—big wins with their teams or promotions at work. Those transformational experiences occurred because I focused on becoming an exceptional coach and continuing to grow my expertise. 4 Essential Elements Of Coaching Excellence Coach certification through an accredited coaching school isn't optional in today's professional coaching landscape. This requirement serves dual purposes. First, certification programs provide structured skill development. Coaching is a precise discipline requiring specific competencies that must be learned, practiced and refined. These programs offer systematic training in foundational coaching methodologies, ethical frameworks and client-centered approaches that transform well-meaning conversations into powerful catalytic experiences. Second, certification provides essential market credibility. Organizations investing in executive coaching are increasingly demanding certified coaches. HR departments and procurement teams often list certification as a minimum requirement when selecting coaching providers. For those building a coaching business, this credibility opens doors to corporate clients. The International Coaching Federation (ICF) offers progressive certification levels—ACC, PCC and MCC—that reflect a coach's experience and demonstrated competency. While the initial investment may seem substantial, it represents the entry point to the professional coaching community and is a prerequisite for sustainable growth. Self-reflection represents the difference between coaches who plateau and those who continuously evolve. Implementing a structured reflection process after each coaching session creates a feedback loop that accelerates professional development. Effective reflection includes examining key moments in coaching conversations, identifying missed opportunities for powerful questions, recognizing when assumptions may have influenced your approach and evaluating the overall impact of your interventions. For me, this means proactively scheduling time after each coaching session to reflect and make notes to support both the client's growth and my own. When I do this regularly, I become more aligned and can provide the best coaching experience for my clients. This reflective cycle transforms every client interaction into a learning opportunity, allowing coaches to refine their approach continually and prevent falling into comfortable patterns that may limit effectiveness. The coaching profession continues to evolve rapidly. Maintaining relevance and maximizing impact requires commitment to lifelong learning through steps like: • Advanced assessment certifications (Hogan, Birkman, DISC) that provide objective data to enrich coaching conversations. My certifications in Birkman and Hogan have opened doors to client opportunities while building my expertise. • Specialized coaching certificates focused on specific contexts such as team coaching or leadership transitions. My team coaching diploma gave me deep understanding and expertise to support teams and grow that area of my practice. • Ongoing study of emerging research relevant to human development and behavioral change. The most successful coaches view education as an ongoing investment rather than a one-time achievement, allocating both time and financial resources to expanding their capabilities. I believe coach supervision is one of the most underutilized resources to build coaching excellence. Unlike many therapeutic disciplines where supervision is mandated, coaching supervision is optional—but it offers tremendous value. Supervision provides a structured relationship with a certified supervisor who helps examine your coaching practice, identifying blind spots, processing difficult client situations, maintaining appropriate boundaries and integrating business considerations without compromising coaching quality. Beyond developmental benefits, supervision connects coaches to a community of practice, reducing the isolation that independent coaches often experience. My experience with both group and individual supervision has led to rich awareness, deep relationships with other coaches and expanded business opportunities, making the investment well worth it. Integrating Excellence And Business Success Certification, reflection, continuing education and supervision constitute the foundation of coaching excellence. Far from distracting from business development, these practices enhance success by creating genuine differentiation in a crowded marketplace. When you can articulate your value proposition with authentic confidence, you generate consistent, remarkable client experiences that drive referrals and allow you to command premium rates based on demonstrable expertise. The most successful coaches recognize that business development and professional excellence are complementary rather than competing priorities. By maintaining an unwavering commitment to coaching quality while implementing sound business strategies, you create sustainable practices that deliver both financial rewards and profound client impact. In an industry where reputation is currency, investing in coaching excellence may be the most strategic business decision you can make. Forbes Coaches Council is an invitation-only community for leading business and career coaches. Do I qualify?
Forbes
08-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
To Grow Or Not To Grow: Your First Hire
Peter Boolkah (The Transition Guy): award-winning business coach, podcaster & speaker helping high-performing business owners get results. A sole trader is not a business; it is a job. You may have heard that before, and as hard as it is to hear it again, it is true. In the U.K., 56% of businesses are sole proprietorships. In the U.S., that figure is significantly lower at just over 10%. This is largely to do with different tax and obligatory regulations as well as liability. Also, the U.S. has a more active venture capital market, while the U.K. offers a mix of government grants and venture capital to support startups and new businesses. In all likelihood, it is fair to say that it would appear the U.K. is a slightly safer place for a sole trader. However, some may argue that this is stunting the U.K. sole traders' appetite for growth. The fundamental difference between a limited company (LTD), also known as a private limited company, is that shareholders aren't accountable for any debts the business might incur. However, with a limited liability company (LLC) prevalent in the U.S., owners are responsible for its debts. That in itself doesn't sound that great, but LTD companies pay corporate taxes on their profits, whereas LLCs' taxes are passed on to the members to pay on their personal income. This would make an LLC look somewhat more appealing. The Cost Of Hiring—Or Not Hiring Limited status aside, what one person can deliver to their clients is finite. This is where growth stops for a sole trader. The leap to employing someone can often seem too great; it comes with new responsibilities. Employing a team is a critical move for the growth of a business, though. Cost is the most significant factor in sole traders not hiring. It is a good idea to look at the cost of not hiring for your business. If you hire someone, what will that spend allow the business to deliver, and what is the worth of that? It might be an investment. Spend to accumulate. This is still a pretty scary prospect, but my advice is to start small. Consider a part-time employee, a freelancer or an apprentice initially. You don't have to jump straight to hiring a full-time, highly paid role. I would also urge all sole traders to look into the available funding. Government grants or support schemes are available for small businesses taking on their first employee, certainly in the U.K. When hiring that first person, it is worth considering what revenue you want to generate and hiring someone who can help with that—someone who can directly generate income. If hiring is new to you, then you may be worried about hiring the wrong person, and this can happen. However, don't rush. It is better to hire the right person than rush into it out of desperation. Invest time in developing a clear job description, conducting thorough interviews and checking references. Have a trial or probationary period, and remember that personality fit is important, but often, teachable skills will benefit your business more. Another sticking point is usually the legalities of hiring an employee, such as contracts, HR and payroll. These can seem like a real headache for a sole trader who does not have an HR department to take care of all this for them. Once again, there are solutions such as contract templates and AI programs that are relatively fuss-free and can take care of payroll for you. The benefits of hiring someone should outweigh the negatives: You'll have more capacity and be able to take on more clients and projects or sell more products. You can delegate the time-consuming tasks and free yourself up to tackle strategic thinking, sales and high-value work. Someone else besides you will bring fresh ideas and expertise to the business. It also adds another layer of professionalism to your business, which is always good for your reputation and business development. Decide If And How To Grow To grow or not to grow? Where do you start? Identifying your bottleneck is not just a buzzword; it is incredibly important to start here. Ask yourself what specific tasks are holding you back from growth right now. What do you wish someone else would do? Once you have identified that, you have your first role. The next step is to clearly define that. Be very clear about the tasks, responsibilities and the immediate value this person will bring. Don't just hire "help"; hire for a specific purpose. If you are concerned about cash flow, then start small and flexible. Consider a part-time hire, an apprentice or even a virtual assistant to test the waters. Get involved in a network of small business owners who have made the leap. If you can't access them face-to-face, there are lots of online resources and podcasts to help you. There are also business coaches trained in helping sole traders and SMEs in their growth programs. Athletes have coaches in order to compete at their highest level; it should be the same for businesses. To compete at your highest level, find a mentor and seek advice and a consistent growth program. Final Thoughts Always be thinking about scalability. The idea for many businesses is to build a business that isn't solely reliant on its founder. If that is what you want, then start building now! Forbes Coaches Council is an invitation-only community for leading business and career coaches. Do I qualify?
Forbes
16-06-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Turn This ChatGPT Prompt Into A Six-Figure Passive Income Stream
ChatGPT can help you unlock a six-figure freelance business that makes money while you sleep Everyone knows that ChatGPT is one of the most powerfully amazing productivity tools one can find. But just how well are you using it? The level of productivity that you can achieve with this AI tool is only just as good as how effective and specific your prompts are. If you know how to prompt ChatGPT strategically, you can begin to unlock a world of insights, leading to scalable, digital passive income streams, so you can make six figures…even while you sleep. About 61% of U.S. professionals currently have or are actively building a side hustle to make ends meet, a recent FlexJobs survey of over 2,200 workers found. Nearly half are willing to quit their full-time jobs in favor of 'better financial opportunities, including pursuing full-time side hustles,' the report noted, highlighting the demand from professionals to supplement their primary salaries. AI tools like ChatGPT--and knowing how to give it the right prompts strategically--can help you create a profitable side hustle business, that ultimately has the potential to replace your job. In this guide, you'll be walked through the ChatGPT prompt you need to start using now, so you can automate and begin creating your six-figure business and career. The power of this prompt lies in: 'Act as a freelance business coach. Ask me a list of questions to help me identify three profitable product ideas that are scalable and can be created in a weekend, based on my skill set in [area of expertise, your skill, or something you enjoy].' ChatGPT might generate ideas based on what you shared, such as a step-by-step framework or guide, checklists, worksheets, and notion templates, or content ideas. By taking this for inspiration, you can build products like: A word of caution: When using this ChatGPT prompt and receiving your output, be careful to not take it for what it is and run with it. Conduct research elsewhere. You can use tools like: These help improve your understanding of market data, and potential demand and traffic. This is crucial because sometimes ChatGPT's advice may be outdated by as little as a few months, and this can prove disastrous to your plans if you haven't conducted proper research. Additionally, never use ChatGPT or any other AI tool to completely generate every aspect of your digital products and marketing and engagement content. Be sure to define your unique brand voice and personality, and simply use AI tools to assist with outlines, ideas, grammar, and polishing final drafts. Using ChatGPT in any other way causes you to lose credibility and trust with your audience. One prompt. One weekend. One product…that scales into two, three four, even 10 products. And finally, you have scalable passive income streams so you can escape the corporate rat zone and live your dreams. As a growing solopreneur, ChatGPT is your best friend. Use it wisely and let it help you launch and outgrow your current salary. Can ChatGPT help me create a digital product? Yes, you can build workbooks, templates, journals, even mini-courses and swipe files, using AI to help you, granted you provided it with the necessary information and use it to enhance your existing expertise. What passive income streams can I build using AI? You can make six figures through selling digital offers and products AI tools, especially generative AI, are great for the ideation and building of passive income streams, such as courses or Notion templates. You can also create ebooks and packs for your target audience.
