Picture Molly, a business coach who has enjoyed success in her coaching business for many years. She could do her job on auto-pilot, and most days, she does. She enjoys the income and freedom her professional success allows, and happily spends her days “doing what she’s always done.”
Eventually, she starts to notice a big drop in both clients and sales. While she is stumped about the sudden drop, she does nothing to correct it, and opts for a non-proactive “wait and see” attitude. It doesn’t take long before Molly’s once successful coaching business is in dire straits.
Does Molly remind you a little bit of yourself?
It’s natural for our businesses and our client’s businesses to morph and change over time; so when we are busy “doing what we’ve always been doing,” we often miss the boat and fail to see opportunities and trends that will help our businesses continue to grow rather than getting stuck, stale and off track. Business professionals in a position of complacency tend to take the biggest hit when changes in life or economy occur. All entrepreneurs and business owners need to continually adapt, evolve, re-evaluate. Roll with the punches, so to speak.
Change is a necessary part of doing business. To stay on top of things in business, you need to adjust, regroup and grow, or get left in the dust.
Molly’s main issue was taking her once loyal client base for granted and ignoring the need for change in her professional life and business. After years of coaching one-on-one from behind a computer screen, and never really making the effort to network or become visible in the social media world, or by attending offline events relevant to her target market or industry, she became invisible; lost in the noise and hustle of coaches offering similar services. Her competitors, willing to be seen and heard online, as well as engage face-to-face, were capturing her market of potential new clients. Molly had become as elusive as Bigfoot. Her clients knew she was “out there somewhere,” but the sightings were few and far between. Soon her clients succumbed to the lure of something bigger and better … elsewhere.
Does Your Coaching Business Have Gaps?
Similar to Molly’s, most businesses have “gaps.” Those areas or weak spots in your overall business plan for success that are overlooked or neglected. Maybe your “gap” is a lack of social media presence and powerful relationships with your clients, or like Molly, both social media and the opportunity to be seen and physically accessible to both potential clients and existing clients. The lesson here is; when you have gaps of any kind in your business, you’re opening a door and making it easy for the competition to slide right on in.
So, what are the gaps, or loopholes, in your brand or business? Is there room for improvement? Are there things you could be doing to excite your clients and solidify relationships? It’s time to identify your gaps and determine what is needed to change with the times. If your “gaps” are areas caused by limited time and knowledge to effectively maintain and grow your business, take the necessary steps to get the help you need to close up those loopholes ASAP.
We all need to take a step back and take stock of what we are doing and where our businesses are going (or not going). Sometimes life events force us to change quickly, while other changes are more gradual. Some changes are good, some bad. In the long run, however, change should always challenge us and make us take a closer look at our businesses in a new light.
Where are the “gaps” in your business; and what can you do to close them?
