The business side of coaching can easily be overlooked. It seems so easy: a couple of weekends' training then coach everyone around you. They will so impressed that they tell everyone they know. And within 3 months you have a full coaching practice

The message is finally starting to get through that it isn't necessarily that easy. On the whole, new coaches will need to spend years, not months, building their business and developing their business skills

Recently I had the pleasure of chairing "Coaching Essentials 2005", a 1-day conference in London. It was good to see a conference which offered some strong presentations on the business side of coaching

Here are a few highlights

The day started with a panel discussion on "How do we build a strong foundation for the future of coaching in the UK?"

Having representatives from three different standardisation/accreditation bodies on the panel, UK-only (Association for Coaches, represented by Katherine Tulpa, Chair & Founder), Europe-wide (European Coaching Institute, Martin Mitchell, Head of Marketing & PR) and world-wide (International Coach Federation, Chris Carling, Director at Large, Member Communications), prompted one of the attendees to ask which body to choose. After all, a standard is only useful if enough coaches and coaching clients adopt it. Martin Mitchell explained that discussions are going on between the various bodies which may result in a coming together or harmonisation of standards

The other panel members were Joanne Mallon, Life and Media Coaching; David Bates, The Coaching Club; and Philip Gimmack, Chair of the London Coaching Circle. The panel observed how, as a profession or industry, coaching is still in its early stages. Even if you have recently entered the profession, you can still call yourself a pioneer. Be part of creating a strong foundation for coaching, for instance by promoting your own business and coaching in general

For the first presentation, James Butler, Admissions Director, Coach U Europe, encouraged us to look at the steps that a coaching client goes through, from discovering coaching, choosing a coach, first coaching session, until the final session and hopefully referrals. Find the 'moments of truth' in this process and make sure that at each point the client is left with a positive experience

Carlton McCleary, the conference organiser, MD, the CAM Agency, showed us how to learn about branding by comparing brands of similar products. For instance, comparing copies of different national newspapers will highlight the different aspects of their brands. Translate this learning into your own brand and make sure your potential clients get an all-round positive and consistent experience of your brand

David Bates, Founder, The Coaches Club, gave us the image of a ladder, with each rung being a differently priced coaching product or service. The closer the rungs, the easier it is for a client to climb the ladder to increasingly higher value products or services. For instance: website (leads to), ezine (leads to), teleclass (leads to), Coaches Club (leads to), 1-1 coaching. The step from website or brochure directly to 1-1 coaching is just too big for many potential clients. The added, and perhaps essential, benefit is the additional income from the intermediate steps

Myles Downey, Co-founder and Director of Studies, The School of Coaching, talked about the inner work of being a successful coach. To develop confidence as a coach look at the three cornerstones of confidence:
1. Authority (your past, such as training, qualifications and experience)
2. Presence (how you show up now) and
3. Impact (your vision for the future).

He also stressed the importance of being able to coach on directive to non-directive:
Knowing (most directive),
Process,
Structure,
Following interest (least directive)

Joanne Mallon, Life and Media Coach, demonstrated an effective way to get media exposure for your coaching. List the publications your target audience reads, especially the smaller publications. For instance, golf magazines for executives. See where the gaps are, for you to cover with a well-written article. Make sure your article fits in with the topic and style of the publication

Shaun O'Reilly, Authentic Practice, made a strong case for having a niche. What will be your approach:
- "No way, José" - no niche, no results,
- The "Bus stop approach" - wait for your niche to show up by itself, or
- The "Diving board approach" - take a leap of faith
Look at your passions, your professional background, your personality and your existing clients

Gary Outrageous, MD, Gary Outrageous Inc, all but pleaded with us to be outrageous and scientific. Try out different versions of your marketing material (tag line, brochure, 10 second introduction). There is far too much boring marketing and networking going on; who wants to meet another "I'm an accountant"?

Chris Carling, Director at Large, Member Communications, the UK ICF, gave us an inspiring vision for coaching in the coming years. Reaching into her coaching toolkit, she used visualisation skills to bring up a strong future for our profession, with effective dialogue with the business world, research to show us what works and coaching being a part of many people's lives

Shola Arewa, Inner Visions, rounded off the day with a presentation on "Staying Power". Shola pulled together the many strands of the day, gave it a larger meaning and showed us how to have success without stress

The conference was a great success. Everyone I spoke with had had an excellent day, filled with information and inspiration. I was left feeling optimistic about the many possibilities for new and established coaches to create a thriving practice. Don't miss "Coaching Essentials 2006"

Coen de Groot