One of the pillars of having a successful coaching practice is an effective, well-thought-out business budget. A solid budget plan is a must if you want to allocate funds to particular resources evenly whist maximising your return: towards your online marketing strategy for instance. A budget lets you review and monitor your past and present expenses and revenue. It helps you map out your next moves and plan for the future. When you have a small coaching business with limited capital, smart budget practices will make it possible for you to grow to your full potential.
Unless you’re one of those people who just love crunching numbers, budgeting is often an overwhelming and daunting task for many coaches. It doesn’t need to take serious time and effort away from your core activities, although, creating a budget plan requires you to take a hard, honest look at the state of your coaching practice. Sometimes, the ability to be objective and non-emotional about money in your business can be the toughest thing about budgeting.
To make sure your coaching business runs on solid ground, money-wise, consider the following budget principles:
Make it visual. Write it down on paper or use a whiteboard to map out your goals. Or you can use a spreadsheet or budgeting software. The key is to find a way to make information organised, accessible and easy to understand.
Ask around. You don’t have to start from scratch. Use tested and proven standards to increase accuracy and efficiency but make sure to customise it to suit your business. You can also ask your business owners’ network or peers if they have some tips on tools and systems to use.
Update on a regular basis. Update your figures regularly. It’s best to create a routine and stick to it. This can be hard to input data when you’re dealing with several weeks’ backlog. Aside from entering information, make sure you do a regular review, preferably with your accountant, to detect errors and gaps, see opportunities for improvement, and address any problems or concerns.
Make room for the unexpected. No matter how meticulously and diligently you plan for the future, remember that there will always be risks and surprises in business. Make sure you know how to manage these changes when they happen. Your budget should make allowances for things such as the sudden loss of a client or an increase in business tax. A former colleague of mine who now runs his own consultancy business sets aside 40% of revenue as a contingency plan and then pays himself a “bonus” at the end of the year if he does not have to use it.
Get help from an expert. Bootstrapping is a great way to jumpstart a coaching practice, but you should also be prepared to invest in the services of professionals and specialists if you want to see impactful results. It is hard to go past the advice of an accountant or financial adviser when it comes to the finances.
Many financially challenged coaches continue to allocate $0 of their marketing budget to online marketing; for reasons they don’t really even understand, or for reasons they choose to ignore.
The most successful coaches have more people visiting their website than they get referrals or business card requests. But it’s no accident; it’s because they have built an online presence leveraging their expertise and a platform to enlighten and engage can their audience.
Dying coaches continue focusing their budget on traditional marketing strategies… while consumers flock to the internet, and competitors’ websites. This doesn’t make any sense!?
There is no time to waste, establish your website today, create great and get found on Google content. I will help you enhance your profile, get more clients and grow your business.