Ep #3: Why a Cohesive Growth Strategy is Essential

Welcome to The Life Coach Business Podcast, a show for coaches who are ready to up-level their business and take their impact, leadership, and results to a whole new level. If you’re ready to start taking powerful action and become the leader your business needs in order to grow and thrive, this show is for you. I’m your host, Amanda Karlstad, certified life and business coach, and entrepreneurial leadership expert.  Now, let’s get down to business.

Hello and welcome everyone. So happy to have you join me today. I hope you’re doing great. I am just coming off of my daughter’s sixth birthday and let me tell you, having 17 five and six-year olds in your house at one time, it’s a little crazy, and I’m not sure I would advise it to anyone.

It was probably the loudest and the most rambunctious party that we’ve ever had but my daughter also keeps telling me that this was also the best birthday ever. So I guess for that reason, it was all worth it. And I’m super excited to dive into today’s topic with you, and I want to spend some time and talk with you today about what I see as really the secret as it relates to being able to succeed in the coaching industry today and being a coach and an entrepreneur with impact.

And I also want to preface this by saying that this also relates to other types of online businesses as well, so whether you’re in the coaching or consulting space or not, the concepts that we’re going to talk about today are really universal and they can be applied to any business, any industry, and really across the board.

And so I will say that right before I sat down to finalize my episode notes and hit record, I just came off a very powerful client session. And it’s interesting because this exact topic surfaced in that coaching session. And the breakthrough that this client had, it’s the type of breakthrough that it’s going to put her business and her self-leadership on a whole new level.

It’s literally going to change her business. And so that is why what we’re talking about today is so important and why I’m so passionate about today’s topic. So in full disclosure, my plan was to originally talk about a completely different topic but I decided to shift gears a bit and talk instead about this topic because I think it’s critical if you’re trying to build any type of online business. And so I’m hoping that this information really serves you today.

You know, for a lot of clients, when I bring them into my program initially, they have a sense of what they should be focusing on in their business. Most of them have somewhat of an idea of what it takes to build an online coaching business, but the real problem that I see for a lot of them is that they don’t have a real strategy that they’re working to implement.

And I find that for most of them, they’re usually pretty educated when it comes to building an online business and they’ve probably tried some other programs or courses or they’ve read a ton of books and they’ve consumed a ton of freebies and podcasts and they understand that there’s a real difference between consuming and execution.

And they understand that they can’t just continue to consume and expect to reach their next level. They know and they’re ready for something different. And so I will say that really across the board, they understand the importance of mindset. But they also understand that things like accountability, implementing a real business strategy, having the right systems, following a step-by-step process, following a blueprint, all of those things can make a huge difference when you’re trying to build your business.

And so for a lot of my clients, they’ve either transitioned fully into their business or they’re trying to make that full transition into their business from typically a higher level corporate role. And so they understand the value in working with a coach and having a blueprint, having that step-by-step process that really allow them to focus on the most important levers in their business to really create the results that they need.

And so it’s because of that, my approach with my clients is not only on mindset. It’s not only on the level of the cognitive behavioral level and the subconscious level, but it’s also on the mechanics. It’s on the actual blueprint and the roadmap on how to effectively build their business.

And so it’s because of that, the approach that I take with my clients is not only with their mindset on the cognitive behavioral level and subconscious level, but it’s also on the mechanics of their business. On the actual blueprint and the roadmap on how to effectively build their business.

So not only are we shifting their beliefs at a very deep level, we’re also diving in very technically with their business. And I’m a firm believer that both are critical when you’re working to build your business. And so when I think about what we’re going to talk about today, I think it’s important for you all to understand that it really wasn’t until I experienced the difference that this made in my business that it became a total game-changer for me and everything changed for me in my business.

And I want to mention that this idea of being a coach, an entrepreneur with impact, it really was the reason that I created my current coaching program and my high level mastermind program where I work with coaching and other online entrepreneurs to really build, grow, and scale profitable and sustainable online businesses so that they can live their purpose and make a real impact and create significant wealth in the process.

So you know, my mission is to create a community of high-impact, high-level coaches and entrepreneurs who are changing the game and setting new standards in the industry. And so I want to go back to what I just said a few seconds ago. It’s really important to highlight two words. Scalable and sustainable.

And the reason for this is because as a new coach, you’re usually not thinking from the perspective of long-term sustainability for your business. You’re usually thinking, where do I even start with this? Or what should I even be focusing on? And where am I going to get my next clients?

And what happens is that I see a lot of new coaches and a lot of entrepreneurs get lost in what I call shiny object syndrome, meaning their focus is going on all the new shiny pennies, if you will, and trying to implement all the strategies, or even worse, not even having a real strategy, and just throwing spaghetti at the wall.

And what ends up happening is there becomes a lot of wasted time and a lot of wasted money. And it’s definitely not an effective or sustainable way to build a business. And so what I see happen very often is that a lot of newer coaches tend to put a lot of focus on strategies and approaches and algorithms that really cause them to feel forced in their business.

And they feel like they have to be everywhere at all times, and they start operating from a place that’s not authentic to them. And at the end of the day, they’re following strategies that aren’t even allowing them to build a solid foundation in their business.

And so it’s in this effort to try and yield some level of results in their business that I see for so many of them, it only ends up being short-term results and I see so many people that sacrifice so much valuable time and so many resources into these strategies and approaches that aren’t sustainable, that aren’t complete, and that don’t allow them the ability to scale their business.

And so it’s because of that that I believe having a holistic growth strategy, it’s absolutely essential for newer coaches and online business owners. Because without it, there’s so much energy, there’s so much time and money being spent on things that aren’t producing any results.

So as a new coach, as a new entrepreneur, it’s really important to be looking at how do I create a foundation in my business that’s not only sustainable for the long term but is also scalable.

And I will say that fortunately, and also unfortunately, I’ve learned this lesson myself early on in my business and I think there’s real value in that because I can now transfer these lessons and I’ve also really ensured that I’ve built my coaching program around this topic so it’s something that I’m working with all my clients very closely on to ensure that not only are they building a foundation but building a foundation that is going to allow them to scale and be sustainable in the long term.

And so for that reason, I thought it was super important to share some of this with you today. And I think especially as you’re starting out in this industry, when you’re first trying to build your business, it’s so easy to get overwhelmed and to question where to start, what strategy to follow, what to even be focusing on.

And I totally get it because I’ve been there too. But what happens so quickly is that there are so many coaches that get so stuck in their business and they fall into this place where they’ve essentially dug such a deep hole with the amount of time and the amount of money that they’ve spent in trying to build their business that they feel a tremendous amount of pressure to finally get their business to be profitable and for it to finally be working, and then there’s this heavy urgency to it all.

And it quickly feels like they’re hiking up a mountain with a 100-pound backpack on and along with it, there’s usually this heavy sense of disappointment that accompanies all of it, and it feels like their dream is getting further and further out of reach. And so when that happens, there’s so much self-doubt and the frustration just tends to well up. And it’s a very uncomfortable process and it feels completely terrible.

And what happens is in a lot of cases, I see so many that they either think about giving up or they actually give up. And so it’s almost this constantly battle of whether or not they want to throw in the towel. And you know, when I think about what it takes to grow and build a successful online coaching business or any other type of business, for that matter, there’s a lot that goes into building one, and especially if you’re growing one to the six, seven, or eight figure mark.

And so when I look at what it takes on a higher level, what it really takes to build that solid foundation, I want to reiterate that the focus has to be on building a long-term and sustainable business, on creating a real cohesive growth strategy for your business. And it’s really important to understand that this is a long game play.

This is not a get rich quick overnight scenario by any means. And that is definitely point number one if you’re brand new to this game. Building a successful business, it won’t happen overnight and that’s really important to understand.

And so if you’re in this place right now where you feel like you need a different approach where whatever it is that you’re doing, it isn’t working, and you’re not quite sure what that different approach looks like, hopefully what I’m about to share with you is going to be useful to you.

Because over the past couple of years, as I’ve been growing my business, I feel like I’ve literally been through and experienced another MBA program. But this time it’s been solely focused on how to be an entrepreneur and how to play the online marketing game.

And I can tell you, it’s definitely been a crash course, but it’s also been a crash course in the hardest and also in the best way. And so because of that, I can say I have studied hard over these past couple of years and I’ve also studied the best in the industry. And that’s why I’m so confident about what we’re talking about today.

Because one of the things that I think is really important to understand is that there’s a difference between being a coach and coaching your clients and working with them, whether that’s on a one-on-one basis or working with them in groups through your programs, whatever that looks like, versus being the actual CEO. That true leader of your business.

And it really is the difference of being the employee and the technician versus being the CEO. The leader of your business. Those are two very different skill sets. Yet they’re both essential. And they’re both required if you want to build and grow a successful business.

And what I see happen more often than not is that there’s a lot of coaches who love coaching. And that makes total sense. I mean, that’s usually why they got into the industry in the first place and I see for most of them, they’ve typically gone through an immense transformation themselves in their own lives, which is why they were turned onto the work in the first place.

And now they want to take what they’ve learned and give back to others, and I think that’s a really beautiful thing and it’s one of the things I love about this industry so much. And so they love working with their clients, they love creating content, they understand the importance of personal and professional development, but when it comes to really leading their business and being that CEO and moving their business forward, this is where I tend to see the wheels come off.

And there’s a lot of reasons for this. There’s a lot of reasons for why this happens. But one of the most consistent reasons I see is that they lack one, and in a lot of cases, more than one of these core foundations that we’re going to talk about t really build their business.

And instead, what ends up happening is they end up building an expensive hobby and there’s a real difference between the two. A real business provides a ton of value and supports clients in their transformation and it solves big problems. It also has a real foundation and it follows a real business process that’s strategic and has all of those business elements, all of those business basics covered.

Where a hobby on the other hand can many times be disguised as a business but at the end of the day, it’s not providing any real and authentic value. It’s not truly helping others. It doesn’t have clients and it’s not clearly solving any big problems in the marketplace.

And what ends up happening is I see a lot of coaches that are in this place when they’re trying to build their business, they are on social media all day and trying to make a ton of social media posts, and they spend a lot of time behind the computer screen doing all the busy work that might feel productive in the moment but the problem is it isn’t translating into any real results.

And so I want to talk to you about what those core foundations are if you really want to build a thriving online coaching or consulting business. And what it really means to have a cohesive growth strategy in place. And I have to say, this is something that I’m so passionate about and I work to educate all of my clients on this and all of the work we do revolves around all of this.

Because the reality is when you’re lacking in any of these areas, your business will suffer. And you’re not going to be able to grow your business to the level you want. And if you’re wanting to scale your business to multiple six, seven figures, the only way to do this is by ensuring you have a cohesive growth strategy in place.

And it’s important to understand that this cohesive growth strategy, it contains a natural flow. And so the way that I’ve structured my framework, the cohesive growth strategy that I teach my clients, it’s really to ensure that the work we’re doing builds upon each other. Similar to if you were building a brick wall.

With every brick that you add, you’re building a stronger and stronger foundation that will eventually turn into a strong and complete brick wall. However, if you’re missing a brick here or you’re missing a brick there, you’re not going to have a sturdy wall. You’re going to have a gap and you’re not going to have a wall that’s fully operational, that’s really optimized.

And you’re going to have to fix it because if you don’t, it’s going to crumble. And it’s the same with your business. If any of these foundational pieces are off, if the groundwork hasn’t been laid properly, or worse, it doesn’t even exist, there’s going to be a big gap in your business.

And so of course as we look at all of this, the biggest foundation in all of it as you build your business is your mindset and how you think about your business and how you think about yourself as a business owner. Because the truth is it doesn’t matter what strategy or what tactics you might be using to grow your business. If your mindset doesn’t support your goals, if you aren’t fully committed, you’re not going to do the tactical work that’s required to build your business.

So it really is the core foundation to everything and it’s ultimately going to dictate how successful you are in business. But once you have the right mindset in place, which I also want to note that this is an ongoing process. It’s not like we tackle mindset once or we talk about it in theory. Mindset is ongoing work that has to be integrated throughout the whole process.

And once you do that, it’s also equally important to then have an effective strategy to then allow you to grow your business. And I have to say, it wasn’t until I figured this out on my own, and once I developed this process that I use in my own business, that’s when my own business really took off.

Because while we know that our mindset is the most important foundation to the work that we do, it’s just as important to have an effective growth strategy in place. Because at the end of the day, building a business doesn’t require just mindset work. It requires purposeful action and strategy that’s going to allow you to achieve your goals.

And so I want to be really clear about this. I’m in no way saying that you shouldn’t do mindset work. In fact, I’m saying the complete opposite. I recommend that you do mindset work daily and often. The difference is doing the mindset work that’s going to set you up to then take intelligent action in your business, versus the mindset work that’s allowing you to indulge in the mind drama.

There’s a real difference between doing the mindset work and doing the mindset work that allows you to go out and do the actual work that’s required to build a business. And so I will say, if you’ve been doing mindset work for any length of time and you’re not seeing the level of results you want in your business, then I think it’s really time for you to look at that.

Because there’s a big difference that I want to be clear about. A successful business won’t appear in thin air because you do mindset work and think about it every day. You have to do something with it. And if you’re not doing anything with it, I want you to really question the mindset work that you’re doing.

Because a successful business comes from a mindset that not only supports your goals. It also supports you in taking the necessary steps to actually build the business. So I hope that distinction is super clear. And so I think all of this is really, really important for you to look at as you’re building your own business because what sets apart the coaches that are able to create a successful business and that do it in a relatively short amount of time versus the ones that don’t, it’s really their ability to go out and take powerful action in their business. And in every case, it involves a very specific strategy.

So I want to challenge you that if you’re feeling like this might be you, I want you to really look at what this looks like for you and decide if what you’re doing is really serving you. Because there’s a real balance here. A real balance between your mindset and your strategy, especially when you’re in these earlier phases.

And I believe that it requires the combination of both and working towards the strongest mindset possible, along with using a solid business strategy in order for you to even be on the field. In order for you to even be in the game. And you have to be emotionally resilient if you want to play the game.

You just have to be. And so for me, this is something that I’ve structured within my program and take my clients through a very specific process that’s designed to take their business from wherever they’re at to where they’re accelerating their results through the mindset work and also the tangible business strategy.

And so the great thing about implementing a cohesive growth strategy is that once it’s in place, it’s not only going to allow you to accelerate your business results but it’s going to give you the ability to scale and sustain your business once you’ve got the foundation in place. It’s a very streamlined model and it’s something that I’m all about.

And so there’s really four main phases to this process that are critical to go through and build that strong foundation and ensure you have the ability to grow and scale in your business. And through each of these phases, I want you to know that there is a lot involved in each of these phases and so obviously, we’re not going to go in all of the details on this podcast so I’ll just attempt to give you the Cliff notes here.

But the first phase is all about your identity and it’s having clarity in your business. And in my first podcast episode, I talked about the importance of your identity to your business. So if you haven’t yet listened to that podcast, I really urge you to go back and listen. It’s a really critical step.

And so this phase is all about gaining clarity in yourself and gaining clarity in your business. And it’s within this first phase that there’s a lot of deep work that’s involved in terms of understanding yourself and also being able to confidently declare your mission and who you want to serve and what you want to create in your business.

And it’s something that you have to nail, otherwise there’s going to be a big gap that happens down the road when things get more tactical and technical. And so I want you to understand that there’s real power in having clarity in your business. And it’s one of the most powerful forces you’ll ever have in your business.

And so with that, there’s so many ripple effects that when you can understand your identity in a way that allows you to cut through the noise and really focus on what matters, that’s when you become unstoppable. And it’s absolutely the first step if you want to build a successful business.

The second phase that is required if you want to be a coach or an entrepreneur with impact is that you then have to build the actual foundation that supports your vision, that supports your mission. And I’m not just talking surface level here. I’m talking about again, a real cohesive growth strategy that aligns with your mission and it allows you to deliver an amazing program and an amazing experience for your clients.

And so as you can imagine, there’s a lot that goes into this. This is about building a real tangible foundation that allows you to provide an environment of real transformation. And I found that for the most successful in the industry, that they’ve all implemented a specific strategy that has allowed them to get to where they’re at today.

And so I just want to say there’s a ton of courses, there’s a ton of strategies out there and I do believe that this is what contributes to a lot of the noise. So I love that I can simplify this for clients and teach them the most effective system there is when it comes to building an online coaching business.

Because what that does is then allows them to focus on what’s most important and to also create a business that feels authentic to them. So this next phase, the third phase is all about implementation. And this is then taking the mission, taking that structure and getting it out into the world. Communicating it and ultimately enrolling clients.

And so a really important piece of this phase is being able to decipher what’s working and what’s not working. And once you know that, being able to iterate from there. And I’ve found that once you’ve achieved clarity, once you’ve build the foundation, and then once you’ve implemented your foundation, it’s really only then that you can start to see what’s working and what isn’t working in your business.

And so I think it’s important to know that again, this is a long game. And once you know it’s working, then you can start to get creative and then you can start to move into the final phase, which is all about scaling. So hopefully you can see that each phase of the process is extremely important and that each phase also lays out the foundation for the next phase of the process.

And so hopefully you can see the importance of why having a cohesive growth strategy in your business, it’s absolutely critical. And I’ve found that clients that I work with and really across the board in the industry that if you’re not following a process like this, it’s likely you don’t have the level of result you want in your business.

And if your ultimate goal is to grow your business to multiple six figures and beyond, the fact is you’re going to need to implement a cohesive growth strategy in your business. It won’t happen otherwise.

And so this strategy, this process does allow you to create momentum and results in the short term but it’s also going to give you the ability to create the level of impact you want to make in the long-term. So I really hope that this makes sense and that you all consider where you’re at in your own journey through the process.

And I really encourage you to take a look at where your gaps are right now and ask yourself if you truly do have a cohesive growth strategy in place. And ask yourself what you can do differently today if you do have some gaps. Because the sooner you start filling your gaps, the sooner you’re going to create the results you want and the more lives you’ll go out and impact and truly be a coach and an entrepreneur with impact and results.

To celebrate the launch of the show, I’m going to be giving away three free VIP strategy sessions where I’ll dive deep into your business and help you put a strategy in place for the next 90 days so you have a game plan on how to create real results in your business and start gaining momentum.

I’m going to be giving away one free VIP strategy session, the same VIP strategy session I offer to all of my highest level clients, to three lucky listeners who subscribe, rate, and review the show on Apple Podcasts. Visit amandakarlstadcoaching.com/podcastlaunch to learn more about the contest and how to enter. I’ll be announcing the winners on the show in an upcoming episode. Thanks so much.

Thank you for listening to this episode of The Life Coach Business Podcast. If you want to learn more about how to build, grow, and scale your business and accelerate your results visit amandakarlstadcoaching.com.