Tips for Building Your Health Coaching Business with a Full-Time Job

Have you ever heard the saying “if you want something done, give it to a busy person”?

Sounds counter-intuitive at first, but surprisingly it’s quite true.

If you’re like many new health coaches, including myself back in 2005, you’re busy with a full-time job as you’re starting out with your own business, and you view it as a big setback.

Well, I learned – and I’ve seen it play out again and again – that having a job can actually be a really good thing when you’re just getting started with your health coaching business. Try looking at it from another perspective.

There are many benefits of a full-time job at the start of your business-building:

• limited free time forces you to focus on doing only what counts
• you get more done in less time
• you’re not wasting time on over-thinking and over-educating (taking course after course)
• takes the edge off, financially, so you don’t feel desperate for clients
• could offer connections and opportunities for your business

How to use the time you have effectively

Be very clear and specific about the hours you will dedicate to your business. It’s not about quantity, it’s about quality.

As you’re starting out, set aside a certain number of business hours each week. Note your business-building hours in writing, block the time on your calendar, let your friends and family know and stick to it. It doesn’t matter if you have only 2 or 10 hours per week, honor them as sacred time for your business.

Having clear boundaries and sticking to them is essential in every stage of your business.  Because you’re so busy now, you’ll need to be extra-protective of those few business hours you have which is great practice for later when you’ve got a full-time health coaching business.

The best way to use your precious business-building hours is by creating relationships.  First, take the time you need to get clear who your ideal clients are.  Then choose 1-2 marketing tools you feel good about, like sending regular emails to your list, posting on social media, writing on your blog, or speaking to groups, and be consistent about using them.

As you create relationships, you’ll attract clients.  Of those same hours you’ve set aside each week, block some of them for client work, including breakthrough sessions, and use the remaining time for your marketing.  As your new clients begin filling all available time, look for ways to create more time in your week.

Don’t give up your marketing time once you have your first few clients, or you’ll have to start all over again after those clients finish their programs.

You might have to give up some social or volunteer commitments for your business.  You might have a conversation with your boss about working less hours.  You might begin thinking about the right time to leave your full-time job (if you want a full-time health coaching business) and getting a part-time job instead.

Income isn’t the only consideration.  Even if you don’t need income from a job to support your household, it’s still a good idea to have something other than your new business to fill your days when you’re just starting out.

Let the transformation be gradual and you’ll enjoy more peace of mind.

The downside of too much free time

Health coach newbies without full-time jobs spend a lot of time worrying they’re not doing enough.  It’s a daily feeling of “what should I be doing? I’m not doing enough” which results in either getting nothing done or jumping from one thing to another without getting any results.

Avoid keeping busy just to feel productive.  In the early stage, with few clients and no other job, all you’ve got is time.  What happens with too much time on your hands is you get obsessed with your business and don’t learn to relax and let things breathe.

For example, you might spend excessive hours, or days, on one newsletter and expect to get amazing results.  And it’s terribly disappointing when little to nothing comes of it. You’re more likely to get attached to results and decide your marketing efforts don’t work before you’ve really given them a chance.

When you send a newsletter, and then forget about it because you’re so busy with other things, you’re more likely to send the next and not give up on communicating with your list.  That consistency is what creates results.

Another way coaches try to fill the time is by signing up for course after course, just to feel like you’re doing something for your business.  You’ll move forward faster if you focus on relationship building and staying consistent with your marketing efforts.  If you’re not clear what steps to take, consider working privately with an experienced business and marketing coach.

If you find yourself feeling a little anxious with all that time on your hands, it’s better to put some energy into another one of your passions, or getting a part-time job, while building your business, than filling all that time with courses and busywork.  You’ll set yourself up for burn-out. Better to pursue a full, balanced life.

Be consistent and stay focused.

When you have little time to spend, it’s important to use it constructively.  Be in conversation with your potential ideal clients by writing on your blog, posting on social media, talking with people you meet socially and at networking events, and creating content such as ebooks, teleclasses and programs.

Write and/or speak regularly to allow your unique voice to develop and your business’ message to become crystal clear.  This will serve you for years to come.

If you’ve got a full-time life, whether it’s a job, your kids, or volunteer work, you can still launch a successful health coaching business.

Join us Wednesday, April 9 for a FREE teleclass for health coaches to discover more tips to keep you focused!

Get Time on Your Side: Secrets to Business Success for the Already Busy Coach

Register for FREE: click here now!

If you’ve already left your full-time job to launch your health coaching business and you’ve got more free time than you know what to do with, this call is for you too.  I’ll be sharing time management tips that can be applied to any health coaching business.

To your awesome business,
Heather