This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
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When is business coaching worth the cost? Coaching can fast track your growth or it can also drain a lot of money from your bank account. So in this short episode, you'll hear about my new coaching program. Just kidding, I don't have a coaching program. I do not sell coaching services, I never have.
And in fact, I think a lot of people don't need a paid coach, but I will also concede that in some cases, it can be helpful, okay? So let's talk about when is it actually worth the cost. Again, no bias here because I'm not selling anything, but it's true, plenty of makers hit the same wall, makers, creators, small businesses, side hustlers of all kinds. Your sales kind of level off, you're doing different stuff, you're trying things, but nothing actually makes a difference. And then you see this glossy Instagram ad, perhaps, that offers one-on-one coaching to six figures just for the exact amount that would restock your entire inventory or would otherwise be some other investment in your business.
How do you judge if that fee buys real strategy, something you can use, or it's just kind of information that you could gain on your own somehow. So I'm gonna give this caller a checklist, no buzzwords, so that they can say yes or no with confidence. And just a reminder, listeners, I want you to always do what is best for you, and I don't want you to waste your money. So I tend to just kind of be cautious about these things, but I'll do my best to give a helpful answer that will hopefully help somebody else out there as well. Detailed question, and that answer coming right up.
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I need a quick reality check. I've been juggling my Etsy jewelry biz out here in Fort Worth, Texas. Revenue's been stuck around 3.5K a month for nearly a year, and now a scale to six figures coach I follow is pitching a $4,000 program. Yeah, that's basically my profit for an entire quarter. How do I know if a coach like that is an investment or just an expensive pep talk?
Is there a benchmark, sales plateau, free time deficit, whatever that says, "Yep, now coaching makes sense." I'm not too sure now. - You know, I tend to think in terms of outcomes and results, and what does this coach, or what does this coaching program, let's focus more on the program and depersonalize it a bit, what does this program promise, and does it promise some clear and specific outcomes? 'Cause I do know some people, some friends of mine even, who offer programs or other types of services that have a clear guarantee, and it's like you are going to 3X your business, for example, within X amount of time, or if not, you don't pay. And because our whole program is structured around increasing your revenue, if that is in fact the desired goal. And I like that kind of work because it's very specific, they're not afraid to back it up, and hopefully they have some testimonials that are not just, this was a great coach, but here are the results I achieved by following this program.
And in that case, I think that's when it could be worth it. Otherwise, I tend to think probably not. But as I said, let's give you a checklist here. First of all, are you really out of standstill? Let's look at data, not feelings.
Sometimes they're just plateaus, but if you really feel you are at a standstill, can that program show some kind of payback plan or at least specific outcomes, as I just talked about? Do they have proof with businesses like yours? Maybe not just a testimonial, but actually get references. If you're gonna make this big investment, get two references from them and ask if you can give them a call. And I think that actually might separate a lot of aspirational coaching programs from those that truly work.
So then I mentioned data, but I think also at the end of all of that, like once you have looked at the data and thought about what the outcomes are and what your goals are and what you hope to achieve, where you wanna be in a year, all that kind of stuff, then ultimately after you've looked at the data, then it is an intuitive decision, right? And often you'll be guided by the information that you received, but then you'll think, okay, clearly, I am excited about this. This does seem to match up. My answer is yes. Or maybe there's something else I can do.
Maybe I'm not gonna put my trust or my faith in this expert, so-called expert, or let's say they actually are an expert, but they're not necessarily the expert that you need right now or the expert for you. Those are my thoughts. I just try to call it like I see it. I do wanna be helpful to people and I want you to be cautious about spending money to invest in your business when there's often other things you can do without spending money to invest in your business. I always want you to invest in yourself.
I think that's the most important thing. Let me know what you think. How it turns out, of course, listeners, sidehustleschool.com, the complete archives of 3,200-plus episodes available for free, downloading or streaming, no coaching fees, no other fees of any kind. And new episodes come out every day. Subscribe, follow, wherever you like to listen.
My name's Chris Guillebeau. You are listening to Side Hustle School. [Music]
From the Onward Project.
