How To Successfully DIY Your Own Coaching Business
Don’t.
Okay, Your going to try anyway, so let’s talk about what to DIY vs. NOT.
I’m just as guilty as the next person of trying to DIY everything in my business. I had myself fooled into thinking since I was a one-person show, it should be easy for me to figure out how to do all this on my own.
Sound familiar?
I love to create, so the idea of designing my own website and learning how to create cool graphics sounded fun. Then there’s the whole, posting to social media, thing. And the marketing thing. And the legal side of things, and the money stuff… Ooh, this is adding up quickly.
Here’s the thing you have to wrap your mind around - these coaches you look up to, the ones who are killing it, they’re not DIY queens. They hire people to help them. They understand the power in asking “who” instead of “how.”
If you want a certain caliber of clients, you have to present yourself in a way that attracts them. And, despite your best efforts, if you’re brand new at websites and graphics, your creations are going to look amateur. There’s no shame in this, it’s just the truth. You’re unlikely to have the skills this quickly to create things that are both high functioning and look good.
But, the aesthetic isn’t even the main reason DIY’ing is risky. The experience you’re creating for your potential clients is why.
There is a methodology to website design. There’s a reason why you put something in one place rather than another. There’s a reason why you choose certain colors and fonts over others. This reigns true for graphic design as well.
If I would’ve snapped out of my DIY stupor and hired people to help me 2 years ago, I could’ve avoided a lot of wasted time, but more importantly, my business would’ve taken off much sooner.
You have to invest in your business, and paying for the systems you need in order for your business to function properly isn’t the end of it. Yes, you need to pay for your website platform and your scheduler and your newsletter system, etc. But you also need to invest in hiring people who know what they’re doing in the arenas you don’t.
You are going to waste time on the how, when you could’ve saved an immense amount of time by focusing on the who.
Who can make this easier for me?
Who can help me so I can stay in my lane and focus on my clients?
Who already knows how to do this?
I get it, starting a business on a shoestring budget ain’t easy. I’ve done it twice.
When you don’t have a lot of spare funds, you have to get very choosy about how and with whom you invest. But you still have to invest. Just because you decided to start a business, doesn’t mean you automatically know how to do everything. The entrepreneur fairy didn't sprinkle you with magical fairy dust the night you decided to start this business, giving you all the answers you’ll ever need to succeed.
There are only so many hours in a day, friend. It is impossible to be the one doing everything in your business.
All that being said, how do you decide what to hire help for when you’re on a tight budget?
Make a list of all the tasks on your business to-do list. For example:
Create a website
Create a marketing plan
Create graphics for social media
Post to social media daily
manage/update invoices
Bookkeeping
Follow-up with clients
Answer emails
Client sessions
Write/schedule newsletter
Writing blogs
Now, go through that list and decide what tasks must be done by you, and which you could delegate.
Is it ideal for you to design your own website? Not really. It’s not going to look great. Even with all the tools available to you now with platforms like Squarespace and WIX, there are steep learning curves that are going to make you want to pull your hair out. Trust me. I’ve been there. Hiring your website done with someone who can teach you how to mange it once it’s built is a fantastic route (hi, it’s me, I’m the one who can do this for you).
You could however, decide to do your own social media graphics. Canva Pro is fabulous, cheap, and has countless templates that are easy to use. There are also tons of Facebook groups and YouTube videos to help guide you on Canva and make you a savvy Canva user in no time. So, see what I did there? You can hire your website done, but do graphics for socials yourself. Boom. Problem solved.
Get honest with yourself about your own skill set. Again, you aren’t expected to know how to do all of this. Most successful entrepreneurs are the masterminds, the strategizers. They hire people to do all the other stuff. They know their zone of genius and they stay in it.
Don’t be afraid to delegate.
Don’t be afraid to say, “I really have no idea what i’m doing here, so I’m going to pay someone else to do it for me.”
There’s nothing heroic in forcing yourself to try and be good at things you’re not good at.
You’re not a copywriter. Hire one.
You’re not a graphic designer. Hire one.
You’re not a branding expert. Hire one.
You’re not a web designer. Hire one.
You get my point.
This coming week, I challenge you to find one thing in your business you can delegate, and make it happen. Do report back on how it goes.
