How to Build Your Coaching Business On The Side (Without Getting Fired)

Are you having to balance your coaching business with another job right now?

Maybe you have a full-time gig that pays most of the bills. Maybe you do contractor work on a part-time basis.

Whatever the case may be, almost every successful coach started off by building their business on the side.

And you know what? It can be really challenging. Especially if you always feel like you have to choose between your "real" job and your coaching business.

Having said that, there are a few key things that can make this balance a lot easier and a lot less painful.

Here are 3 tips that will help you build your coaching business on the side (without getting fired from your day job).

Tip #1: Give Your Best Energy to your business

Right off the bat we're diving into an ethical grey area with this one. My personal stance is that you should work on your business first thing in the morning, before your day job drains the life out of you. For most people this means waking up really early before work (I woke up at 5am every day to write blog articles back when I had a full-time job).

Even if your job is demanding more of your time right now, it doesn't mean it has to rob you of your creative energy. You're going to need as much of that as possible to build your coaching business. So the faster you can get your other work out of the way, the more time you can spend on your business.

Now, I'm not saying that you should neglect your duties at work. The company or client is paying you to do a job and you need to follow through on that commitment. But you don't have to do any more than that.

It can be hard for high-achieving people to think about doing the bare minimum. But the reality is, you're not building an asset with your day job the way you are in your coaching business. You're just trading your time for a pay check and it's ultimately benefiting someone else's business.

So you have to decide how much is "enough" to give to your day job and you have to live with that. Be smart and try not to burn any bridges. I once had someone tell me that their former boss was their first paid coaching client, so you never know when those connections will come back to benefit you (or bite you in the ass).

Tip #2: Get Clear On Your Transition Plan

If your dream is to work on your coaching business full-time, and you don't already have an exit plan from your job, now is the time to make one.

Ask yourself, "What would I need to see from my business in order to feel confident leaving my other job?" Then put a realistic due date on the calendar and hold yourself accountable to that goal.

My strong encouragement is to choose a sales-related goal for this. Meaning, how many new clients or how much revenue do you need to have before you leave your day job?

As a reference point, I left my job once I had secured 3 high-end clients at around 5k each. Your number may be more or less depending on your risk tolerance. Just make sure you're focused on sales.

The problem with using other metrics besides sales, like email list growth or money saved, is that they don't actually suggest that you can be successful as a full-time coach. So they're not great metrics to use.

Tip #3: Do things that are likely to lead to clients

At this point you've committed to giving your best energy to your business, and you've set yourself a goal to work towards. Now it's time to take action.

Obviously your time is limited. But constraints can be a positive thing. They force you to narrow in on the activities that really matter.

So, what should you spend your time on?

Logo design? Fiddling around with your website?

No. You should spend your time talking to potential clients.

The more you are in conversation with people who are willing and able to invest in your coaching, the faster you get to transition out of your other job.

Which begs the question, where do you go to find potential clients?

I've written up a free 2 page PDF for you with a some of my favorite strategies.

You can download it right now by clicking the button below:

Now get back to work before your boss asks about your missing TPS report.