Someone recently asked me about how I got started on my journey as an entrepreneur.
It got me thinking about the traits that make up a successful entrepreneur mindset to achieve business success.
Because as a coach, you care a lot about seeing your clients grow and succeed. That’s likely why you got into this industry in the first place.
But caring about your clients isn’t enough to have a successful career as a coach. You need to have an entrepreneur mindset, too.
An entrepreneur mindset will help you run your coaching business with dedication and planning, even when crap hits the fan and you experience failure.
But what are the traits of an entrepreneur mindset? And how can you cultivate that mindset?
In this post, you’ll learn 6 strategies of an entrepreneur mindset.
I’ll give you real examples from successful coaches and how they’ve dealt with challenges as they’ve grown their business.
1. Be willing to experiment
Experimentation is the first trait I’ve noticed most successful coaching business owners have.
Lara Johnson is a great example of being willing to experiment. She started her coaching business in 2019, all while raising young kids, because she felt a calling inside of her to share the tools she’d learned from coaching with other moms of young kids.
At first, she leaned on her mentors and followed their blueprint to grow her business.
But then she started to give validity to her own business ideas. When she got the idea to start a virtual book club for other moms with young kids, she ran with it.
Now, two years later, she’s sold $26k in coaching packages from women that came into her circle from that book club.
Lara said that one of her biggest lessons is that, especially when you’re a new coach, trust your ideas. Act on them. Be willing to experiment. The growth will follow.
Lara’s business growth has come from her willingness to experiment, play with new ideas, listen to her own intuition, and take action.
2. Growth can take time, but none of it is wasted
Accepting that growth and success might take time, but being willing to stick with it, is a second key trait of a successful entrepreneur mindset.
Online business coach Jenna Harrison’s story is a great example that building a successful business can take time, but none of that time is wasted effort.
It took her business over a year to start making money, and she didn’t make the coveted $100,000 until the fourth or fifth year. Jenna said:
The work I did on myself in those years [prior to making six figures] really helped me as a human and a coach. There aren’t too many mindset issues that my clients bring that I myself haven’t experienced on some level.
Her story shows how important it is to keep going even when your goals take longer than planned. None of the work that you’re doing now is wasted time — it’s all contributing to your growth as a human AND to your future earning potential.
Building a successful business can take time. But you only fail if you quit. Keep going, keep trying, and eventually you will WIN.
3. Watch out for misalignment
Sarah Larkin’s story shows how important it is to stay aligned with the kind of coach you want to be.
When she started as a health coach with Optavia, she was operating a floral design business AND a separate life coaching practice.
But she quickly realized that floral design and having a life coaching practice of her own weren’t aligned with who she wanted to be and the kind of coaching she wanted to offer.
Since then, she’s pivoted to full-time coaching as an Optavia health coach.
I quickly fell in love with the Optavia community, attractional marketing, having a mentorship team, making an impact quickly and an easy to follow system of how to attract clients and easily assist them in transforming their lives.
Sarah was willing to listen to her gut and what her intuition was telling her was right for now, and now she uses her coaching skills in a beautiful way that brings her satisfaction and helps her clients.
Sarah’s story shows how important it is in business to pay attention to what your gut is telling you, and follow your true desires for your business.
4. Be determined
Sometimes the emotions that help us move forward in our businesses aren’t necessarily emotions that feel good. Determination is one of those.
The emotion of determination isn’t necessarily pleasant in the body, but I’ve found it’s SO effective at helping me take action. Kerrie felt the same way.
Kerrie the Soulmate Coach recently had her BIGGEST revenue month ever in the shortest month of the year — February — surpassing even the money she’d made per month at her corporate job prior to coaching.
Here are a few thoughts that helped her feel determination and show up to help her people:
- I am the best coach for my people.
- Clients are waiting for me, all I have to do is show up.
- There are 100 people out there right now who want what I sell.
- My coaching doesn’t cost you money, it makes you money.
- My clients lives are radically better after working with me.
- I show up and the universe delivers.
I don’t know about you, but when I read these thoughts, I feel SO determined to set aside my own fears and self-doubt, and focus on creating what my ideal client needs!
5. Surround yourself with allies
You know that quote that says you’re the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with?
Well, the latest research shows that quote isn’t quite true — in fact, you are the average of all the people who surround you!
So make sure you’re choosing your network of family, friends, and peers wisely.
Zach Spafford is an amazing example of this. When he left corporate to go all-in on his coaching business, he took a chance that what he was doing would help people and create a life he could be proud of for his eight kids and his wife, Darcy.
He joined two solid mastermind groups that supported and challenged him every day.
He rubbed shoulders with successful coaches and pitched himself on their podcasts to share his story.
In short, he found mentors who helped him succeed by supporting and pushing him to expand what he thought was possible for his business.
Thanks to their support, he achieved his goal of six-figures his first year in business.
Surround yourself with allies, with people who are just a little further ahead of you in business, who can support you as you grow and you can support them, too.
6. Take Action and Be Persistent
The final trait I’ll mention today is this: a successful entrepreneur mindset is one of consistency, where you keep going, showing up in the little ways, to achieve your goals.
Ranae Saager, host of The Ballsy Broadcast, was consistent on on her podcast and active online on social and other marketing platforms for several years.
That meant the weeks after she had a baby, despite not releasing her podcast and not posting on social at all, she signed two new clients. What?!
I’m getting to reap the benefits of some of that hard work and it feels good.
Your consistency paid off, Ranae, and you inspire us.
Keep going, keep doing the work. The money is the last thing to arrive!
Which trait are you working next?
Thanks to the coaches above for agreeing to let me share their story. I encourage you to check out their work and hire them, if their messages resonate with you.
I hope this post inspires you in some way to see what a successful entrepreneur mindset as a coach consists of.
And to hear from real coaching businesses the paths that they’ve trod as you grow your own practice.
You’ve got this.
Jennie
