Self-employment - A day in the life of…

For those of you contemplating a change of career to coaching (one of the fastest growing industries in the world), are wondering what can be achieved through life and business coaching, or even want to know more about what it is to be self-employed, this article will give you an insight. It will provide access to some of the insider secrets of a Life and Business Coach to see and try on for yourself!



No day is the same, which couldn’t be said for the ’corporate world’, which is one of the main elements of any self-employment. Many career changers to business start-ups would be surprised at how self-employment looks or feels: it’s very different to anything you know working for someone else but highly rewarding.

Running your own business as well as working within your business takes passion, dedication and absolute love for what you do. With coaching, you should have a client most days (if you get your marketing and delivery right) and the rest of the day is spent planning and preparing for all other elements of your business to run just as swimmingly. Aside from the planning time that you invest in your existing clients, a successful Life and Business coach's weekly and monthly to-do list may look something like this:

  • Workshop content.
  • Next month’s marketing planning and content.
  • Follow-up coaching enquiries.
  • Networking meetings.
  • Invoices and receipts.
  • Social media updates.
  • Website amendments/improvements.
  • One-to-ones/meetings with potential associates.
  • Training course(s).
  • Personal development.
  • Accounts.

As you can see, the tasks involved in running a successful business or Life and Business Coaching practice, are varied and require a multitude of skills, not to mention patience, aptitude and dedication.

For the purpose of this example, let’s select three to give you an insight:

Marketing planning and content

It is suggested that between 40 - 60% of your time should be spent on marketing activities. So as a minimum, if you work an average 37 hour week, that’s 14 hours spent on marketing your business. That incorporates everything you do related to growing your business: including training courses, networking events you plan and attend and gaining clients.

Your marketing should be consistent in message and in timing. The best way to make this happen is to approach the planning in the penultimate week of every month. Evaluate successes and improvements from the previous month and start to plan for what you want your message to be for next month.

Get your e-newsletter out at a consistent time and at a time that suits your clients (you’ll know this from your marketing tracking). Plan and execute your social media marketing and set up your account with a scheduling platform (Hootsuite etc) to do the consistency for you. This will leave you to contribute to social media in a timely manner when something newsworthy is relevant, alongside maintaining a consistent message. Book in for networking events that suit you and your business with relevant speakers or training programs to help you grow you and your business.

Follow-up (coaching) enquiries

It may or may not surprise you to hear that some coaches or business owners don’t follow up on potential enquiries. A recent statistic about follow-ups at exhibitions pointed towards 80% of potential leads not being followed up. If someone expresses an interest in what you have to offer, follow up with them, you can do this in so many different ways to make business happen.

Ask a potential client if they’d like to meet for a coffee, as it sounds like you both have lots in common and lots to discuss. Would they like to receive your freebie’ FAQs, ‘How to...’ guide or any promotional material you may use to share your business story with your clients? Finally, give them a call. Lately seen as one of the most terrifying of all prospects, possibly because we receive so many unwanted calls, but this is the one that really works well.

Training courses

In any industry, in any role, it’s integral to your success that you keep up to date with new technologies, emerging practices, updates and anything else that will keep you learning, motivated and ahead of your competition. The great thing, currently, is there are loads of brilliant courses and workshops being offered for free or very little investment.

Networking helps you keep abreast of any courses happening in your area. They are a great way of meeting fellow business owners, potential clients or strategic associates. Plus the bonus of learning new skills that will help you grow your business and be able to the best possible service to your clients so that they keep coming back for more.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author. All articles published on Life Coach Directory are reviewed by our editorial team.

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