What to do When You Can’t Get Your Business Off the Ground

Cheryl is a natural, her customers love her, she works hard, puts herself out there, changes lives daily with her health coaching business, and when she came to me for our Membership Mastery, I knew she would do well and she is.  Doctors and registered dietitians have an easier start because you usually have a practice established and can draw on your patient list to fill your membership or wellness programs.

You come to us and you establish your :

•  niche
• market
• business model
• message
• you have a good plan and you base your decisions off of it
• you market and advertise and get yourself in front of people 7-14 times so they subscribe or purchase

You work hard or have someone else work hard and it all comes together and you’re off and running.

Last week I had an email from a customer who’s been with me since the beginning.  She has a fabulous offer, many followers, a lot of interest, and she’s a hard worker.  A very hard worker.  She deserves to be flying with her business.  She’s ready to give up.  I’m writing this for her and for anyone else like her who has the education, the work ethic, and even a great idea and doesn’t seem to be able to get it off the ground.

Don’t give up and don’t throw all that hard work away.  There are some things that you should consider to get your business off the ground and you are closer than you think.

Your Niche

Reassess your niche

This customer had a great workshop.  It was full and people loved it.  She did just what I say to do – narrow it and then narrow it some more.  She had a good niche, except for one thing, they couldn’t afford her.  They were all lower income and she felt like she couldn’t charge for her services. If you have a niche like this, you have a few different options.

1. Change your niche to a higher income bracket.
2. Apply for a grant to be able to continue working with the people who can’t afford you.
3. Continue to offer your services for free and get advertising sponsors of products that are a necessity in the view of your customers.  That will offset the price of your offering with income from the sponsors and give the sponsors new business.
4. Celebrity’s are made – be one.
5. Offer a membership where they can get as much of you as you can offer (recordings, programs, a group, etc) and offer freebies, coupons, and other price offsets.
6. Offer free participation in your programs if they bring a paying guest.
7. Work with a partner like a church or business where you are paid by another entity.
8. Offer your services for free and affiliate for businesses they need.
9. Layer your offer.  Start out with something small and offer bigger things.  OR the one thing you are the expert on that they won’t pay for – couple it with something they will buy.

Business Model

Try them on

ONE

Consulting – that is one-on-one and if you do this by yourself, you are limited by the number of hours you have in a work day.  Unless you outsource some of the work, in that case you can take a lot of one-on-one work because we have a vast pool of health coaches eager to work.

TWO

Subscription – So many people subscribe to various membership programs already and might not even realize it. From small, independent online businesses to multi-million dollar corporations, subscription services and membership programs have been helping to deliver value and convenience to individuals all over the world. It is a proven business model that can also work for your online health business. If you can offer a subscription that offers both value and convenience to your own ideal clients for a good price, I can tell you right now – people will sign up!   Read more.

THREE

Affiliate  You can still give away a lot of free stuff if your client is in the market for something else that you affiliate for.  Some people give away free information all year long and then promote a product that people easily see the monetary value for and make a commission with that.  Just be sure it’s something you would use yourself and that the business you affiliate for shares your values, because your reputation becomes tied to there reputation as an affiliate.

FOUR

FREE version.  One example of this in action is the video software.  You can use it at it’s base level, but if you want any of the extra’s (like not advertising their name or being able to select fonts or custom colors) you have to pay more.  Things that didn’t seem like a necessity may change in priority this way.

FIVE

Daily News.  I receive two daily emails on the news and I don’t watch the news on television at all.  I trust it not to be fake, it’s more fun to read, and it’s convenient.  There hasn’t been a daily news for health.  That’s a wide open market.  It’s also needed.  There are millions of people who get on the internet looking for real information and it’s tough to discern.  Wouldn’t if be nice if there was a publication with scientific backed information daily?!

A Couple Final Thoughts

There are many things you can do to affect a change in your profit outcome.  The secret is to find the right combination.  Get in a mastermind with your peers.  Talking your thoughts sometimes helps.

One more thing, don’t be afraid to market.  That’s the difference between not making it, or not making it big.  You have to get yourself in front of a potential client 7-14 times to inspire them to become your customer.

Talk to me in the comments below!  What have been your struggles and your big wins?  What tips do you have?

Lessons in Leadership

for Health Coaches

Further Reading:

Platinum Package (Includes Business Planning, Online Marketing Mastery, List Building Pkg, and business coaching)

Inner Circle (Includes BA, OMM)

Done-for-you programs

Healthie

Tell me where you are in your business building and what you’re stuck on.  Let’s see if we can get you “unstuck”.  Comment below.