Do you think you need to figure out all the answers before you can become a successful business coach in Nigeria? Or you believe you need multiple business coach certifications or business coaching programs as proof of expertise? Maybe you think that you need to be on a first-name basis with business insiders to be ahead of your game.
If this is you, then let me tell you these are just myths and none of them is true!
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Debunking the Myths of Business Coaching
Lots of people have a dream of becoming world-class coaches. A dream to serve countless clients and have a positive impact on the world. They would also imagine how their lives would change when they start making a great income just by doing what they love.
The problem is most people stop there.
They usually don’t take the necessary action to make that dream a reality. Some may take a shot at it, but sooner or later – say a few weeks – they give up.
This is not because they aren’t disciplined, motivated, smart, or skilled enough. It’s because they have the wrong beliefs about what it takes to become a successful business coach in Nigeria. They have the wrong ideas about building a sustainable career from business coaching.
To become a successful business coach in Nigeria, you need to understand your gifts, talents, and skills. It’s about tuning into your specialty, working from your zone of knowledge and serving your ideal audience. That is, the people that will benefit from your expertise.
It’s about having the right mindset, tools, techniques, and strategies to teach and serve your clients. It is also about acquiring consistent results to build your authority and grow your network.
Why You Can Become a Successful Business Coach in Nigeria
More and more business coaches are leading the charge to change the world and here’s why.
Many people are choosing entrepreneurship over employment to become their own bosses. Lots of people keep looking for better solutions to their problems. These problems could be to create more impact, increase their revenue, or expand their network.
Interpretation? Your audience is out there. There is a need for powerful business coaching now more than ever.
Coaches are needed to support the tremendous flood of smart creatives who are ready to be entrepreneurs and build successful businesses. As they make moves to achieve their dreams, they will get to roadblocks, and this is where you jump in.
Understanding what it takes to be a good business coach will help you and your clients get loads of value from your coaching experience.
Now, let’s talk about the qualities you must have before you can become a successful business coach.
Qualities of a Good Business Coach
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Must be a good listener
An important criterion for success in both your personal and professional life is to be a good listener. But what exactly does it mean to be a good listener?
You have to fully pay attention to the other person and the message they’re sending – both verbal and non-verbal. Successful business coaches treat their clients like they’re the most important thing on their minds.
Being a good listener means that you can backtrack. This is simply repeating what your clients say to ensure you have understood their message clearly. Doing this makes your client more confident that you will provide a solution because you understand their problem.
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Must have a positive mindset
Success is built on mindset. A good business coach should have a relentlessly positive outlook on life. They shouldn’t see failure as something negative, but instead as an opportunity and a learning experience.
This positive mindset is what business coaches use to help their clients develop the resilience needed to thrive when challenged.
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Must be accessible
The best and successful business coaches are like best friends to their clients. They make themselves available as much as possible. Some may go beyond scheduled sessions by answering calls, text messages, emails whenever necessary. This builds trust and brand loyalty.
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Holds clients accountable
Not all coaches care about their client’s success. They are all about getting paid. To become a successful business coach, you should push your clients to apply your methodologies to generate results.
This may come off as tough love or strictness. But it shows that you have the best interest of your clients at heart. And this is what will set you apart from others and make you a successful business coach.
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Must be purposeful
A good coach is dedicated to acquiring a great income from their business. They also have a bigger “why” – a purpose that motivates them. This can be “helping 9-to-5ers make a switch to entrepreneurship for more joy and freedom”. Or ” showing single moms the road to financial freedom”.
Whatever it is, make it known and be faithful to that cause.
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Must be a lifelong learner
A successful business coach never stops learning. You should always seek ways to improve your professional and personal growth and be happy to invest in yourself.
The best coaches are always on the lookout for online courses, training, in-person workshops, and seminars to boost their skills.
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A good business coach must be service-oriented
The best business coaches always want to help as many people as they can with the work they do. They’re happy to contribute and be of service to others and they love the fact that business coaching helps them achieve that.
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Must be brave
Successful business coaches don’t seek approval or praise, especially not from their clients. They dedicate all their attention and energy to helping their clients hit their goals.
They are brave enough to tell their clients what they need to hear and not what they want to hear. It never matters how successful their clients may be at that moment. They believe that if you didn’t need their help, you wouldn’t be a client.
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Must be driven
They’re ambitious, motivated and driven to become the best business coach in the market. They are not afraid of hard work and keep moving forward until they achieve what they want. Successful business coaches are willing to do whatever it takes to get to the top no matter the competition or challenges along the way.
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Now, let’s talk about the essential steps to take to become a successful business coach with a successful coaching practice.
Steps to Become a Successful Business Coach in Nigeria
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Know your coaching niche
To avoid a long, rocky road, you need to choose a specific and clear coaching niche as a business coach. If you don’t specialize in a specific niche or area of business, you may get lost in a sea of other business coaches. This will significantly drop your chances of success dramatically.
Try to discover the intersection of your passion, expertise and knowledge, and business profitability. After identifying this intersection, choose a coaching niche based on that intersection. Your “why” will be useful here as it will help you further narrow down your area of focus.
Niching down is the best way to get your clients’ attention and motivate them to work with you. It’s much better than joining the thousands of “general” business coaches in the industry.
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Determine what a successful outcome looks like in your coaching practice
As a business coach, it will be great you know your target. This means noting down the number of clients you would like to start with. Also, the amount that clients will pay you, the duration of each coaching session, and the kind of feedback you want. Ensure you are detailed and specific. You can even write down the kind of words you want your first clients to use when describing their experience with you. If you can’t imagine what success looks like for you, It’ll be hard to put in the effort and measure your progress.
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Acquire knowledge
Now that you have chosen your niche and you know your successful outcomes, determine the things you don’t know that you need to learn.
Identify how you want to gain this information and then go for it. This could be by taking online courses or attending training, workshops or webinars. You can find some certification courses for Nigerian business coaches here.
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Tweak your plans as you go
If you notice your plans and your business are not working, make adequate changes until it works. Don’t be so rigid that even without desired outcomes, you keep repeating the same process. Remember the goal is to become a successful business coach in Nigeria.
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Create a professional appearance for your coaching business
This means giving your coaching business a name, an email address, and a phone number. This gives off an aura of authenticity and seriousness. And in its own way, it will help you feel more responsible about building a solid reputation for yourself.
This could also require creating profiles on professional networks like LinkedIn or a platform like Noomi created specifically for business coaches. Just make sure it suits your overall goals
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Write out a business plan
A business plan outlines the intent, structure, and details of how you want to run your coaching business. It’s a reliable roadmap to guide you through the process as it reminds of your vision and goals, and how best to serve your clients. It will answer questions like: what social media platform should I use? What language best suits my target audience? How do I get my first coaching client? Don’t underestimate the power of a business plan.
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Have a marketing plan
It can take years to build a full practice if you rely solely on word of mouth to get clients. Build an online presence for your business and determine the frustrations, desires and fears related to your niche. Then, use this information to build a strong marketing strategy. You’ll be attracting valid potential customers like bees to honey.
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Learn to delegate
According to your business plan, decide the tasks you can do, the ones you want to do, and the ones you intend to outsource. Examples of tasks you would want to outsource are creating a detailed business and marketing plan. You may be involved in the process, but having a professional work on it is efficient.
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Get a mentor
A mentor will assist and provide you with insights on how to help your clients. They will help you improve your strategies, shed more light on blind spots, and make you accountable. All of these will ensure you take the right approach to become a successful business coach in Nigeria.
You should know that you don’t need personal contact with said mentors. You can follow them on social media and observe what they do and how their clients respond. That’s also a way of being mentored.
A Nigerian business coach with thousands of followers and positive feedback is Edirin Edewor. She runs a Facebook community called OPEN – Online Publishers Entrepreneurs Network. Her main focus is teaching entrepreneurs how to sell their knowledge in form of eBooks. You can join her community and learn from her process.
There are others like that. You can find them with a simple search on Google or Facebook. Whatever you do, be careful who you choose to listen to.
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Don’t beat yourself up over failures
Develop the mindset to see failure as an avenue to learn what not to do. See it as a good outcome to correct yourself and start doing what’s right. The mind is the most powerful tool at your disposal, train it well.
Read also: How to create a digital product in Nigeria
Now What?
This article is a simple yet detailed guide on how to become a successful business coach in Nigeria. With these pieces of information, you will tremendously increase your chances of becoming a successful business coach with a thriving practice in Nigeria.
Entrepreneurs need your expertise. Make your move now.
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About Author
- Jummai Bello is a Content Strategist, Copywriter, Business Coach and Author. She has worked with various brands and businesses ranging from entrepreneurship, beauty, lifestyle and many more to create high-quality, valuable content to connect with prospects, educate and drive sales. You can check out more of her work on LinkedIn
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