Shownotes
After building multiple coaching practices and supporting hundreds of coaches, Joanna Lott reveals the five foundations that genuinely create momentum. In this episode, she shares the honest truth about what she would focus on and what she would stop doing if she were starting her coaching business from scratch in 2026.
Timestamps:
00:00 – Starting from zero
02:05 – Choose a real niche
03:40 – Create a simple offer
05:20 – Start conversations now
07:00 – Prioritise proof early
08:30 – Go all in on one platform
09:40 – Get the right support
This episode is a reminder that business growth is rarely about doing more; it’s about doing fewer things well.
These five principles are simple, but they’re powerful when you apply them consistently and without distraction. Support in building your business plays a major role in helping you keep going and build real momentum.
Useful Links
Learn about The Business of Coaching programme
Download the Free Digital version of Coaches' Planner (NEW edition 2026)
Free Essential AI Toolkit – 2 Must-Have Prompts for Coaches
How to secure more coaching clients' free training
Download the 12 ways to get clients now
Rate and Review the Podcast
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If you’re kind enough to leave a review, please do let Jo know so she can say thank you. You can always reach her at: joanna@joannalottcoaching.com
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Transcripts
If I had to start my coaching
business again in:
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:no audience, no clients.
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:Here is what I would do.
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:I have built coaching businesses
covering all sorts of niches now.
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:From executive coaching, career coaching,
and now business coaching and consistently
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:sold out my practice for over five years.
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:I've now supported hundreds of coaches
through this exact early stage of building
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:their business, and I've really seen what
slows people down and what actually works.
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:When I first started, I spent a lot
of time on things that felt productive
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:but didn't actually lead to clients.
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:More training, especially coach training.
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:So even though I was qualified, even
though I then got my ICF ACC, I spent.
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:So many hours.
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:I mean, we are talking hours and
hours a day watching trainings
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:on how to become a better coach.
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:I think I was just really nervous about
the coaching itself, and especially if I
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:got paying clients, because then it feels
like the bar is higher and you really
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:have to make sure that you do a good job.
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:So I signed up to something called
Mindvalley, and I watched training
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:after training on how to be a master
coach, which was really not required.
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:Given I had no clients to
practice those coaching skills on.
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:If I was starting again now, I
would do way less of that and
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:focus much more quickly on getting
into the business side of things.
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:Because if you have no clients
then you will not be a coach.
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:Here is what I would do instead.
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:If I was starting from scratch, I
would focus on these five things
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:and I might add a bonus six.
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:Point one, get really specific on who
you help and the problem that you solve.
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:Move away from selling broad
coaching, so saying to people that
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:you know, oh, I'm a coach now.
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:I mean, it's just amazing.
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:I could help you with anything.
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:It's life changing, all
of that kind of talk.
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:Sadly, people don't really understand
the value of coaching enough to
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:pay for unless you really do get
specific on who you help and how.
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:If I can't describe in one sentence
who I'm helping and a real,
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:actual, tangible problem, then
it's just not specific enough.
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:What can help here is thinking about
the morning, afternoon, and evening.
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:So in other words, instead of talking
about confidence, that's just generic.
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:What does that mean?
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:What does it look like?
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:So make sure that your niche has
an actual description that people
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:might understand enough to pay for.
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:Obviously this is all nuanced.
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:Without seeing your niche, I won't know
if it's clear enough, but what I would
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:suggest is choosing a pre-validated niche.
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:So choosing a niche that
somebody else has already proven.
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:Because maybe they have done the hard work
for you in creating the niche, creating
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:the offer, marketing it, and actually
proving that it is a successful niche.
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:Again, lots of nuances here
because maybe they had huge
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:contacts from a previous lifetime.
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:Maybe they got in there 20
years ago before it was a
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:much more competitive market.
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:So it is tricky, which is why I'm lucky
now to have so much knowledge from
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:hundreds of coaches that I've worked with
as to what I've seen that's successful
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:and what can be less successful.
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:Point two is to create
a simple sellable offer.
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:Three months is usually perfect to
start with, so make sure you have a
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:clear outcome, though, so you're not
gonna say to someone, come for six
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:sessions or come for three months.
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:You're gonna make it really, really
clear of what they will achieve in
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:that period of working with you.
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:If that makes you feel nervous, then
think about framing it as this program
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:is designed to take you from A to B.
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:So yes, sometimes people
go straight there.
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:Sometimes people take detours.
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:Everyone's different and there are so
many variables outside of your control.
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:But people do want to be able
to understand what they are
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:paying for in tangible terms.
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:Often a micro offer works really
well here, so rather than trying
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:to sell a huge transformation.
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:You could just go super niche on
one element of that transformation.
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:So for example, instead of me, which
is what I'm currently doing, selling
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:a very comprehensive six month program
of niching, offers, lead magnets,
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:marketing sales, the full A to Z.
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:If I was starting from scratch now
and designing my first offer, maybe
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:I would choose, I can help you create
an amazing coaching offer and just
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:go micro niche, because the more
complex you make your offer, the
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:more difficult it can be to sell.
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:That might be something that you
move to later once you have those
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:initial clients in the door.
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:Okay.
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:Point three is start
conversations immediately.
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:I would get much more out there with a
really clear list of everyone I know.
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:I would write down previous colleagues
I would write my friends, every
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:single person I could think of, I
would write on a list because it's
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:too easy for your brain to just
write people off thinking you don't
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:know anyone useful in your business.
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:The risk of jumping over this step is
that you will take years to build that.
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:know, like and trust factor with
cold people on social media.
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:So what can often happen is we get so
carried away posting on social media,
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:we forget that it's actually shown to
take on average of seven hours of people
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:being with you to know you like you
and trust you enough to buy from you.
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:So if they're seeing your post on social
media for one second a day, that's gonna
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:be a lot of years before they maybe
know you enough to purchase from you.
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:Obviously there's tons of things that
we do to speed up that process, and
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:that's why I work with clients to build
deeper nurture places, as well as the
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:shallow ones like social media because
we can then fast track that seven hours.
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:But the quickest way to fast track that
seven hours is by going directly to people
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:who already know, like, and trust you.
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:This does often depend on 0.1,
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:knowing who you're selling to, and 0.2,
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:knowing what you're selling to
be in place for people to really
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:understand how they can help you.
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:Point four is focus on proof Early.
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:I would find your first few clients.
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:I would be obsessed by creating an amazing
service and then getting case studies.
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:You are seeking case studies here, not
testimonials, where people say you're a
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:great person and you ask great questions.
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:Sadly, your future client
genuinely doesn't care how
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:amazing your questions are.
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:What they do care is what's my
life gonna look like afterwards.
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:So prioritize those case studies.
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:If you've listened to my podcast,
Women in the Coaching Arena before,
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:you will see examples of case studies.
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:If you are feeling any resistance,
that your clients won't give you a case
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:study because they don't want anyone
to know that they've come for coaching.
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:Just know that, yes, in certain niches,
that's much more likely to be the case,
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:but try not to use generalizations
where you just write off that no one
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:will ever do this and just keep asking.
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:Yes, you might need to ask 10 people
for one person to say yes, but if they
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:aren't happy to do the case study, then
there are other methods like seeing if
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:you can use text and a photo and a name.
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:If they won't agree to that,
then text and anonymous.
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:So there are levels of what you can do
here, but try not to let those limiting
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:beliefs get in the way that no one will
do this for you because people have done
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:it for me even when I was doing career
coaching and different types of coaching.
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:And 0.5
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:is build your visibility in one place.
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:I would go all in on one platform.
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:I tried to be on LinkedIn, Instagram,
Facebook, and Twitter when I started
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:because a friend of mine worked in
marketing and she said that was a
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:great idea and I needed to be on every
single platform to get multiple reach.
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:But what she didn't realize, and what
I didn't realize at the time is that
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:I wasn't a huge marketing agency that
had a marketeer to do this for me.
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:And what's different from posting as
a faceless organization is the fact
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:that it's about building relationships.
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:It is not about you just putting
posts out there all the time.
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:It's about you supporting others and
genuinely trying to build relationships
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:to make this an enjoyable journey.
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:And because it's relationships that
will actually build your business.
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:Bonus 0.6,
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:get support sooner.
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:Not more qualifications, but
actually learning the skills that
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:are gonna put money in the bank.
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:I would ensure it was for my
phase of business and also
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:that it was coach specific.
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:I am saying this through experience
because I joined a program fairly
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:on maybe six to 12 months, maybe
longer actually in my business.
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:'cause obviously initially you faff around
going to a thousand free challenges and
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:webinars and maybe a year in or a little
bit more I joined a business program, but
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:actually now looking back, they didn't
even have niche and offer on the agenda.
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:What they had on the agenda was very
complex finances that you really don't
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:need when you're starting your business
and have very little money in the bank.
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:They also had things about
how to pitch to investors.
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:Again, highly unlikely with a lifestyle
type business, like a coaching business.
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:So find something that's actually
designed for your phase of business.
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:It also had lots of people in that
had product-based businesses, making
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:handbags and all sorts of stuff.
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:And again, that's just really different.
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:And there was no specialism or advice
on what I needed to do for my type
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:of business at my stage of business.
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:So if it were me, I would personally
prioritize that and get making money much,
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:much sooner before all the pressure mounts
and before your partner starts saying,
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:why have you got no money in the bank?
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:This is madness.
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:You need to go and get a job.
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:So I would just get on, learn those
skills and make money much faster.
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:If you are in business, you
will know that it can feel
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:like you need to do everything.
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:Here is your reminder that you don't.
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:You just need a few things working well
and to simplify as much as possible.
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:This is not just if you
are new in business.
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:I know if I'm thinking to my mastermind
for example, who are all super established
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:business owners, usually 10 plus years
in business, very successful financially.
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:These five or six points are still
super relevant because what we can do
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:is instead of, for example, going out
to people that we've had discovery calls
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:with before and asking if they want
support now is we can overcomplicate
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:things by putting out podcasts, putting
out emails, putting out faceless social
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:media content versus taking really direct
action that I've outlined in this episode.
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:If you want support, putting all
of this into action, building your
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:ecosystem, which will be your long-term
business driver and also building that
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:short-term income that is exactly what
we do inside the business of coaching.
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:You will find the details in
the show notes to check the next
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:accelerator start date, and to
see if any spaces are available.
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:It's selling out super quickly at the
moment, usually within a week or two of
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:me releasing the date and filling weeks
before the start date so if you do know
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:you want this support, check out the page.
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:You can scroll to the bottom and
complete an application and I can
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:learn much more about you and assess
your situation and let you know
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:specifically how I may be able to help.
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:If you action these points, do let
me know on LinkedIn as Joanna Lott
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:and Instagram as @joannalottcoaching.
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:And like I say at the end of
every episode, trust yourself.
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:Believe in yourself and be the wise
gardener who keeps on watering the seed.
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:Microphone (Samson Q2U Microphone):
Thank you so much for listening to this
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:episode of Women in the Coaching Arena.
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:I have a mess of free resources on
my website joannalottcoaching.com.
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:That's Joanna with an A
and Lott with two T's.
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:joannalottcoaching.com.
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:And I'll also put links in the show notes.
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:Let me know if you found
this episode useful.
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:Share it with a friend and
leave me a review, and I will
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:personally thank you for that.
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:Remember to trust yourself, believe
in yourself and be the wise Gardner
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:who keeps on watering the seed.
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:Get into the arena dare, greatly and try.
