Not every business needs to be built on hustle. In this episode, Joanna Lott shares how she’s built a profitable coaching business that works within school hours and term times. Drawing on lived experience, she talks through the boundaries and decisions that support a business designed for real life.

Timestamps

[00:00] The decision that changed everything

[02:00] Realising clients don’t run your diary

[04:00] Learning to say no to evenings and weekends

[06:00] Why one-off sessions often cost more than they give

[08:00] Shiny objects vs school-hours reality

[10:00] Designing your week around energy, not demand

[12:00] Proof it’s possible, even with very limited time

This episode is for coaches who want to earn well without sacrificing evenings, weekends, or school holidays, and who need permission to design a business that fits their real life.

“If you want a business that fits around your life, you have to be brave enough to choose your life first.” - Jo Lott

A school-hours, term-time business isn’t about doing less, it’s about deciding what truly matters and building everything around that choice.

Choose one boundary this week that protects your time, and hold it with confidence.

Useful Links

Learn about The Business of Coaching programme

Signature Solution Course

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

Connect with Jo on LinkedIn

Rate and Review the Podcast

If you found this episode of Women in the Coaching Arena helpful, please do rate and review it on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

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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I want to talk about something that

I have done, which I very rarely stop

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and realize how I made it happen.

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So if you have limited hours,

maybe you are working around

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school times, maybe term times.

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Maybe you have a full-time job and you're

trying to fit your coaching business in.

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Maybe you're just trying to

reduce your hours because

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you're just working too long.

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Then I hope this episode will

help you to maximize your time and

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still run a successful business.

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This isn't one of those glossy Instagram

episodes, which says I earn loads of money

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and just chill out on a beach all day.

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But it is possible to create a

business that suits your life.

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The first starting point

is just to make a decision.

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I didn't know that this was an option

when I first started my business.

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The first time I realized that it was

possible was when I saw a business

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coach, Gemma Gilbert, sharing that

she worked school hours term time only

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Until then, I genuinely thought that

clients were in charge of my diary.

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I would do evenings, I would do

weekends, I would do holidays.

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Anytime they said was suitable for them

around their working hours was when

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I thought I needed to be available.

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If someone had booked

a three month package.

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I didn't know that.

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I could say, I'm taking six

weeks off in the summer.

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I will see you in September.

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I thought that this

would ruin my business.

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So if you are in that place when you

are working evenings, weekends, trying

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to squeeze in coaching, whenever your

client demands it, just know that

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that's normal when you start, until

you see that there is a different way.

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So I'm really excited today to break

down how I have built a successful

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term, time only, school hours only

business earning good money and

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making a difference in the process.

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The first thing I had to

learn was how to say no.

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This does not come easily to me.

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I like to put other people first and when

you are not making good money or any money

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yet, saying no feels really terrifying.

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You want the client, so you want

to bend over backwards and say

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yes to whatever their demands are.

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But what I realized in the process of

doing that eventually, was that you

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can't build a different life without

taking a risk or a hit somewhere else.

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You have to say no to things,

to create space for the thing

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that you ultimately want.

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Something I see often, which always

drives me crazy, is I want this, but

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I don't want to do this and I get it.

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'cause I'm sure I do it a

hundred times a day as well.

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Like I want to be fit, but I don't

wanna get up early and exercise.

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Sadly, at some point, something is

gonna have to shift for me to be

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able to find the time to get fit.

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So it's just like people say,

I want clients, but I don't

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want to post on social media or

tell anyone I know what I do.

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You are very unlikely to get the

result you want without doing the basic

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things that are required to get there.

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And it's just the same with

building a term time only business.

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You are very unlikely to get

the result you want if you keep

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saying yes to evenings, weekends.

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If you say, no, I'm sorry I don't

work evenings and weekends, they

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will find another time to suit.

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I totally believed that this was not

the case, and I eventually had to try it

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and say, no, sorry, I don't do that, and

hope that they still signed up with me.

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And if they don't, that's absolutely

fine, because it doesn't align with

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what I am building in my business.

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Something we often forget is that we

build our business to serve us and our

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life, and somewhere along the way we

forget that and we start to think it's

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just about the people we serve and

we forget ourselves in the process.

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Another thing I've learned to say no

to is ad hoc, one-to-one sessions.

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People often want a quick fix.

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They just want an hour, and I know that

I can make a huge difference to someone

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in an hour, but every single time

that I've done so, I've regretted it.

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Because they go off excited.

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They implement for a week or two, then

they doubt themselves, they drift.

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They go back to whatever they were doing

before they had that call with me, and

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I'm no longer in their lives to remind

them that it's only been two weeks.

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And change is often gonna

take longer than that.

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I say no to one-off sessions all the

time because it doesn't bring me joy.

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What brings me joy is helping

people build long-term sustainable

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success, and it doesn't bring

that client long-term joy either.

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And I care what happens six months

later, not six days later or six minutes

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after the session, the thrill that

you'll have that you've finally nailed

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your niche or created your offer or

whatever it was we were discussing.

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Because what's often in the way

is not just the practical advice,

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but is the actual implementation

regularly of that practical advice.

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What you also lose out on from saying yes

to ad hoc one-offs coaching sessions is

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real money that will build your business.

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To be able to sell something that

is sustainable for you in your

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life, in your business, makes

an impact for you as a coach.

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'cause you get to go on that

journey with someone and makes

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an impact for that client.

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But I know in the moment you will

want to say yes to those one-off

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sessions 'cause you think, oh, it's

a few hundred pounds that I could

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have that I wouldn't have otherwise.

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And like I say, I've made

the mistake many, many times.

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In more recent years, I will work

with someone one-off if they're super

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experienced, they've proved that they know

how to implement themselves successfully.

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For example, I had a great one-off

90 minute session with someone

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recently who's already been

in business for 10 plus years.

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I know she shows up, she launches her

thing, she posts on socials every day.

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She knows exactly what she's doing, but

she just needed help on a few things, like

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making some small tweaks to her program.

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So you have to be prepared to give

something up to get something else.

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I also can get distracted sometimes

setting up random projects.

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Every time I take on a random project

or I see a client take on a random

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project, I think to myself, all of that

energy that goes into perhaps filling

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a one-off Power Hour could have gone

into promoting your main program.

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That's not to say you should never do

power hours, it's just to say that it

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takes just as much marketing to sell

a hundred pound thing than a thousand

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pound thing or a 10,000 pound thing.

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Welcome emails, invoicing, support,

whatever it is that you are needing

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to do will take all of that time

that you could have been using

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to put into your signature offer.

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I've also learned that all of

those shiny objects and school

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hours do not go together.

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So if you want to create a course,

create a 50,000 step funnel, create

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a book, create a webinar series,

then you will really struggle to

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fit that into your school hours.

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So just know that every single

decision you make it's going to

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take a lot longer than you think.

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For those projects, if you really do want

to do them, and I advise you strongly

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to think carefully about every single

project you take on, you will need to

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think, where am I gonna get this time?

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So for me, I've often sent my husband

and kids away to my mother-in-laws for

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a few days when I needed to get a new

lead magnet and nurture sequence set up.

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I booked a hotel in Brighton by

myself, which was heavenly for two or

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three nights, when I wanted to film

my online course signature solution.

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So every new idea is a drain on

your energy, and at some point

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you'll have to decide whether

that idea feels worth it for you.

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Also balance these ideas with

what do you miss out on by

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saying yes to this shiny object?

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So you might miss out on selling

your current program because you

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are busy behind the scenes, creating

a new website or lead magnet or

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whatever it is you are creating.

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Maybe you are wanting to build complex

quiz funnels or something like that.

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Just know that I want to build all of

those too and years into my business.

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I still haven't built a quiz funnel

because I know that it's gonna take time.

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Headspace.

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Energy.

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It will have a massive impact on my

income that month or two months while

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I faff around learning something new.

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Also, thinking about that energy, if

you are an exhausted mum, like I am

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rushing around for the school drop, for

all of the clubs that you need to do.

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Then you'll know that the

energy is in short supply.

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Usually the extra energy you may

need for any additional projects or

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offers you want to create will come

from evenings, weekends, or holidays.

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So this life is not work a few

hours and float through your days.

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Anything over and above a really

simple business model will be a

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struggle to fit into your working day.

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This doesn't mean you have to

have an Evergreen group program.

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It just means you want to be

really intentional with your time.

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When I think back to when I was doing

career coaching, I would have one session

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on a Monday, one session on a Tuesday,

one session on a Wednesday, because I

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would just say yes to every single client

demand rather than what I would do now.

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And what I would advise

you to do is just pack out.

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My Tuesdays, for example.

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Have my Monday free to market my business

to work on the most important thing,

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which is building your own business.

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And then fill your Tuesday.

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If Tuesdays are full, then

move to your Wednesdays.

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Fill your Wednesdays.

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Then eventually you can

fill your Thursdays.

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And ideally, you would want to save your

Fridays for relaxing, for reflecting, for

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doing big picture work in your business.

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Obviously you may not have five

days, so just take what I've

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shared with a pinch of salt.

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If you only have two days, then maybe

it's about using one day for your coaching

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and one day for your business building.

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So my biggest three lessons in order

to help you maximize your time in your

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business and perhaps work school hours,

term time only if that arrangement

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suits you or just work four to five

hours a day, if you haven't got kids,

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1.

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It's possible.

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Look for evidence that what you want is

possible and go out there and get it.

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That's what I did, and I'm so, so grateful

for Gemma sharing that that was her

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reality and now it's my reality too.

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2, know that if you have big projects or

anything above the standard stuff in your

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business, you may need to work extra time.

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This also applies when you're at the

start of your business and when it does

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take you two to three hours to write a

social media post, when eventually it

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might take you 10 minutes to write a post.

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So build up to it and

know that it's possible.

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And 3, design your

business to work for you.

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You can say yes, say no, and literally

create the business that you want.

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What can also save you time

is working with somebody who's

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already done what you want to do.

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Time is our most precious resource,

yet we waste it going on a thousand

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free webinars, free challenges when

nobody, really looks at whether

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you've implemented it effectively.

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I know this all too well from giving

feedback every single day in my group.

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Despite the fact they have all of the

step-by-step training on how to create

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a niche statement, create an offer,

create a great profile for example.

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There will be something that's

making them water down all of the

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stuff they've probably got from the

program, and then they share it.

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And I get to point out that this is, for

example, no clear who, no clear problem,

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no clear result, so they can, from

that moment, do something differently

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the next day and stop spending more

time creating a business foundation

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that is highly unlikely to work.

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I know this well as when I saw Gemma's

program, which was about launching

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and creating an Evergreen program.

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I managed to put my program together

watching her free workshops.

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And as probably could be predicted,

I still ended up running it

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in a kind of launch model.

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So I might have six clients in one

month, nothing for four months, and

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then another five in month four.

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I also had a super short program,

which again, at the time I didn't

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realize was just not conducive

for an Evergreen group program.

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So what I could have done and

with hindsight is a brilliant

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thing, is just joined her

program and got there way faster.

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Fast tracked my progress probably

by 12 months and really thought

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about how much I could have earned

in that 12 months versus how much

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it would cost to join her program.

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I eventually did join her

program and now do have a super

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successful Evergreen group program.

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Due to committing.

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To seeing Gemma actually role model it.

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I think I got way more from that

than all of the content in the world.

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Actually seeing someone

do what you want to do.

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Seeing them actually run those calls,

being part of those processes and seeing

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what sorts of automations they have,

how they're running their Slack group

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just makes such a huge difference.

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So you can run a school hours term,

time only business, whether you

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have a group program, whether you're

working one-on-one, whether you are

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selling training or consulting to

organizations, you get to decide.

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It's just about having the courage

to make that decision in the moment.

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Maybe take the hit from that decision

for a few months while you wait for

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the rewards to eventually pay off.

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So if you want a business that fits

around your life, you have to be brave

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enough to choose your life first.

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Then build the business

to match that life.

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I hope this inspired you to know that

it is possible to build your business

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no matter what time you have available.

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I built my first career coaching

business in two very short days a week.

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My child was in childcare from 10

till two, Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

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And I still managed to build my business.

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So if you are making excuses that

one day you will have the time.

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Just know you will have the time

when you start making the time.

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Go out there, build the business

that you want, and like I

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always say, 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.