Most coaching businesses fail. Why? Coaching is a huge growth area; both in terms of people wanting to become coaches and people wanting to buy the services of coaches. So, when there is plenty of opportunity why are so many coaches failing to make their mark and build a sustainable business?

The reason for this, says Nick Bolton, is that the foundation is all wrong.  They are basing their business on a specific skill learned and a collection of methods to find a few clients.  Unfortunately just because you know how to do something doesn’t mean people will pay you to do it.

Most coaches are missing a crucial ingredient.  And it’s because this ingredient is missing that most coaching businesses will fail. That ingredient is passion. 

Passion and sheer determination to make a SPECIFIC difference. It’s the passionate vision that will drive a coach when times are tough. 

It’s the missing ingredient because for so long it hasn’t been needed in the way it is now.  Coaching had traditionally been concentrated in organisations where the main aim of the coach is to provide a recognised service to fulfil a mutually agreed contract.  There has been little need to be much more than a very competent coach with good links to the corporate world.  That’s not to say corporate coaches are not passionate.  They absolutely are.  But it’s not been the core requirement.

But that’s changing in a big way.  Coaching is increasingly moving beyond the corporate walls as coaches build businesses that reach out to people in all walks of life.  And here’s where the problems start.

Traditional coach training companies leave coaches with a bag of tools and skills to create change in people but with nobody to create that change with.  They were taught that they could coach anyone on anything but ended up coaching no-one on nothing.

And that’s where passion comes in.

One of the most important questions all coaches must consider is: “What difference do I want to make?” 

That’s the key question a coach building a private practice really needs to ask.  Because in that question lies the passion that will provide the fuel to drive their coaching business forward.

This one crucial question “What difference do I want to make?” creates a huge shift in perception. With this shift the coach is now creating a business that focuses on the results the clients want. 

For instance, at The Smart School we have a coach who adores Japan.  As a civil servant in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, he was based in Tokyo and after having a stroke in 2009 he retired.  He married his Japanese wife in 2010 and one week later came to study at the Smart School committed to building a flexible business for his life in Japan. 

As a new trainee coach he initially assumed he would build a business coaching anyone he happened to find as a client.  However, working with the school he quickly realised his passion was for helping small UK companies and entrepreneurs set up in Japan.  It wasn’t just that he saw that as a good market.  It was that he loved Japan and wanted to make a difference and help others share his love.

Coaching for him has become the central plank of a business that is seeing him provide a VIP service to hand hold clients through their expansion.

These coaches are just the tip of the iceberg of a new generation of coaches who are recognising the need to look beyond the tired words of niche marketing and focus on what real difference they want to make.  That’s where the passion is.  That’s where the ingredient is that will turn a bland coaching practice into a business that inspires people.

The scope is enormous.  Coaches find passion everywhere according to who they are and what drives them.  They may be passionate about a particular industry, a particular kind of person, a particular kind of social issue.  There are as many passions and unique businesses as there are coaches to feel them, follow them and build them.

It means that coaches can truly step out of the corporate walls and begin to shape their world.

Rather than fear failure, a new coach can start from a place of determination fuelled by passion.  Coaching is on the cusp of something truly remarkable in which successful coaches will find a place to live their passion and these coaches will be the ones that make it and change their lives for good.

Author Nick Bolton is founder of the Smart School of Coaching, Nick Bolton is passionate about training and supporting individuals to become professional coaches and NLP Practitioners. He is particularly dedicated to helping them build a sustainable business.  Nick places strong emphasis on both developing the skills and ensuring that they lead to lasting change for the coaches and their clients. The Smart School runs free seminars where you can learn more about NLP and coaching and the opportunities in this growing industry.  To book a free seminar or to find out more visit www.thesmartschool.co.uk