Here in the USA April 15th was the deadline
for filing and paying income tax. It got me
thinking back to how I used to dread Tax Day
in my first few years of business.
For starters, I really didn’t understand all the
ins-and-outs of small business finance,
deductions and bookkeeping. And since I
didn’t have any support or good systems in
place, it was a total headache getting all of
the necessary data together.
Then, when I finally got my taxes done, I
could not believe how small my bottom line
was. It was a good thing I was living in a
rent-controlled apartment back then!
Even though I felt like a pretty successful
coach – I was coaching an average of 10 -15
clients at $350/month – I began to realize that
just coaching individual clients was not going
to give me the income or lifestyle I wanted.
Can you relate?
Here are the two strategies that made all the
difference and why I no longer dread Tax Day:
1. Invest in setting up your financial and
bookkeeping systems and then get outside
support to keep things up-to-date. Unless you
love “doing the books,” having a bookkeeper
and account are two of the best services you
can invest in, even if you are just starting out.
2. Grow your business beyond the 1-1 coaching
model. You can run workshops or trainings,
develop information products, coach groups, run
a membership site… there are a lot of options, so
choose the one that feels right, get committed and
start taking action to make it a reality.
Yes, these can be big projects… and I can tell
you they are both totally worth it.
Here’s to you not dreading Tax Day in 2011!
“Thanks to you, your coaching and your program my business is doing great. I’m very specific and I’m very happy to have a unique niche: Mental Golf Coaching. My clients are junior golf talents and I coach around golf, school, family, friends and love, so that the junior talent can reach their goals much easier. Everything is in flow, thanks to you and Coach & Grow RICH!”
“I hired Michelle when I first launched my coaching business. I appreciated her sense of humor and fun, and was impressed by the CAGR system and Michelle’s marketing knowledge. One of the biggest benefits of working with her learning how to adapt the CAGR marketing principles to my specific business needs.
“I took Michelle’s training somewhat desperate to generate five clients quickly for my upcoming coaching certification program. I was not only impressed with how many marketing tools I received, but also how many practical ways and examples to apply them. I chose to start with “Grassroots Marketing” and to my elation, I was able to generate 11 clients (better than a 50% return) by just applying a couple of the techniques she shared. I found Michelle to be an extraordinary teacher, who is wholeheartedly committed to helping her students create financial success and freedom.”