You have heard the expression: “the riches are in the niches”, right?
What this suggests, is that your business interests (and those of your clients) are best served by your focusing on a specific niche (theirs) and productizing the training solution (yours).
But before you can do that, you have to first find out what the market wants.
So, your immediate network is a great place to start testing your ideas.
Leverage existing contacts
Andrew Sillitoe tells us that he started the Strategic Team Coach in 2012 based on his experience of working of working with elite sports teams
Essentially, the Strategic Team Coach is a Management Training Company, coaching clients using sporting concepts such as: creating ‘Locker Room Spirit’ and mentoring people outside ‘the game.’
Andrew did not have a huge database of new clients immediately.
“Initially, I was talking advantage of some of the contacts I had (in previous roles) from Pfizer, Ericsson, Virgin and AXA….”
He then began to be approached by small to medium organizations looking for coaching.
“Step by step, I then had new clients coming to me and that has worked out quite well and the business has kind of built itself from there…”
Productize your offering
At some point, when you have enjoyed a consistent demand for your training services, the time comes for you to ‘productize’ them and monetise them.
If you are constantly creating new content for new clients, you rapidly wear both yourself and your team out trying to be all things to all people.
Sadly, some training businesses build a library of dozens or hundreds of programs or versions of programs which are never used again.
“As a training business owner, you are always ‘tinkering’ with your IP (intellectual property), looking for feedback to find out what customers like and don’t like….”
Taking this feedback into consideration, Andrew is glad that today Strategic Team Coach is a very refined product.
“Something which I learned – probably two years later than I could have done – is that it’s better to go a mile deep rather than a mile wide…..”
Biggest takeaways for you today:
- How much Andrew charges for coaching and training
- How Andrew manages two separate brands
- How he generates the majority of his business
- What Andrew does to attract ‘blue-chip’ clients
- How he decides which clients are not right for him
- How writing a book has helped his personal brand
- How delivering live-video training on Linkedin works
Some helpful resources for you:
Andrew Sillitoe – Andrew’s eponymous personal coaching brand
Click Funnels – Subscription-based online marketing automation