Small Business Planning for Coaches: Do You Know Your Colleagues?
If you want to be in business, you need to know your colleagues.
This doesn’t just mean knowing that others do something similar as you (or don’t), it means a whole lot more.
When I started using EFT 10 years ago, I was in the rather unique situation that I had truly no competition in my state.
Maybe there were a few, very few EFTers somewhere, but in all reality, I was the only one teaching and working with it for a long time.
So when I went to business trainings, I had a habit of saying proudly: “What I do is unique!”
But this was not true.
Yes, I was one of very few EFTers, which, by the way is not necessarily a good thing, as it also means that there is no market.
But there were quite a few practitioners who were serving the same people, the same niche.
See, there are so many different ways of approaching an issue, a problem, a symptom.
And they all want to be heard by the person who might need them.
Are they different in effectiveness and features?
Of course they are!
But ultimately it is the client, the client’s background, knowledge base, experience and preference that will decide whether you will be picked and allowed to serve him or her.
Not the effectiveness of your tool is what will help you fill your practice, but the decision of your potential clients to work with you.
Therefore it is important that you know who else serves people in your niche.
What do they do and offer?
Where are their limits? (And where are yours???)
How much do they charge?
How many visits, consultations, products do they need or suggest to bring the desired result?
Do they work over the phone?
Where are they better, more effective, more accessible, cheaper than you?
How do they market their business?
You really want to know this.
You want to know what the local hospitals or colleges offer for free courses or resources.
Tehy all serve your potential clients.
If your local hospital offers free massages for cancer survivors every day, you will have a hard time establishing a new massage practice for cancer survivors next door.
Yes, one is a hospital, one is a private practitioner, and your services might be much more personal, give more time and more personal attention.
But from the point of view of a potential client, it makes much more sense to check out the free service first.
So you can do one of two things:
Change your location or change your niche.
Does this make sense?
So now you see why it is so important for you to factor in your competition, even if you work with different modalities.
Everybody deserves to live and deserves to live well.
If you go about this wisely, if you treat your colleagues with respect and network in a mutually beneficial way, your colleagues are a great asset that will help both of you.
If you ignore others because you believe that you are so unique that nobody else compares to you, then you might be in for a surprise.
So find out who else serves your perfect clients or niche
Discover what works well
Find out what doesn’t or what could be improved
Improve it
Sell it
Keep positive connections with your competition alive.
It is beneficial for all of you, and most definitely beneficial to your clients or the niche that you feel so passionate about.
Please leave a comment below to let me know any questions you may have!
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