How Long Does it Take to Actually to Grow a Successful Coaching Business

In this week’s episode, Em and Lex discuss how long it takes to actually grow a successful coaching business. They talk timelines and break down their own experiences with growing their respective businesses and recap some of their clients’ journeys to success. They review the factors that impact how fast a business can or will grow, and review the critical components that lead to quick success.  

Here’s what you’ll learn: 

• Factors that impact how fast your coaching business will grow
• Behind the scenes of how long it took Em & Lex to surpass six-figures
• What can help your coaching business grow faster
• How long it took some of Em & Lex’s clients at Ready Set Coach to achieve success
• How the market can impact the time it takes to grow a successful coaching business
• And more!

Listener Links: 

Learn More about the Ready Set Coach Launch Pack: 

https://www.readysetcoachprogram.com/launch 

Follow Em & Lex on Instagram at @readysetcoachcommunity

Join the Ready Set Coach Community: www.readysetcoachcommunity.com

Learn more about Six Degrees Society and THEPRBAR inc.

Transcript

Lexie Smith  

It's going, you know, I have to say, for anyone on YouTube, you might notice that, um, has an interesting background. And I have to comment that for anyone who says they don't have time in life to do something, Emily is proving that pretty much anything can be done because Where are you right now as we are recording this podcast?

Emily Merrell  

Oh, Lex, I'm at a car dealership, my car is it's had its one year anniversary. And so it's been serviced. And I had the option of either taking it and lift back home, which is 30 minutes away, and then coming back to get my car and then driving home, or staying here for 90 minutes. And luckily, I brought my computer and there's some hidden desks. You guys might hear some car negotiations going on in the background? So I'm selling cars. No, I mean, people are buying cars. And yeah, and I came straight from the gym. So I look like so fresh and so clean. You

Lexie Smith  

actually do look fresh and clean. So just to kind of if you didn't catch that Emily is recording this podcast today from the lobby of a car dealership?

Emily Merrell  

Yeah, like the sales area? Oh, no, someone's, you might hear some people nearby guys, so I apologize for that.

Lexie Smith  

Um, you know what's interesting, I'm just going to dive straight into the transition, because you were talking about you're really wasting your time options, right? Like, should I stay or should I go, if I go, it's going to take this amount of time, and then blah, blah, blah. So really, I should just wait it out here. And that is so relevant to what we're talking about today. Because today, we're gonna break it down and discuss how long it actually takes to grow a successful coaching business. Loxy

Emily Merrell  

you just post to Instagram once and then you're viral. And then you have a million clients. Yeah,

Lexie Smith  

and

Emily Merrell  

that's it. That's that's the or that's the desire and the wish. And I think what we're kind of sold when you do look at social media, you see these people who are living fabulous lives and getting into these fancy pink Mercedes Benzes and like going to lunch and wearing a Louis Vuitton bag and this like aspirational, which is great. And I think aspirational is great. But what happened to get that place? They didn't just wake up one day, or maybe they did and maybe something all clicked but i What's the saying? It's like Rome wasn't built overnight. And yeah, yeah. But everyone thinks that things are built in a day. Yeah. Yep. So

Lexie Smith  

we're going to break this down in a very, real holistic way. And I think the best way for us to start to do that is to share how long it took us how long it took us to grow our business. And then I also think we need to define define what success looks like. So for the context of this conversation today, we're going to talk about really starting to break either that five figure consistent month mark, or that six figure first kind of goal milestone. That being said, if your first goal, your first milestone of success is less than that, totally fine. More than that, totally fine. But just so we're all on the same page, and how long did it take for you to grow your coaching business to six figures.

Emily Merrell  

It took time it took maybe you guys have heard the story before but I didn't launch my business with a coaching business. So my coaching business was introduced three years into my community business. And that took maybe two years to build that revenue stream alone to six figures. Because what happened in between was a building like no interest of having my audience trust and identify and see me as a coach and someone that they they want to learn from be I also needed to believe in myself and I think there's a big part part of being a coach where not only are you selling your services you're also having to do that mindset work on yourself and remind yourself like you are capable you are worthy you were you were able to deliver what you are selling. So yeah, it took me time it took me about two years to build it. And it's still building and it's still I think for a very candid like transparent duo here but it there have been high highs and there have been low frickin lows. What about you, Lex? Yeah,

Lexie Smith  

um, it took me about a year and a half. Um, and I will say like two years and a year and a half for MMI is actually pretty damn fast. So, you know, you're saying it took you time but I think like right there. Let's pause for a second because What we see so often is whether someone's doing this as a side hustle, and they're waiting to cross, you know, a six figure mark, so they can leave corporate, or they just left now, you know, all their eggs in this basket or in this basket, there's this added sense of urgency or scarcity or freak out that this needs to happen now, like, I'm all in this like, this needs to happen in under your one year max, or like, I am a failure. When the reality is if you look at the big businesses of today, you know, the Jenna Kutcher is the Amy Porterfield is the Marie Forleo is like they didn't build their business and one to two years, at all period, the first business coach I hired who's now a seven figure, business coach, took her seven years and she's very transparent about that. And that's a lot more common than I think the market leads us to believe. Now, there are certain things that affect how fast something can or cannot happen. Emily, what would you attribute your success to in that timeline? Because I would say once again, like two years, you getting to that mark? is relatively fast. Now, were you doing it through advertising? Were you doing it through networking? Or what do you think was the catalyst that allowed you to reach that mark?

Emily Merrell  

I think that's a great question. The, the catalyst was definitely networking. And it was like no interest, I was able to be really generous. And I like to think of it like I was putting in tiny deposits into this big garden. And I was watering this garden. But this garden was diverse. It was a very diverse, colorful garden. And with time and the value that I was putting in, when that time came that I was confident enough to charge money for business coaching, I was able to strategically send invites into the into the garden and invite these people that I had been nurturing into my world in a more formal capacity. So I think that was one thing. I think the other team thing, too, is like setting these micro goals. big goal for me, Lex was I remember, I wanted my business to earn as much as I was paid in corporate. And that was my first year goal. I was like, Can I surpass the revenue that I brought in, in corporate mind you y'all I was not paying rolling myself that much money. But my business was surpassing that money in that goal. While it wasn't six figures, I was being paid $80,000 and fashion. Thank you very much. It may, it made me feel so empowered to know that I was capable of bringing in my salary in one year. That was

Lexie Smith  

you seen 80,000 is not a lot of money. Did you say it in that vein?

Emily Merrell  

In fashion? I was a manager and fashion. Yeah, I mean,

Lexie Smith  

I mean, okay, let's also let's break this down. It's been really interesting, because I think your market and where you live has such a big, big thing to do on salary because you hop on online in a city that's not New York or LA and an $80,000. Job is end of career salary. So I just wanted for anyone hearing that being triggered thinking that's low, like my first job. My first salary was 27,000. Oh, yeah. So it's market dependent, right. So all these numbers we're going to talk about today are are relative if you're living in a more rural location, and I don't know Iowa, I'm not throwing shade to Iowa, I just don't necessarily know what the cost of living is than $50,000 might equate to what $100,000 does in New York City. So again, numbers change or fluctuate based on where you're at, but something that I want to kind of pull out from what you said and something I see you do to this day, and I want to break it down even further and pull back the curtain is the sheer amount that Emily Merrill networks, how many calls do you think you get on in a singular week? Um,

Emily Merrell  

okay, let's just count today. All including this call 1234567. I have seven calls today. Today.

Lexie Smith  

Okay. So when Emily says she networks, right, and let's say someone else goes well, I network and they go well, I went to one networking event this week, or one every other week. One of the things that I want to highlight that that has been a catalyst for Emily's accelerated success is how much you have poured into this. And I think that's really key to highlight because I do think that is a huge factor on whether someone sees success quickly or not. Now, I will also say my little Energizer Bunny friend, like if I even tried to do seven calls, I would fall on my face and need a week off. So you have to be mindful of your your energy reserves right and that might not be the realistic way for you to grow. That works for you know, an extrovert like Emily that probably fills her cup a lot. So you have to be really mindful Full of, you know, when you're pulling those, those levers, what's going to be most conducive. But again, I think such a beautiful way that you were able to grow quickly through being generous with your time.

Emily Merrell  

Yeah. And back on the point of networking for you all, I want you to know, I own a networking business. So this is, there's a big Asterix next to my name. But one goal that I do encourage everyone to kind of factor into their visibility plan is like, can they attend? Can you attend at least one new thing a week, it could be the same community that you belong to, or it could be a new community. But for myself, personally, I love to attend at least one event of my own a week, and then also something that I am not hosting. Because as someone who is networking, this is just, I still get uncomfortable, I still feel awkward. And I need to feel that feeling to be reminded. So I can show up and deliver a feeling to people when they come to my events of of welcome s. And so anyway, so that's just a tangent there. But Lex, I know you and I, what I love about our duality is like we had such different ways to becoming business owners. I back flipped into business owner. I've been starting a community, I had no business acumen at all. You were on the other hand, like really strategic of how you wanted to start your business. So a Can you tell us about that? And then B, can you tell us how you grew your business, especially because a lot of your business was during the pandemic?

Lexie Smith  

Yeah, so I made a decision about six months prior to leaving corporate that I was going to leave corporate. And my position at that time, I was the vice president overseeing a few different departments of a very fast growing company. And the reality of me having a side hustle with the amount I was already working, would not have worked. So I was able to do bare minimum things like secure my instagram handle and start to build a website on the weekends. But there was no no time for me to truly side hustle, that just was the reality of my position. So what I did is I my husband, and I committed to the fact that I'd be leaving, I actually even told my company, I was very, very grateful that I had a wonderful relationship with them. Be careful, I don't always suggest that to everyone, right? Because if you say, I'm going to leave in six months in might replace you tomorrow. That didn't happen to me. So I'm very grateful. But I was able to slowly set some money aside every month for my paycheck, preparing myself to potentially not make any money for a chunk of time. So I did flip the switch, I left my job in December, I launched the PR burying formally in January. And that first year in business, I think I made I don't know, 50 or 60. It wasn't it didn't replace my my salary at all. I did not replace my VP salary, believe you me. But what I did do that year was throw a whole lot of spaghetti at a whole lot of different walls. And because of that I learned really, really quickly in year one, what did work for me what didn't work, I figured out messaging, I figured out what I liked. I also want to highlight I had no child. So I didn't have the extra responsibility. You know, I was I was married, but it was me myself. And I had a full day to dedicate to this. So I threw a lot of spaghetti at the walls. And that allowed me to year to really skyrocket and take off and quickly pass that mark, because I had had the ability. And I had had the security to go so hard and be so experimental year one.

Emily Merrell  

And yeah, go what was going to just say, I like hearing that you gave yourself the space to experiment. Because so often to what you said at the top of this podcast is people have this scarcity, like I must make this money, you're one or I am a failure, and I have to go back to corporate and corporate is prison. And it's like this negativity, this negative mindset versus you were like, Let's see if we can make money. And let's see the different ways that I'm capable of making money. And then your two you were able to lean in hard in the white ways that worked. And also you were able to reflect back like, oh, I needed that. But I really really enjoyed working this with this type of clientele. So I think that's a really good learning in terms of just giving people just giving yourself space to like play in your business.

Lexie Smith  

Yep. And similar to you, but in a different way. While I didn't invest a ton of capital invested some money invested in a business coach. What I did invest heavily in is my time. I was not selective with my time. I don't care how big the podcast was. I didn't care what room it was what Facebook group, if someone would let me speak or teach, I was there. And so I really sprayed the market. Like if there was an opportunity for me to show up, I was there. And I really am grateful I did that, because I think it helped establish social proof quicker than if I had been more protective with my time, which some people look, if I entered the market. Now, as a mom, with the added responsibilities that I have on my plate, that would have been harder to do, I'm just going to be really transparent, it probably would have taken a little bit more time, I don't know, if I would have seen success in a year and a half. Okay, it might have taken two, two and a half years, because I wouldn't have been able to go all balls to the wall. So I think, you know, circumstance and how much time you really, really have or are willing to pour into this thing can make a huge factor on how quickly you can find success.

Emily Merrell  

It makes me reflective of that first year where I would also take and we've talked about this on other podcasts, but I would take other jobs, too, like just pay my bare minimum. And by the other jobs that that would be babysitting in that would be like I would do event contracting too. So I would have these like three month event contracts to do certain things. And it was great because it was feeding my basic needs. And then I was able to not operate from a place of scarcity. But it is so interesting reflecting back as being like a single person to having a mortgage and a car payment and daycare payment and things like that, of the like literally my rent was 16 $1,600. And I remember just being like if I can pay my $1,600 and my my half of electricity bill like, that's, that's all I need to be making this month. And my so my threshold for myself was so much lower than it has evolved to be with time and life responsibilities. And then I also want to add one quick squirrel to when I started my business, I had these two business mentors who are still a part of my life today. And they were both married. They're actually, yeah, they're both married and really close. And they were like Emily, you are so brave to start a business without a husband. And I was like what, and I know you're so brave, you have no stability, like you have nothing to fall back on. And I I remember hearing that. And but I also felt like I pounded the pavement that much harder than them because I didn't have the stability to fall back on sometimes. So just know that whatever your circumstances and I love that you, you and CJ had that conversation and you knew that you were going to be removing yourself from from the corporate world, but like, lean into that hustle the first year, because that hustle burns out really fast, but like it also will fuel you and fire you up to get to get going.

Lexie Smith  

And I think the key to hustling too, is again, being very aware of your own energy reserves and your own self. That's how you can hustle without burning out. There's different ways to hustle. And I will just be fully transparent how long it takes you to see success, you know, depends on how much you're putting into this thing. So we've given you two examples of time. There's other things you can give to to accelerate or that factor in how quickly you see success in your business. If you don't have time, another one to touch upon is capital. One way you can grow a little bit more quickly is if you have a surplus of capital to invest. Now what did we all love that right? But But in all honesty, let's say you you are in a fortunate position where you have an infusion of cash, there are certain levers you can pull more quickly. You know, maybe you can join more paid communities more quickly. Maybe you can hire a branding strategist to help you with your messaging and then hire an ad expert to help you with the funnel. When you have you don't necessarily have time, but you have capital, that is another route that can affect how quickly you find success.

Emily Merrell  

That was in percent. And I feel like we've seen a lot of our clients do this to where they have the capital and they inject it very quickly into a lot of different places. But then when the capital is depleted, they don't know how to do the things. So maybe it's the fancy website or maybe it's the Social Media Manager. And then they're like how do you post a real or how do I update my website or I don't know they don't know how to do the thing that they were so reliant on other people for so whether you have capital just also be protective of set capital and be strategic with it. It totally I'm actually curious, Lex, what was your first like to use significant investment in your business? Business Coach? Same?

Lexie Smith  

Yep.

Emily Merrell  

Can I have to, like I've told you the story of the business coach before, but I sat next to her at a dinner party. And I was like, Hi, I am quitting my job and what do you do? And I'm like, I'm starting a business. And she's like, Oh, I'm a business coach. I think I was her first client. And I, we did trade for a bit. And then I think I paid her like 300 bucks a month and bedroom. And I thought that was so much money. I remember just feeling like, Oh, my God, I can't believe how much money this is. And then the next business coaches like Damn girl that this is a lot of money.

Lexie Smith  

Yeah, it's all it's so it's so interesting and price and the value we put to things, how it evolves. So we talked about like, time being a factor, we talked about capital being a factor, totally cosign what Emily said, be protective of your capital, be smart with your capital, what are some other things that can factor in how quickly a business see success? Now, you, you highlighted this a little bit earlier, and I'm gonna bring it back, I did start my business during the pandemic, that was really shitty timing for a lot of different businesses was not shitty timing for me, because I, by the grace of who knows what God decided to start a virtual business. And therefore I was not impacted from like a physical property would be I, you know, I had other I knew other business owners who were trying to open breweries in downtown LA, and my heart just went out to them. So there were other things that happened, I had clients during the Black Lives Matter movement, whose they were black owned businesses, and that the market really accelerated their success. So there, there are some things outside of our immediate control that happened in the world that happened in the market that can also factor in how quickly someone sees success. And it's worth calling out because sometimes people do have accelerated success. And you just want to be mindful of the why behind.

Emily Merrell  

I love that example. And I think, yeah, I mean, how lucky that we had zoom, and we had the platform, and you think of starting a business, in a world without zoom or without online communities, and it would have been a much lonelier journey than what happened during the pandemic. And you and I are a perfect example to have, like our marriage and our relationship really blossoming and having that opportunity to flourish, which wouldn't have happened had we not been living online. Yep.

Lexie Smith  

100%. And I mean, right now, as we're recording this, something that's really booming is AI. So for businesses who have really embraced that, or platforms that have really embraced that this might be a moment where they're seeing more success. So being mindful of what what is happening in the world in the market is also something that can can play a role. Now, we did want to highlight a couple other businesses beyond our own, that are coaches so we can speak to their their cycle of success. So briefly, there's been a wonderful, phenomenal, brilliant human who has been coaching with Emily and I for over a year now, as part of RSC believe she's been in business a little over two years now. Is that right? Yeah. And it was just in the last couple of months that she finally hit her consistent, recurring five figure months and businesses taking off. There's a few things if you were to ask us that played into her success. One that just because we haven't talked about it yet consistency, right out of my mouth. Yes. So what has she done so well?

Emily Merrell  

He has sent out newsletters on the reg and there are the newsletters, at least for me and Lexi and I have talked about our different feelings on newsletters, but like really digestible, actionable newsletters. Same thing with social media, I feel like she's present and she shows up. And she's not just praying sprain every like random Thursday. She is intentional with her strategy and her her messaging both across newsletters and social media, and LinkedIn to I think she only

Lexie Smith  

across the board and I think what she's done a really phenomenal job at it. She's really solidified her positioning and what she She is known for and what she coaches on. So she wasn't a business coach that then decided to be a marketing coach and then decided to be a life and business coach. She has been really true to her core set of what she does. And it's it's paying off people are getting it there's also now an emergence in the market of her type of coaching being a little bit more well known that I think it's helping, but truly like I just want to give her all the kudos in the world because so many people would have quit. She didn't and look now she's getting to play and say This game where she's seen success.

Emily Merrell  

It reminds me I don't know why this metaphor came into my mind. But it reminded me of like people who used to pan for gold, and you had to be patient and you had to give it time and you so many people went out there and so many people get gave up, but the ones that were patient ended up hitting, hitting gold, and ending up making a lot of money in this person, we feel very confident we'll be making a lot of money in the next few years. Also squirrel x, is that what you just told me about the switching of different ideas, there was a person a member years and years ago of SDS, who literally came to the first meeting as a life coach came to the second meeting as a PR agency, as third meeting as God like a branding strategist, fourth meeting as like a life and marketing person, and I swear to God, she probably owned more trademarks and like business names than anyone else. And and now I don't think she has any online presence. She just like, dissolved at all. It was fascinating. Yeah,

Lexie Smith  

there is a difference guys from a Smart Evolution, and a panic pivot.

Emily Merrell  

Right? Anik pivot? Yes. Oh, my gosh, we

Lexie Smith  

shouldn't pin it. Panic. Mark. Yeah. First, in

Emily Merrell  

and I don't know about you, but I feel like I've been in those sales situations before, where you're being sold to. And that person is so panicky, like, you can feel their energy just coming off of them, of just panic, really, no, you gotta buy it this week, or else, you are not getting the discount. And I'm not like girlfriend, I love a good sales tactic. But you are, you're coming from a place of anxiety and stress and panic that I don't want to work in. Yeah, and I don't want to work with you.

Lexie Smith  

mindset and energy guys in the selling game in marketing and closing in the coaching world, especially when you're the product are essentially selling is huge. It's really what, like once after that first year, nailing that is what drastically shifted how quickly I was growing in revenue. I also just want to highlight for leaves my brain. A big part of this too is making sure you have an actual service or product that is needed and wanted in the marketplace. Sure, I could go and say I'm going to be a coach on how to make hair claws. But if the market doesn't want that, if the market doesn't need that, I could be the best. I could do all the consistency I could but all the time, the end of the day, if I have a faulty product or something that really isn't needed, that's also going to factor into whether or not I see success.

Emily Merrell  

I think that's a wonderful, wonderful reminder for people and also to be found if they want to be so unique and so specialized. You have to think like are people searching for the hair coach? Or are they searching for a small business strategist?

Lexie Smith  

Yeah, yeah. So your your product and your service factors. What we're saying guys, like the whole underlying theme here is there are many factors that play a role and how quickly a business can see success. Some are within our control, right or time or consistency, some art you know what's happening in the market however how you respond to that then is once again back in your control. So we just want to dismantle a little bit the idea that okay, if you just invest in buying one funnel in the coaching industry, you're going to start making passive income in 90 days. I'm sure that's happened for select individuals and you know, we can say they're anomalies maybe they know the secret to life who knows, but the vast majority of business owners who make success become successful and stay successful it's not just a one hit wonder. That's just not how it happens. It takes a little bit more time. I

Emily Merrell  

want to add to that Lex to well starting a business is brave it also can be lonely and it can be daunting and it's really important for you to surround yourself with people that will catch you when you fall because there will be moments and again I'm not everyone will have Alexei Emily relationship but there will be moments where you're like, Am I insane? Am I doing the right thing? Should I just be a normal employee and get a W two and watch Netflix at the end of the day? Like you need to surround yourself with people that get it and or are even a little further ahead of you so you can lean on them for for expansion and for growth. So find that community find that accountability buddy. Find that like partner in crime.

Lexie Smith  

I think to like a story that comes to my mind is fine, whatever your security blanket is when I went to college, I brought my baby blanket to the dorm with me because It provided me comfort and security. True story really did happen. Yes, I

Emily Merrell  

saw. Yeah, I was gonna say where's your blankets? Like?

Lexie Smith  

It's like virtually shredded. It's very sad. I stepmom stuff like my parents house. Yeah, but my baby doll now my daughter sleeps which sleeps with but so something to think about what Emily just said is community what is your security blanket? Because if you know this thing is going to take time? What do you need to make sure that you're sticking it out? Is it putting yourself in a room and or in a community so you feel a little less alone? Is it finding your soulmate? Business mate BFF partner in crime? Is it finding an accountability, buddy? Is it maybe not giving up your day job right now? And really thoughtfully and methodically putting money away and starting to build this slow? And being okay with it taking more time? Or is it I'm asking for help, right? Like asking for help from from friends who have been there done that? Is it hiring a coach, basically figure out and identify some sort of structure support system or security blanket. Because building a business is hard. And it takes time and there's going to be ups and downs.

Emily Merrell  

Note to your show worthy. You're so brave, and you're so capable, so stick with it. shoot us a message if you have any questions, but we know you have what it takes to build the damn thing.

Lexie Smith  

What's their homework though?

Emily Merrell  

Lexi, you're the homework person.

Lexie Smith  

I you know, I think today's homework The only thing we want you guys to do is to give yourself grace to take a moment and see if there are things that were highlighted in this podcast episode that maybe are highlighting something you aren't doing. Are you really giving a lot of time Have you have you really stuck it out? Do you have security blankets and in place? What are you doing to support yourself in this journey? I just I think like a reflective a good old reflection and journal exercise would be good homework. I think

Emily Merrell  

it's a great one. I was Yeah, I was gonna add the vision board to vision what you want the year to look like, since it's still at the top of the year.

Lexie Smith  

And while you're at it, make a vision board

Emily Merrell  

and clean your house and clean the bathroom

Lexie Smith  

and podcast from a car dealership.

Emily Merrell  

I'm gonna look any cars while I'm here for you. Are you interested in the hybrid? Sir? What is that the Santa Fe What do you want?

Lexie Smith  

I just bought my daughter a mini Landrover toy car toy car. So I think I'm out of the car shopping market for a minute. on that. No, we can keep scrolling you guys. Thank you so much for listening to us on the ready, Set coach on podcast. A bye