Ep29. The 5 Biggest Lies That Hold Back Corporate Women From Starting a Side Coaching Business

If you’ve been feeling overwhelmed by all the advice out there about starting a side coaching business while still in your 9 to 5, this episode clears the noise.

I’m breaking down 5 of the biggest myths keeping corporate women stuck - like needing a big audience, a perfect niche, or hustling nonstop to get results.

You’ll learn what actually works when you're building a side coaching business with limited time, and how to stay focused on what really moves the needle.

If you're still in a 9 to 5 and trying to make the most of your limited hours, this is your reminder that you can build a profitable, meaningful business without sacrificing your career, your wellbeing, or your time with family.

Resources:

Free eBook: $5K/Month Side Coaching Business Blueprint

Connect with me on LinkedIn here

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Chapters

• 1:27 Debunking the Myths of the Coaching Industry
• 2:17 The Truth About Audience Size
• 6:03 High Ticket vs. Low Ticket Offers
• 9:42 Finding Your Niche
• 12:25 The Reality of Posting Content
• 16:40 The Hustle Myth

Transcript

 Let have the advice out there about starting your online coaching business. In my opinion, a lot of them is just a noise. You don't need a big audience to get started. You definitely do not need a perfect niche when you first started as well. And know posting content along is not going to bring you the dream clients.

If you've been overwhelmed with all those information out there about how to start an online coaching business while you're still in your nine to five job, that this episode is your permission sleep to drop the fluff and get the real welcome to the House With Heels podcast, the show for high achieving corporate women who want more than just a paycheck.

I'm your host, Cindy Excell, financial advisor, 10 business coach. And I help high achieving corporate  women turn your expertise into an online coaching business that brings freedom, income, and impact. Without creating your nine to five job or burning out on this podcast, I'll share everything you need to redefine your career success, create your financial runway, and build your side coaching business on your terms.

Now, let's get started. Hey friend. Welcome back to Hustle with Heels podcast. The podcast for smart and driven women who want to break free from their paycheck, who want to create career options on their terms without throwing away the success they've already built in their career. At least not yet. I'm your host, Cindy Excell, and today we are going to talk about something I'm really fired up about, which is the five biggest lies I see floating around the coaching industry.

These are the beliefs that keep so many capable corporate women stuck in the preparation mode instead of actually building a business. And if you've been feeling like I just need more clarity before I start, or maybe once I grow my following a bit more, or maybe I should start with something cheap first.

This episode is going to be a game changer because I'm not only going to debunk this, miss, I'm also going to give you a different way to think and share what actually works based on how I built my own start coaching business for the last nearly five years, while working less than 10 hours. Let's get into.

The first lie is that you need a big audience to start. There is this myth floating around, especially in the online world, that in order to start a profitable coaching business, you need a huge audience. Like you need 10,000 followers, or a podcast, a funnel, a YouTube channel, a personal brand, so polished.

It could be on the cover. Forbes, right? Here's the truth. When you are just starting out, you don't need a massive audience. What you do need is a real offer that can solve a real painful problem for a real person, and that's it. There will be a time and a place to build your audience. That's absolutely necessary.

There will be also time to invest in content, nurture a community, and grow your visibility. It's absolutely essential later on in your business. But when you first started and when you are just setting out, your job is not to go viral to get thousands of followers. Your job is to validate. This is the season to get scrappy and intentional, which means you need to start talking to real people.

Start conversations in your direct messages and talk to people in your network, in your industry and ask questions and share value and listen deeply, because the truth is your offer, your niche, and your messaging. It's not a static. The only way to refine it is by having the real conversations with the people you want to help.

Now, here's what happens when you focus on audience growth too early. Scenario one is that you could grow a decent following. It feels exciting for a while and at a start, but eventually you realize that those people aren't the right people. You've attracted an audience that maybe they love your tips, your voice, your vibe.

Maybe they cheer on you on every single post, but they are not your bias. Why? Because your offer wasn't solid yet. Your niche was fuzzy, and you were building for attention instead of alignment. Scenario number two is that maybe you don't grow as fast enough as you want. You post and post and post the content, and while it take off, you start spiraling.

Maybe I'm not cut out for this thing, or maybe I need to learn more before I sell anything. Or maybe I should go back to corporate and this entrepreneur thing, just not for me. So you may start questioning everything you you do in your business. And I say that all the time. There are so many smart people wait.

They waste months and months chasing visibility instead of clarity. Here is what actually moves the needle for anyone at the beginning stage of their online business journey, which is the one powerful conversation is worth a lot more than 100 likes every single time. You don't need a viral post. You need a real offer to solve a real problem for a real person.

That kind of clarity, it comes from talking to real people, listening to them, getting feedback and testing your ideas, and then re refunding your messaging and your offer. Your first few clients, highly likely, they're not coming from a funnel or of fancy sales page. Instead, they are most likely coming from your own network because that's where you already established a level of trust.

And the trust is built in conversations, not in content alone. So if you are in the early stages of your coaching business, let this be your permission. Sleep. Stop worrying about big audience for now. Instead, focus on building a clear offer to solve a real and specific problem and focus on take the courage to start talking to real people.

That's how your business ideas get tested and your messaging, get feedback and get refined. Now, the second lie is that low ticket offers are easier to sell. There has been debate going on between the low ticket offer and a high ticket offer in the coaching industry. In my view, they both have their merits and they both have its place in your product suite as an online coach.

But in my experience, when you just start out, high ticket offer should be your focus. Because when your offer is low ticket, you are not just lowering the price, you are also lowering the commitment from your client. You start attracting people who want a bargain, not a transformation. People who buy on impulse, who ghost your onboarding emails, who don't do the work, then question why they not getting results.

And here's the kicker. Low ticket doesn't mean low effort for you as a coach. In fact, it often means more work because you're managing more clients for less income. You're spending more time chasing the follow through, and you are answering more questions, navigating more uncertainty, and holding more hands For people who aren't even sure they want the transformation, it can be really exhausting, but you might think, wait, isn't the low ticket easier to sell?

You might be thinking, if no one buying my high ticket, you know, thousands. Dollars program. Maybe I should just create a $27 ebook instead. That'll be easier. The truth is, if you couldn't sell your high ticket offer, it's likely not because of the price. It's usually because something deeper is in the landing with your ideal clients.

Maybe it's your messaging, maybe it's your positioning isn't clear yet, and if people don't see the value, or maybe your audience isn't warm enough. Or maybe you haven't had enough real conversations to know what do people actually want to pay for? So dropping your price doesn't solve any of those problems.

It just creates a cheaper offer that's still hard to sell, and then you end up working harder for less. On the other hand, a high ticket offer with a clear value proposition and a real transformation that your ideal clients want is often easier to sell than a low ticket one, because your ideal clients isn't just buying a coaching program.

They are buying belief. Belief that change is possible. Believe that you can help them make that happen. And when you sell that clearly. You don't need to lower your price. You need to actually raise your conviction. Now, contrast that with a high ticket client. Someone who actually sees the value, believes in the outcome, and is ready to invest.

They don't just pay more. They actually show up differently as well. They cover out time. They respect your process. They do the work because now they've got a ski in the game. And as a coach, that's type of people you want to work with. Not because they paid you more, but because they are ready for the change.

So if you've been stuck in the loop of, let me just press lower so I can get a yes. I want to challenge you to shift your thinking. Stop focusing on the price. Start focusing on the value because you are not selling coaching, you are not selling calls or v's support or digital workbook. What you are selling is a shortcut through someone's struggle.

You are collapsing time for them. You are giving them a pathway to a life or a career or a business that they couldn't have figured out on their own, and that is worth charging for. So you are not only a coach, you are also running a business. So you are allowed to charge for the transformation. You are allowed to be well paid for solving the real and the painful problem for people.

You are allowed to build a business that's not just impactful, but also profitable and sustainable. And when someone is ready, willing, and able to change their life, they will find a way to pay for it. And if they're not, let's find two because that's not your client. Move on to line number three is that you have to be 100% clear on your niche before you start this one.

Feel it stains a bit because I believe the two when I first started. When I was building my previous fitness coaching business, I thought if I could adjust, get a crystal clear on exactly what my niche is, who I help, et cetera, and how I describe it in one perfect sentence, everything else would click into place.

I had the spreadsheet, I had my dream client's profiles, I had the posted notes, the color code, Google Doc. I spent so much time finding and refining my perfect niche end. You know what? It didn't get me anywhere. I was convincing myself I was working on my business when really I was just avoiding the part that felt scary, which is talking to the real people.

So here's what I've learned. The hard way, clarity doesn't come from thinking. It comes from doing. You don't figure out your niche by thinking your way into it. You figure out emotion. So when you get out there to talk to people, to understand their struggles, their pain points, their dreams and desires, and solve the real problems that they have, something shifts.

You start to notice the patterns. You start to hear the same phrase and the common language again. Again, you realize that which conversation actually leave your feeling lit up. And which ones actually drain you. You start to see where your zone of genius naturally kicks in. That's how you found your clarity.

I tell my clients this all the time. The first version of your author, of your messaging wouldn't be perfect. It might be even messy. And it's meant to be meant. It doesn't mean wrong. Messy basically means it's real. And the real is what gets you moving. You tweak by talking to your ideal clients. You refine by helping them solve that burning problem.

You get sharper in your messaging by listening to them and get their feedback. You can only grow your business by getting in the game, not by planning your way to perfection. So if you are sitting on the subline right now, waiting for the clouds to part and in your million dollar niche to drop into your lab, you will be waiting for a long, long, long, long time.

So start with what you know. Start with what you can help with today and get out of there to test it. To test your idea, to talk to real people. Start with a problem that you've already overcome or help others navigate even informally, and go from there. Because business clarity isn't a destination you arrive at.

It is actually a process you'll grow through. Now, if you are still listening to this episode, and then take this as your permission to take one honest step toward helping someone without 100% clarity on your perfect niche yet, because that's how all the subsequent steps will start to unfold. Now move on to line number four.

What I hear is that just to keep posting and the clients will come. Let's talk about this one that keeps so many people spinning their wheels as well. If I just keep posting on social media, the clients will come. Look, actually, I made this mistake too myself in the early years of my fitness coaching time content is absolutely important.

I'm not saying stop posting. I. Because content build awareness, it creates trust. It helps you get visible and share your voice and your value. It also help people get to know you and what you are about as well. But here is also the truth. Probably no one tells you content alone won't pay the bills. I've seen it over and over again.

I've seen people pouring their heart into Instagram posts, Facebook posts, LinkedIn posts. Writing beautiful captions, sharing story slides, betting reels, designing carousels only to be met with crickets. Not because their continent wasn't good, but because they were broadcasting, not connecting. I learned this hard way, as I mentioned earlier in my fitness coaching business.

When I started out as a fitness coach, I did all the things I thought I was supposed to do. I posted daily, I get value. I jump on Facebook to do livestream. I share tips. I didn't do any outreach. I told myself, if I post enough, I'll attract the right people. People will notice if I show up every day, the right people will just fight me.

Guess what? They didn't. Because you can't really compare yourself to some big coach or big influences out there. They've already built that brand for many, many years. But if you just start out, posting along is not going to attract people. At least not yet. Back then I spent years creating content and waiting and waiting and waiting.

And while my posts got likes and some you so inspiring kind of message, they rarely turned into paying clients because I wasn't inviting people into any deeper conversations back then. I wasn't even asking for sell. I was hiding behind the content and hope it will do the work for me. So here is what I note now, a coaching business isn't the built in Canva isn't the built in those beautiful pictures and captions.

It is built in the dms, which is a direct message or direct outreach. You need conversations. You need a real back and forth. You need to ask people questions, follow up and offer them a next step. And also, as a, as a side note, you don't need to do this forever, right? So all these direct outreach, direct messaging at the beginning, you will have to do that a lot if you want your business to start to sign up, clients.

You won't do this forever. Over time, you start to test out what's working, what's not, and over time you start to build your personal brand. You start to build your authority in your niche, and the people start to see you as a go-to person. And then that's a time there will be other strategies that you want to use instead of just the dms.

But at the beginning, what I've learned that it is absolutely necessary because later on with those clients who sign up my program, the majority of them didn't see a post and magically click book a call. They booked a call because I started a real conversation with them because I took the time to listen, to connect with them because I created the space to talk about what they were struggling with and how I might be able to help.

And I say this with love. If you are spending all your time posting, but avoiding the dms, you are building a content machine, not a coaching business. Visibility is great and it's necessary as an online business owner, but traction the kind that leads to. Clients and the momentum comes from connection, from intentional and a two-way dialogue, especially if you're still working in a full-time job and building your business on the side.

You don't have time to waste. Every hour you spend needs to move the needle and scrolling or obsessing over your next real, your next caption. Or your next post edit. That's not what creates clients. Clients coming from conversations. So you still need to post. Don't stop there, but you also need to start connecting, start engaging, start being brave enough to reach out, not as a spammy salesperson, but as a coach who actually cares who actually want to serve.

Because coaching is personal and the people don't buy coaching from strangers. They buy from people who actually see and hear them. Lastly, move on to line number five. What I also hear from time to time is that you need to hustle all the time to build a successful online business on the side. Now, somewhere along the way, we will solve this idea that if we just work harder, stay up late post more, did all the things we would get there faster.

And look, I'm not anti effort. Building a business takes work and takes hard work. There will be the seasons where you push, there will be early mornings, late nights, messy juggling X, et cetera. But here's the thing, especially if you are building your business on the side of a demanding copy, job time becomes your most precious commodity.

You don't have that eight hours a day to build your start business. You've got maybe five to 10 hours a week max. So every hour you do have, it has to count. You don't have the luxury to spin in circles or tweak your website for the 10th time, rerecording your intro video, or watching another webinar that tells you what you already knew.

That kind of hustle. It's not productive. It's just a busy work, and a busy work doesn't build a business. Now I want to be clear. Hustle isn't always bad. I call my own business hustle with heels because I do believe that at the building and the growing stage of your business, hustle is absolutely essential, but it does not mean just to stay busy how your hustle can make a huge difference.

There is a season for great. There is a season for pushing through. Hustle without intention, that just going to lead to burnout. Inevitably, the smart way is to house with strategy, but be ruthless with your focus. Only spend time on things that move the needle. So ask yourself, is this task likely to generate income or get me in front of a potential clients?

Or am I doing this to feel productive while avoiding something that actually matters, like outreach or sales? If you want the traction you need to build your business like someone who's already stretched because you are. And that means getting clear on the difference between momentum building actions, and.

Everything else. So here's what I want you to know. You can absolutely build a successful coaching business alongside your nine to five job without burning out, but only if you stop trying to do it all. So choose the right things, set no to the fluff, and start hustling with intention and strategy because when you are strategic, when you focus on the few actions that actually create results, you don't need to hustle all the time.

You just need to hustle smart. And that's what gives you the freedom and the progress without sacrificing your career, without sacrificing the time spent with your family or your sanity. Whew. Let's just take a breath here because if you've been nodding along this whole time, if you've believed even one of these lies, I want you to know something.

You are not alone. I believed all these lies before myself, and I made all those mistakes myself, and here is what I want you to work away with. There is a smarter and the more sustainable way to start and grow your online coaching business on the side to your nine to five job. You don't need a big audience.

You need to have real conversations. What you offer has a real value at worth a premium price while it solves a real problem, and you can start your business with an imperfect niche and a refine as you go while you share what you believe with others through content. Also, don't forget to make real connections with real people, and you definitely do not need to hustle 24 7.

You need to focus on the strategy. You need to hustle smart. So when you are building your coaching business on the side, your time is limited, so everything you do has to matter. The good news is that when you move with intention, even one hour a day can create massive result. So let this episode be your permission, sleep to do it differently.

To release the pressure to stop trying to follow everyone else playbook and start building a business that works for you and your life one step at a time and talk to one real person at a time. Now, if today's episode resonate with you, then you are going to love my free guide, the 5K Month Start Coaching Business Blueprint.

It's not the theory, it's the exact blueprint I use to grow a multiple five figure coaching business. While working in my full-time job while being a mom of two and doing that all in less than 10 hours a week inside, I'll walk you through the biggest mistakes to avoid the three phase plan to launch your business the right way and to create the author that sells.

And also, I'll give you my focus, the weekly plan that keeps you moving, even if when life is full. So the link is free and the link is in the show, not below. And if you're stuck or overwhelmed, send me a DM on LinkedIn at Cindy Excell with the double L. I would love to hear where you are at and help you take the first step or next step.

Alright, my friend. Keep going and you've got this. I'll see you next week. Thank you so much for listening to the Hustle with Heal podcast. I hope this episode has inspired you to take action towards your sad hustle dream. If you enjoyed this episode, please take a second to rate and review it. Each review helps me help more corporate women and early stage entrepreneurs.

Just like you, don't forget to take a screenshot, share it in your Instagram stories. All on LinkedIn and check me at Cindy Excell. I will see you next week.