The Health Coach Sales Lab

The Business Systems You Need to Grow a Strong Foundation

• Jamie Jones

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Building solid business systems provides the foundation needed to grow without collapse, allowing your work to thrive without breaking you in the process. 

• Businesses often fail not because of bad offerings or coaching, but because they lack structural soundness
• Most coaching programs teach selling and marketing but not how to build systems that can sustain growth
• Strong foundations include client journey systems, content systems, and calendar management 
• Client journey systems encompass everything from discovery calls to off-boarding and testimonial collection
• Content systems ensure consistency in posting, repurposing, and including calls to action
• Time blocking prevents burnout by designating specific hours for coaching, admin, and CEO thinking
• Offer clarity and pricing structure need systematic review to ensure alignment with your values
• Financial systems must be in place for receiving payments and tracking income/expenses
• Support tools should be simple and transferable if you eventually hire help
• Notion is recommended as an excellent organizational tool for business systems

Join the conversation in my Facebook group at jamiesgroup.com to discuss business systems or share your own tips for creating a strong foundation.

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Speaker 1:

Hello everyone. Jamie here, I am so glad you're back here this week, and this week we will be talking about how to scale systems that you need for that. If you know me at all, you know that I love a system and I have systems set up for literally everything in my life because it makes me feel secure, it makes me know what's coming next and it's just a strong foundation to build on. So that's what we're going to be talking about today. So if you've been building your business and it just hasn't clicked the way you've hoped, you know maybe you've tried the launch, the offer, the content. You know the podcast, the niche pivot, the offer, the content. You know the podcast, the niche pivot, the new price point. You got a new, you know coaching, certification even and it just feels like things just still aren't clicking, they're not landing, they're not settling in this way. That feels like a secure business.

Speaker 1:

I want to ask you a question that might help with that. So what if your business hasn't worked yet? You know, not because you're not working hard enough, because we know that's not true, not because your message is off or your niche is wrong or your content needs more polishing, like, maybe it's not any of those things, but maybe it's because you've been trying to scale something that just isn't built to hold what you're asking of it. You know what, if you've been trying to grow without a real foundation and that's what it feels like, you know, and I mean a true foundation, like the kind that allows your business to grow without collapsing under the pressure and just allows it to grow in general, like to blossom from it, and just allows it to grow in general, like to blossom from it. So, uh, I think that a lot of coaching businesses don't fail because the offer was bad or they're not great coaches. I think that this could be it. It's just it was never structurally sound. Uh, the work was good, but the systems weren't. Uh, the vision was there, but the delivery was shaky. You know it could be anything, but I also want to say this isn't your fault.

Speaker 1:

Most of us weren't taught how to build that kind of base. We were taught how to sell. We were taught how to market. We were taught how to package our coaching. Maybe you know a lot of programs lack that even. But no one sat us down and said before you go bigger, before you grow at all, can your business hold more without breaking you, because really you're the one under that foundation. When you are a coach, right, you're selling yourself, you're selling, and so that's you and we don't want to break you.

Speaker 1:

So let's unpack what I mean. And when I say a foundation, I don't mean like a fancy backend or you know a million dollar funnel. I don't mean passive income or high tech or lots of automations everywhere. You know all that tech stuff that probably makes your head spin. I just mean like the basic scaffolding that holds your business up when the momentum hits and allows you to grow. And those are the systems that guide your client journey. You know, from start to finish, the back end rhythm that makes sure, make sure that you don't burn out, that makes your content keep going, that makes your vision keep going, just all of those things, the repeatable decisions that mean you don't have to reinvent from scratch every time. And so that's what I mean by the systems the clarity. That's the clarity that helps you know what. The clarity, uh, that's the clarity that helps you know what to say yes to. That's also the clarity that helps you know what's not aligned. So what of those things feel right, and we'll talk about more about that. So you know, if onboarding still feels messy, or if you don't even have an onboarding system, like if somebody signs up with coaching for you, you don't even know what comes next, or you don't have like a checklist of what to do, um, or if your content feels like guesswork, or your calendar feels totally chaotic, like you don't even know what to sit down and do every day when it's time to work, then that's a sign that your foundation isn't ready for more, and so maybe that's why more isn't coming. Um, so the truth is is that nothing scales well without structure.

Speaker 1:

So let me give you an example. Imagine you're building a house. You know you're so eager to decorate that you start buying the furniture before the walls are even up. You know, guilty as charged, and you get the couch, you get the rug, you get the lamps, you get the art, and then it rains. I should be clear that you've already put the furniture in the house that you're building and you know when it starts raining, everything gets ruined, not because the pieces weren't beautiful, not because you didn't think so much about them and put so much thought into them as you're picking them, but because the structure wasn't ready to protect them.

Speaker 1:

Yet and that's what it's like to build without systems and deep down, I know you know this and I know that you can totally feel what I'm saying and I want to help you with that. So I'm sure you're tired. If this is true for you, I'm sure that you are ready to not feel this anymore. So we'll talk more about what systems set up and how we can do that. So what does a strong foundation actually look like? It looks like knowing what happens when someone pays you. It looks like understanding the steps that your client will move through and having a structure to support them at each one. You know, it looks like running your business on rhythm instead of adrenaline. Don't like that. It looks like being able to step away for a weekend and not feeling like everything's going to crumble. And yes, those are systems, those are things that you have set up to support yourself, and there are. You know, if this is resonating, it's if something in you is like exhaling, like yes, I want to feel this safety that you're talking about, I want to feel secure, I want to feel like my business is set up to succeed.

Speaker 1:

Then let's start talking about that. Let's start talking about literally what you can do, what systems you can do to create a strong foundation. So number one is your client journey systems. This is the process from your first touch point to off-boarding, when they're done with you, it could be. You know you need to have a system of how people find you and express interest, like is there a form you need to have them fill out? You need to have that form set up. Are there links to a calendar to book on your schedule? You need to set that up. Is there something else that you need in the discovery process, before you talk to them for the first time, the emails that you'll send them to remind them of the call. The email you'll send them after to thank them for the call. You know those are several things, just for that one part of the discovery process.

Speaker 1:

Next is enrollment, like the exact steps, from when they say you know I'm interested to I've paid, like the calls that you. When they say you know I'm interested to I've paid. Like the calls that you need to make If you do need to make any. The emails, the payment links. Do you have a way for them to pay you? Do you have that set up? Next we have onboarding, like the intake forms, the welcome materials, the tech access, if there is any, the scheduling. Is it all automated? Is it? Do you have the templates set up? Next is delivery, so a clear process for sessions to send them resources to track their progress. Client communication are you using an app like practice better or healthy or any of those kinds of things to have all that organized, or any of those kinds of things to have all that organized? We need to figure that out. We need an off-boarding system like how to wrap up the sessions, how to send your progress summary, how to do the next steps, or referrals or testimonial collections, and those are all just some systems for the client journey.

Speaker 1:

Next, we have the content and visibility system. So consistency and content, consistency and visibility how are we doing that? Do we have content buckets that map out your content? What is your content system? Basically, are you posting on Instagram? Are you posting on TikTok? Are you doing podcasts? Are you doing YouTube videos? Are you being on other people's podcasts Like? What is the rhythm for that? What is your goal? How are you executing it? How are you repurposing your content? Are you doing a call to action on every single piece of content, asking them to convert to something like to convert to your email list, to convert to the program you are promoting, to convert to a one-on-one call with you.

Speaker 1:

We need to be putting that on every single piece of content. So do we have that and a system for that? So lots of systems with content and visibility and making sure that those things make sense. Also, that they are working Like. If they're not working, we need to figure out what is broken in that system. I know that's a system that fails a lot and so that's why I point that out there. But number three is time and calendar. So we want to make sure that you're not coaching at all hours, that you're not setting your availability from 7 am to 7 pm. We want to make sure that you have blocks of time set aside for coaching, for admin stuff, for content, for planning, for all the things that you need to do, like CEO time blocks. We need to have off and on seasons for launches, for enrollment periods, and we need buffer space for thinking and resting and recalibrating and just making sure that we're not burning out. So we need to have a system set up and that is so individual for each person. So that is something that only you can figure out.

Speaker 1:

Number four is your offer clarity and your pricing structure. So we need to make sure that your bus, your business, can scale intentionally. Uh, we need to know what your offers are. Is that a signature one-on-one program? Is that a group program? Is there like a long-term pathway of recurring revenue option, like retainers or, uh, you know, longer term one-on-one programs, a membership? After you've built things up after a while, you know what does that mean for you. What is your, what are your offers? And then we also want to make sure that our pricing is aligned and really reflects what your values are and what you are able to provide and all those things. So we need to make sure that we have a system set up for our offers, what those are, make sure they're clear, and also our pricing structure. And again, these things can change all the time. So part of your CEO blocks is you'll. You may want to add, like once a month, you will just reassess your systems and see if anything's not working, uh, how to change it, at least once a quarter, but you could even do once a month, um, because it probably won't take long and it'll be really good just to keep your eyes on those things and make sure that they are running smoothly.

Speaker 1:

So number five is your financial systems. Can you receive money Like? Have you set up a way to do? You have a Stripe account? Do you have a PayPal account? Do you have a Square account? Whatever? All the different things are these days, I think in Practice Better and things like that. You can take payment in there as well. So, whatever that is, make sure that you have a way people can pay you. Make sure that you are tracking your income and expenses, like I personally use QuickBooks self-employed. That's the type of QuickBooks I use and I've done that for many years. It works fine for me, so I stick with it. But you have to make sure that you are tracking your income, paying taxes quarterly, all of those things, and if that's too much for you, you might need to hire a bookkeeper, but I think it's totally manageable in QuickBooks if you can do it that way. I've always done it that way, so, and no problems. So you need to just make sure that all of that is set up.

Speaker 1:

Six is support and tools. So you want to make sure that simple tech stuff like booking and payments and email and documents are all as simple as possible. Otherwise you're going to have to be explaining it a lot and that requires a lot of time. So we don't want that. We want to make everything as simple as possible. That is my motto in life. Simple as possible, that is my motto in life. And so, um, if you, if it's possible to have a VA or some sort of assistant, that would be so wonderful. Um, but when you do hire a VA or some sort of assistant, it is really great to have those templates and those things all organized so that you can hand those over to your assistant, so that they, you know, have your standard operating procedures, your SOPs and all that, so that they know how to run things without you, because if not, they're going to be asking you lots of questions and then it doesn't really save you time to have an assistant, right? So make sure that when the time comes, you have all those systems in place. And if you start working on that now, you will, and that is great. So just make sure that you have the support and the tools and all of that organized.

Speaker 1:

If you want my tip on that, it is Notion N-O-T-I-O-N. Notion is my way I organize literally everything and I'm sure I will do an episode on it and all the ways you can use it in your business. But if you're in the content club, you are familiar with notion and I have, um, talked incessantly about how much I love it. But I think it's such a great way to organize everything and also hand it off to someone else, like I organize everything in the content club for the people who are in there, and then the way I give it to them is just they click a link and then a button and then it's all in their account is so great. So I that's definitely my favorite support tool in my business, for sure.

Speaker 1:

All right, so those are some systems that we can have in place, and if you don't have any of those in place right now, do not feel overwhelmed. Just start with one and start there. Um, I'm even thinking of setting up a program of all of this, because it is a lot, and I also think that it's very important to set all this up, and I can totally see how it would be beneficial to have someone walking you through it, uh, step-by-step. So that number one it feels doable and not just like here's a million things you need to do. Go do them. Um, so I have started working on that. So if you are interested in that, I would love to hear so that I can know if there's enough interest, but I definitely think that there will be. So keep an eye out for that in the coming months.

Speaker 1:

Um, and, as always, we would love to chat more in the group. You can go to my Facebook group at jamiesgroupcom That'll take you straight there. Or you can check to my facebook group at jamiesgroupcom. That'll take you straight there. Or you can check the show notes and click the link and then I'll take you right there. But we would love to talk with you more there. If you have questions, or if you want any clarity on anything that we've talked about today, or if you have any tips you want to share, we always love that. So hop on over there and we will see you there, and I will also talk to you next week.