Look, let’s get straight to the point here. Certifications cost money, often a lot of money. And when you’re starting out as a coach, investing that kind of money to begin with could make a sizable dent in your pocket, leaving you with little to no cash to invest in your business.
And even though you can start a coaching business with a relatively low outlay, you still need to make investments. Moreover, if you’re doing this full time, and living off your savings, then it becomes even more important that you use your money wisely.
You see, the truth is, that where you invest your hard earned cash can determine how quickly you will see success.
Now, just to clarify, I am not saying certification is worthless, there are all sorts of reasons why you may choose to go down that road, but it’s certainly not something you need to begin with, except in the corporate world, where they often need you to have some kind of certification to justify hiring you as a coach. But other than that, you can gain traction in your coaching business without spending hundreds or even thousands of dollars on any certification.
But that’s not the only reason to skip a certification. Let’s look at a few other important reasons this can be a strategic move in your coaching business.
1. Freedom to choose your style of coaching: Yes, you read that right. Who wants another ‘this is how you should coach’ type of instruction manual? I guess we get enough of those when employed by others, and I am sure you’re not trying to become a coach, so you continue to have the same limitations as you perhaps had in your job.
When you value freedom and flexibility to express yourself in your own unique ways, the last thing you want is to be tied down to a set framework, so choosing to skip a certification is just about the best thing you can do. Even though the frameworks laid out may be excellent, what we’re interested in is what feels like home to you.
Because coaching isn’t about just frameworks and guidelines, it’s about the message that originates from your heart and can find expression in ways only unique to you. There’s no way on earth anyone can bottle that up into a framework or a certification.
2. Faster Growth: Time is another equation that comes into consideration when you enroll in a certification. This could lead to further delaying the actual work that you’re supposed to be doing as a coach, under the guise of, ‘I am under certification’, which can act or become more like an excuse for not doing the real thing. That is showing up and sharing your message.
After all, you want to be a coach because you have a message. You’ve learned valuable lessons from your experiences or through your passion, and you want to put that out into the world. Why would you want to wait for the end of a certification to begin an important journey that you should get on as quickly as you can?
Goes without saying, whether with certification or without, build a personal brand. Unless people notice you, there is little chance for you to find clients. And without clients, you might as well be the best and top certified coach, but it means nothing if you are not already seeing clients. All those credentials while flashy may do little to nothing to bring you new business.
Ask any experienced coach, and they’ll tell you, their clients never cared much about whether they had a certification. What they care about is whether they can help them with the challenge or situation they’re looking to overcome.
If people can see that you can deliver the goods, in their eyes you’re qualified to coach them.
So don’t waste time. If you’ve decided to be a coach, you must begin sharing your message. You must start showing up.
3. Flexibility: Perhaps you’re not sure whether you really want to be a coach. You want to see how things work out for you, and then maybe decide to continue as a coach or change direction. And the best way to see if coaching is for you or not is to actually practice the art and not prepare for a certification. Why would you want to invest all that time, money and effort into something you’re not even sure about?
Do you know what the bigger challenge is with coaching? It’s not how good a coach you will be. I can almost bet that you’ll make for a great coach, but it’s about putting yourself out there. That’s the greater challenge.
Are you willing to show up and show up consistently to be a coach? Because if you’re expecting that you’ll get clients at hello, this journey for you as a coach could end pretty soon.
You have to be willing to go beyond this one hello, to many hellos to find your first coaching client, or for your client to find you.
What we’re saying is that the business of coaching is the business of trial and error. You have to keep at it until you find your rhythm. The best part about all this is, no one can do it for you. Only you can do it for yourself. Only you can find your rhythm. But music won’t come if you’re not willing to play the chords.
Skipping or delaying a certification gives you that flexibility to explore openly. And find your own unique space of coaching. Or even to have the space to decide if you feel that coaching isn’t for you.
After all, nothing is set in stone, you can always choose not to become a coach too. And if you do, then you’ll be happy that you didn’t spend all that money on a certification.
In short, you can always build your coaching business first, and then get a certification if it makes sense. But you certainly don’t have to dollop all that cash into a certification right at the start; much better to invest it in other areas which are more vital for you to build your digital presence and your personal brand.
Remember, only you can find your rhythm. No one else can do it for you. All we can do is support you along the way.
And if support is what you’d appreciate, then maybe it’s not a certification that you should be after, but a community that can look after you while you go about finding your rhythm.
One such community is Succeed From The Start. Say hello to Angela Roth, the founder, and she can give you a quick walk through, of what it’s like to get the support you need, while you’re trying to find your rhythm as a coach.