The worst piece of advice given to new coaches
I think “pick your niche” is one of the worst pieces of advice a new coach can be given.
It is like asking a baker to create their signature cookie before they’ve even started baking.
When niche is positioned as a requirement to establish a coaching business, it only leads to stress, constraint, and a turning of attention from the COACHING to the BUSINESS of Coaching.
One’s true niche is something that EMERGES as a result of time, practice, and a ton of coaching.
It’s not something you choose, nor is it something that is required before you can begin.
And if we ARE going to consider niching - true niching - as a part of business building, let’s explore it later in the coaching journey, not at the beginning.
As I've come to see it, when coaches use the word "niche" what they're really trying to describe is WHO they help.
And when it comes to Who you want to help with your coaching, it's totally natural to want to experiment and try out many different things. You might not know at the start exactly Who you want to help, or you might want to help all kinds of different people, and this is not a problem.
Being asked to pick Who you want to help at the beginning of the coaching journey I find - for most new coaches - to be incredibly constraining and stressful. It keeps us from experimenting, which is required to learn and discover.
Does it help to make a few decisions about who you want to help for now? Sure.
If you don’t know who you want to help, are you totally effed? Of course not. There are plenty of other directions you can move in as you get started.
Get out of the coaching bubble and talk to lots of different kinds of people.
Run a Conversation Project and listen to what people tell you they need help with.
Coach as much as you can (free in exchange for feedback to start!) and notice what lights you up (and what doesn't).
And please ... please.... don't be afraid to change your focus if you feel pulled in a new direction.
It's what the beginning of your coaching journey should be about.
To learn a new approach to niching as a coach check out the Rethinking Niche Class coming up on 10/12.