A Simple Business Growth Plan for Coaches and Startups

If you're early in business and stuck, and you can't figure out why nothing is growing, you don't need a long, fancy plan. You need a simple business growth plan with three parts, done in the right order. In this post I'll walk you through the exact plan I use with coaches, using a real startup I talked to as the example, so you can copy the same steps for your own business.

The example: a startup that was stuck

A founder came to me with an app. The app helps high school athletes get seen by colleges, and longer term, maybe go pro. It sits in the middle. Students on one side. College coaches on the other.

He wasn't sure what to do next. And so I broke it down for him, the same way I break it down for coaches. If you're a coach reading this thinking, "this isn't coaching," stay with me. The plan is the same.

I call it three things: your TCF, your CGE, and your S cubed.

Want to go even deeper? Watch the full video.

Part 1: Build the foundation (TCF)

TCF stands for The Coaching Foundation. It answers two questions.

• Who is my ideal client?
• What is my offer, and what outcome does it give them?

You can't make a good offer until you know the person. If I just say "college coach," what does that coach want? Are they at a school that cares a lot about grades? Are they a pro coach looking overseas? Every answer changes the offer.

His business is a little harder because he serves two people, the student and the college coach. So he needs two ideal client profiles and really two offers.

How to build the ideal client profile

Go really in-depth. Write down their struggles. What they're happy about. Their goals. Where they are now. What they're doing today to try to solve the problem. Where they spend their time. What they're interested in.

The more you know them, the better you can make the offer, the marketing, and the sales pitch. People buy things to solve a problem. If you understand the problem, you're just offering the answer.

How to shape the offer

Every offer comes down to three things.

• Where are they now?
• Where do they want to be?
• What's the roadblock in between?

Your offer is the missing piece that gets them past the roadblock. That's it.

How to price it: the golden gap

When it comes to pricing, think about three numbers stacked on top of each other.

• The value the person gets.
• The price they pay you.
• Your cost to deliver it.

The space between value and price is the extra value the client gets. The space between price and cost is your margin. Some people call this the golden gap.

Here's an example. Let's say the value of your program is $30,000 in the client's eyes. You charge $10,000. So they get about three times what they pay. Then say it costs you $3,000 to deliver. That leaves $7,000 of profit. Boom. Everyone wins.

How do you put a value on it? In business coaching it's easier, because you can point to money. In health, ask how much extra years of life are worth, or not feeling aches and pains. In relationships, ask what a loving, passionate marriage is worth. Think about it over a long stretch of time, not just today.

For the app founder, time is the value. How many hours does a college coach save not doing it the old way? People will pay for ease and simple. If you want more on setting a price, I wrote about what to charge as a new coach.

Part 2: Build the growth ecosystem (CGE)

CGE stands for the Coaching Growth Ecosystem. It has three parts: generate, nurture, and book.

Generate

It's very hard to sell something if nobody knows you exist. This is where a lot of coaches go wrong. They wait on word of mouth and referrals. Your ideal client is already out there. They want help. They just don't know you're there.

There are three ways to get in front of them:

• Paid ads. You pay to get in front of the right people. Fastest way to grow.
• Content. Post things your ideal client cares about.
• Outreach. DMs, emails, automation. But first figure out where those people hang out.

My recommendation for the app founder: he doesn't have a lot of cash for ads, so start with content or outreach. Get the first few people. Get some money in the door. Then add gas to the fire with paid ads.

Nurture

Now you need people to know, like, and trust you, and see you as the one who can fix their problem.

I would recommend a video sales letter, a VSL, for each type of client. Picture yourself having a conversation with that one person. Name where they are now, where they want to be, and what's holding them back. Then present your offer and give one clear next step.

Here's the key. Make the gap between "now" and "goal" feel big and clear. If the gap feels tiny, why would anyone spend money or time? The truth is, if people had everything they needed, they would have done it already. They're missing something. Knowledge, connection, accountability, discipline. Show them what's missing.

Book

For free stuff, like a student signing up for the app, the next step can just be "sign up now." There's not much friction. For anything high ticket, like a coach selling a $5,000 program, most people won't pull out a credit card without talking to someone. So the next step is booking a call.

If you're torn on what page to send people to, here's funnel vs website for coaches.

Part 3: Sell with the service sales system (S cubed)

S cubed stands for the Service Sales System. I've been in sales my whole life. My dad was in sales, and I was raised in it. And the biggest thing I've learned is that you can get all the leads in the world, but if you can't clearly explain how you solve someone's problem, they won't buy.

So drop the idea that sales is slimy or pushy. Someone has a problem. You have the missing piece. You charge for it because you need to put food on the table and your skills are worth something. When you help people and deliver value, you get paid for it. You're there to help, not just for the paycheck.

On the call, walk them through it clearly. Here's where you are now. Here's your goal. Here's the gap. Here's how I solve it. If you want the full structure, here's my sales presentation framework for coaches.

Putting the plan together

Business can seem complicated, especially if it's your first one. Don't get me wrong, there are details and tests. But broken down, it's this:

• Figure out who you help and what problem you solve. That's your offer.
• Go find those people. They already exist. Show them you understand their problem.
• Get them on a call and show them how you solve it.

Do the foundation first, then the ecosystem, then sales. In that order.

FAQ

What should a business growth plan include for a small business?

At minimum: who your ideal client is, what your offer is and how it's priced, how you'll get in front of people, how you'll build trust, and how you'll sell. That's the TCF, CGE, and S cubed.

Should I start with paid ads or content?

If you have the cash, paid ads grow you fastest. If cash is tight, start with content or outreach, get your first clients, then put some of that money into ads.

Does this plan work outside of coaching?

Yes. The example in this post is an app, not a coaching business. Any business needs a clear client, a clear offer, a way to get seen, a way to build trust, and a way to sell.

If you want help putting this in place, apply here: apply to work with TD Coach.