I officially launched my career coaching business two years ago today, on my 39th birthday. I say “officially” because I’d actually been coaching for ages. I did my coaching certification in 2016 and I’d been coaching clients for free whilst slowly building up my website and doing all the other things that I thought you had to do to be “ready” to start a business. All those things that would make me feel ready to charge people for my services.
When I launched my business though I was far from ready. I was terrified.
- Terrified that the world would think I was a fraud. What right did I have to help people in their career and charge them for it?
- Terrified that I wouldn’t get any clients and be a laughing stock.
- Terrified that my website would crash or the links in my emails wouldn’t work.
- Terrified that this dream I’d been investing in for the past three years, or actually forever, would crash and burn and I’d have to go back to corporate.
But I did it anyway. I set myself a target date (I’d never forget my birthday). I worked out the bare minimum things I needed to do to allow me to get to that date and I pulled out all the stops to make it happen. And I tried not to worry about what would happen afterwards.
Since then there have been lots of times that I haven’t felt ready in my business and my work as a career coach.
- The first time I invoiced a client
- The first time I saw that a client was really struggling with their own unreadiness
- The first time that someone criticised my work
- The first time I did my accounts
- The first time I delivered a lecture on career development
- The first time I facilitated a webinar
- The first time I wrote for the media
The list goes on …
From next month I will be raising my prices for my coaching and career writing services for new clients. For me to keep doing the great work I do to help women in their careers, I need to feel fairly compensated financially and, if I’m honest, I haven’t felt this for some time. I know I am charging way below the market rate. But guess what I haven’t felt “ready” to increase my prices.
- I have felt terrified that people will think it’s too expensive and I’ll lose clients
- That people will think it’s unfair in this economic climate to be charging more
- That the one client who disagrees with my resume writing style, even though I am fully trained and up to date with best practice, will think its utter baloney. That I’m not worth it.
- That someone might criticise me on social media for doing it
But I am going to do it anyway. Even though it terrifies me. Because if there is one thing I have learned it is that I will never feel ready.
Just like you will never feel ready to change career. You might be ready to leave your current job or to return to the workforce after a break, but it’s likely you will not feel ready for the indecision that comes with career change. You will not feel ready to take a leap into the unknown. To try things out knowing that they might not work. You won’t feel ready to start studying again or to begin in a new field without having all of the experience.
But waiting to feel ready may keep you stuck.
My advice is to do something. Anything. “Feel the fear and do it anyway” as Susan Jeffers said.
Do the short course. Reach out to someone you don’t know on LinkedIn. Meet that person for coffee. Comment on social media. Write a blog post. Write your About Me page for a website you dream of having one day.
And then do something else. Action breeds confidence. You’ll never feel totally ready but your increased confidence will help you do it anyway.
Is there something you want to do but you don’t feel ready? Book in with me for a complimentary half hour career chat and we can brainstorm some strategies to help you. Click here
For details about my new pricing structures click here and if you want to work with me at my current rate then contact me before the end of September.