Sports coach turns side-hustle into full-time six-figure business and sells it within 2 years
A leap of faith
Lee was ready to take the biggest leap of his life, and leave full-time employment. Your first year in business only happens once, and it can make or break the rest of your career, and for that reason Lee sought a 1-1 coach he could contact any day of the year if needed.
Building confidence
Lee is a confident bloke by nature, but true confidence in business comes from seeing the hurdles, opportunities, and milestones in front of you in HD.
In our first 5 weeks together we mapped out the playing field, and a plan for navigating to the prize. Here’s what we uncovered.
Income $100k. It was important to Lee to replace his teaching income asap, as this would be the first measure of success for the new business. Once this milestone was identified we mapped out what the business needed to become to achieve that goal (how many coaching venues, how many customers, how many coaches, what pricing, how much advertising, and so on), turning Lee’s dream into a concrete destination.
Style of operation. Lee was running the business 100% on his own. This way of operating would never allow him to step back or sell the business, as it was too dependent on him and would fall over the moment he stepped away.
Growth. In a market of limited size like this one, where customer numbers cannot grow infinitely, we need to expand our definition of growth beyond simply “more customers”. A growth plan had to include pricing, packaging, new markets, new services, and also address any growth handbrakes such as staffing issues, quality control, the owner’s management load, and so on.
52 weeks of execution
When it’s your first full year in business, every single week brings a new challenge. 1-1 Advisory provided the constant guidance for Lee to meet these new challenges, and the structure to harness Lee’s enthusiasm, ideas, and energy.
- Stage 1 – Forecasting. The essential role of a CEO is predicting the future and having the ability to make it come true. The process of forecasting gave Lee a way to make deliberate progress towards his goals, rather than just work hard in general.
- Stage 2 – Operator to CEO. Every business starts with multi-tasking, and Lee began as a coach, admin, marketer, manager, customer service, and more. In order to make the business scalable and saleable he needed to begin the process of making the business less dependent on him (supported by hiring, processes, and marketing recipes that could be replicated when needed).
- Stage 3 – Growth. With the business viable and profitable, we were able to explore more avenues for growth beyond just more customers (pricing, packaging, partnerships, new services, and new territories), with the business expanding overseas, online, and into new services such as consulting and media.
- Stage 4 – Revise. As the CEO Lee’s role became more centred on “How will this business deliver my goals for wealth and lifestyle?” He discovered that the current business, while profitable, would not be the one to carry him to his wealth goals, but instead was a crucial stepping stone. This review led to: 1) Sale of the business; and 2) The birth of a new, more scalable business capable of growing to $1m+.
Results: A change in identity
- $35,000 p.a. to $200,000 p.a.
- Part-time side hustle to full-time business.
- Sold first business.
- Started 2nd business.
- Identifies no longer as a teacher or coach but as a CEO and entrepreneur.
School teacher to serial entrepreneur
“I have worked with Dave for two years at the time of writing.
Firstly and most importantly, he has become a great friend. This also is an indication of Dave’s coaching style. He is a facilitator of business growth and growth mindset.
Dave makes always makes me feel confident in my business dealings yet is also not averse to constructive, yet welcome critique. He gets the balance right constantly.
I enlisted Dave’s help when I left full time teaching to run my business, full time. As you can imagine, the risks involved in doing that were huge.
Whilst working with Dave, I have taken my coaching business from a 35k a year, part-time hustle to a $200k a year plus full time one and now I have also started (and sold) several other businesses.
Dave is brilliant. Hire him!”
LA, Former Sports Coach turned Entrepreneur
Want to have a year like Lee?
If you’re interested in going on a similar journey to Lee, he started with a short 5-week review, which led to a 12-month Advisory Partnership. See below for more details on each
Monster Map
You are 5 weeks away from a dramatic shift in confidence
Lee started where all my clients start. A 5-week business review where you and I together identify the fastest surest path to your goal, and the snakes and ladders we need to see to get you there.
Advisory
You are 12 months away from your goal if it's non-negotiable
1-1 Business Advisory is essentially the “all-in” version of business coaching, with access to your coach 365 days a year. It’s for when you decide to make your income or lifestyle goal a non-negotiable.