One day in a coaching session, a client got me thinking of reasons why coaching is a perfect retirement career.
Her off-the-cuff comment during the session made me look at employment and post-employment in a different way. While I’ve been helping professional women start businesses, I had never considered the dilemmas women face after retirement.
In this instance, my client said something to the effect, “Caroline, people like you have already prepared for their retirement. You’re already doing what you love and will probably do it for the rest of your life. People like us have to ensure our finances are taken care of while we’re still in employment because we just don’t know…”
That woke me up!
You see, I had never considered myself retired. I’m self-employed, and I don’t see myself retiring from coaching, writing, and speaking. I figure that I’ll do one or a combination of these 3 for the rest of my life.
Retirement can be tough when it’s unplanned
After that coaching session, I talked to more high-achieving women who are in their late 40s and early 50s. What to do after retirement emerged as a common source of unvoiced worry.
These women have seen what has happened to others after retirement and it’s not always a good thing.
- The first lot contains the lucky retirees. Some got part-time jobs doing what they were doing previously. Others are consultants. Others work in their own businesses, complete with their own employees.
- Another lot went to the rural areas and recreated a new life there. Some did this willingly while others had no choice.
- There are those who went out with a bang and then disappeared into obscurity a few years after retirement….never to be seen or heard of again!
- There’s also a group of disillusioned ones who lost their money trying this and that thing…and failed.
- Worse still are the ones that did nothing. They just faded away. Some visit the office or call their former colleagues once in a while. This reminds them of how life was when they had somewhere to go each day. They stalk former colleagues and associates on social media and talk endlessly to family and friends about their past days of glory.
- …and others…(fill in the gap).
Other than the first group and partially the second group (for those who had planned to move to the rural area), the other options are downright scary!
So what to do?
Bookmark this article if you’re interested in getting started as a coach or if you want to explore more about coaching as a perfect retirement career. Also, feel free to share it with other women who may be getting closer to retirement and they’re feeling stuck.
Why coaching is a perfect retirement career
If you have amassed a lot of knowledge and you have experience mentoring people (and you love it), why not consider coaching as a retirement career?
Here are 6 reasons why.
1. It’s easy to start and scale
One of the best things about coaching is that unlike consulting, you can start anywhere and with what you already know and have. It’s also easier to scale a coaching business up or down when you want to.
For example, say you have more time or need more money, then you scale up and get more clients. But when you need a bit of downtime and freedom, you scale down and pick up when you’re ready to.
2. You can get started now in your free time
You can start coaching as a side hustle while still in employment as long as you can spare 12 hours a week for your business. These hours also include learning about the business and acquiring coaching skills.
The best thing about starting while you’re still in employment is that you can access money for coach training and business setup. You can also lean on your contacts and networks to get clients…something that may not be available after you retire.
3. You can combine different things to create different income streams
When I was researching my next business in 2010, I chose coaching because I could combine it with training, speaking, and writing. Each of these is a career or business on its own. But when you combine them into one business, you will make more money and have more to offer your prospects and clients.
You can also take hobbies that you’re passionate about and weave them into your coaching. For example, if you dabble in graphic design and coach business owners, you can create designs and sell them to your clients or as standalone products.
Finally, you’ve acquired a lot of skills, knowledge and experience over the years. None of it goes to waste as they are all part of your packaging as a coach.
4. You choose your clients, what you do, and when to work
I never thought I could have the freedom to decide who I want to work with (or not). Over the years, I’ve changed who I work with and what I do as I outgrew working with certain niches and as I gained more experience. My fees have also increased to match the niches I work in.
Working with clients who are a natural fit for you makes work feel like play! Choosing what to do and when to do it also provides a level of freedom that’s rarely available to an employee.
5. Coaching is a booming industry
“The industry experienced a massive boom worldwide across a range of sectors over the past few decades — being the second-fastest-growing sector in the world within the past 10 years.” (Medium.com) and is expected to grow even more in the next 5 years. There is actually more demand for coaches than there are coaches.
On top of that, social media and the internet have levelled the playing ground. So you can now get access to millions of prospective clients with a click.
What more could you ask for?
6. You can run your business from anywhere in the world
This is one of the things I like most about coaching as a business! You can coach from literally anywhere in the world as long as you have internet or phone access.
Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic normalised working from home and remote work across countries and continents. The growth of audio-visual tools and online learning and business management apps has also been phenomenal.
Lack of internet access should not limit you. You can use a platform like Freeconferencecall which offers teleconference bridge lines for use via regular phone lines. Once you complete the call, you get an email with a link that you can forward to your client(s). I used this facility from 2011 to 2020 before moving to Zoom. I still keep my bridge line for times when I travel to areas with limited internet access.
If you prepare well in advance and have all your materials online, you can schedule content to drip to your client(s) on specific days. This leaves you with time to enjoy life at the moment instead of rushing around before and after client sessions or group calls.
You can also hire virtual assistants for almost any aspect of your business. This helps take care of your business back end and frees up your time. As your business grows, you can hire associate coaches which gives you additional income without additional work.
Location independence gives you more freedom and the ability to live your life your way.
It also means that you don’t have to put your post-retirement travel plans on hold. If anything, you can now fund your travel as you travel.
For example, I live in Mombasa, Kenya, but most of my clients are from Nairobi and outside Kenya. There are also times when I work while travelling, even from remote areas like my parent’s farm in the Rift Valley. Life doesn’t stop when I want to travel. Instead, I pack my laptop, and phone, and go. Sometimes, I don’t even carry my laptop because my business is 100% online. I can use my tablet or another computer.
There are many reasons why I advocate for coaching as the perfect retirement career, especially for women. So if you love what you do or you want to help people overcome their challenges to success, then consider this highly fulfilling career for your retirement.
How to get started as a coach
This article wouldn’t be complete if I don’t offer some resources on getting started as a coach.
Fortunately, this is one industry that is very easy to get into. Unfortunately, this is also one of the most unregulated industries. So there is a need for a buyer beware notice because you can spend a lot of money on shoddy training!
There are numerous coach training schools offering both low and high-cost courses. I recommend that you choose a school that is accredited by the International Coach Federation (ICF) or a similar international body such as the Academy of Executive Coaching (AoEC) and the European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC). We have accredited ICF and AoEC training schools in Kenya if this option interests you.
You can also take an alternative route and train as a Neuro-Linguistics Programming (NLP) Practitioner. This is deeper and there are credible trainers in Kenya. Contact me if you want to find out more about this option.
Even so, because this is an unregulated industry, you can get started immediately by working with a mentor coach. This option will help you to identify your skills and talents and create your first coaching program out of these. The mentor will also teach you basic coaching skills and work with you as you work with your clients. With this option, you can make money to pay for your coach training, which is generally expensive.
I’ll create a more detailed post on how to get started as a coach by working with a mentor coach.
My experience
People constantly ask about my experience starting and growing a coaching business. So let me share some of it here.
Personally, I did NLP Practitioner training in 2011 and created my first life coaching program. This program (Break, Free, Live Your Life) is still my bestseller to date, 11 years later! The results are astounding and graduates market the program through word-of-mouth.
I then worked with a mentor coach who helped me create my first business coaching program (12 Weeks to Startup) when we realized that most of the women seeking my help wanted to get into business. My experience in business and having failed in one also came in handy for this program.
In 2015, I put together the content for the original version of 12 Weeks to Startup into a PDF self-coaching manual. This manual sold until 2017 when I pulled it from the market (more on that in another email).
I later got ICF-approved coach training in 2016 and I’m currently pursuing a higher level of ICF accreditation.
In between, I’ve also taken numerous non-accredited coaching and business skills development courses. I’ve also hired coaches to help me improve my life and business. It’s a never-ending cycle of growth and expansion that I absolutely love! And best of all…my business pays for it!
A challenge for new & experienced coaches
Beyond this being an unregulated industry, most coach and NLP training schools don’t teach you how to market your services. And most also don’t teach you how to manage your coaching practice. This oversight leads to frustration, overwhelm and overwork for many coaches.
I didn’t learn any of this from my NLP training. Even the ICF-accredited course I took in 2016 didn’t give me enough knowledge to help me market and manage my business! There was only one module on marketing and business management each and they were both very scanty.
Most of what I’ve learnt about marketing and business management has been from my previous business experience, working with coaches, taking courses and unaccredited coaching programs, the internet, and trial and error.
This is a big challenge for anyone who is coming from a corporate environment where you only focus on your area of expertise and a little bit more.
Suddenly, in your business, you have to:
- Market.
- Sign up clients.
- Coach them with amazing results (this is never a problem for most coaches).
- Create and update your coaching programs.
- Set up other streams of income e.g. e-courses, memberships, etc.
- Grow and manage your team.
- Manage the back end (finance, operations, HR, etc).
- And stay sane!
With time, you overlook and some fall through the cracks. You’ll find yourself working long hours and the money will no longer make sense.
This is why I’m passionate about mentoring upcoming, new and experienced coaches.
You don’t have to reinvent the wheel, work yourself to the bone, or spend millions trying to cobble things up. Together, we’ll identify your coaching niche, set up your business with exactly what you need, and do this in a way that works for you.
Is coaching the perfect retirement career for you?
If you think coaching is the perfect retirement career for you or you want to create an additional income stream, I invite you to check out my course 12 Weeks to Startup. This course will help you identify your coaching niche, set up your practice, and get paying clients in 3 months or less.
This course is the exact coaching process I use with business startup clients. It’s a time-tested process I have used to set up two coaching businesses (including Biashara Threesixty). I also use the same process when creating a new product. I also set up the e-course using the same process.
Once a year, I also host a live 12 Weeks to Startup coaching group for 12 women. I don’t hold back and share everything I’ve learnt, created or that has worked/not worked for me since I started coaching. I also hold your hand as you start and grow your business.
Best of all, once you complete this program, you can continue with a low-cost monthly membership as you work on your marketing and business management systems while coaching paying clients.
In this article, I’ve explored:
- Why coaching is the perfect retirement career.
- How to get started as a coach.
- How I can help you set up your coaching practice
It’s a load of information that may take some time to wade through. If the information seems too much, book a complimentary Discovery Call with me and find out more about coaching and whether it is the perfect retirement career for you.
(Photo by Katerina Holmes on Pexels)
