How to Simplify Your Coaching Business

You know what I've been obsessing over lately? Simplicity.

I know, I know. Not very on-brand for someone who usually tells you to bring the whole of who you are to your business. But hear me out, because this isn't about minimalism or Marie Kondo-ing your way to some sterile business aesthetic. This is about something far more important.

Your complicated business is keeping you smaller than you should be.

The Complexity Trap

Here's what I see constantly: coaches who've built these elaborate business models thinking that more offers means more ways for people to say yes. More platforms means reaching more people. More marketing tactics means covering all the options.

But it doesn't work like that.

What actually happens is you end up with a business that's overwhelming to run, confusing to your clients, and absolutely exhausting to market.

I'm talking about coaches in their first couple of years who already have:

• A low-ticket offer
• A mid-ticket offer
• A high-ticket offer
• A membership
• A mastermind
• VIP days
• Retreats

And then they're genuinely confused about why no one actually knows what they do. Why their messaging feels scattered. Why they're completely overwhelmed trying to market and organize all of these different things.

It's because it's way too complicated.

What Complexity Actually Signals

Complexity is almost always a sign that you don't have enough clarity around who you serve, the transformation you offer, and how you deliver that transformation.

So you hedge your bets. You create something for everyone. You build all these different pathways into working with you because you're not actually confident in the one or two pathways that are right.

I get it. The noise out there is loud. The advice to have a funnel for every stage, an offer at every price point, presence on every platform - it's dominating. But this is exactly what keeps so many coaches stuck. They build this complex ecosystem, realise it's too overwhelming to run, definitely too overwhelming to market, and everything gets muddied.

The messaging. The focus. The clarity.

All of it goes sideways.

What Simplicity Actually Looks Like

Let me tell you what I did.

Not that long ago, I closed The Collective, my membership. It was profitable. It was making money. But it was a step too far in complexity for me. It didn't feel good. It felt like an extra thing to market, an extra thing to explain. And honestly? I wasn't really clear on why I'd created it.

It didn't serve people in the way I like to serve them.

Now, I have three ways to work with me:

Mastery (my 18-week foundational program for early-stage coaches)

Evolution (for coaches ready to scale beyond 1:1 coaching)

Legacy (my private coaching for ambitious women building a personal brand beyond their coaching)

That's it. Three pathways. Very clear. No one has to work at it to figure out how to work with me.

And you know what happened when I simplified? My business grew. Because it finally had breathing space.

The Freedom of Going Deep Instead of Wide

When you simplify, especially your offers and your content, you get to go deep instead of wide.

You become known for something specific instead of vaguely known for a bit of everything.

Your messaging gets sharper. Your offers become more intentional. You have space to be creative, thoughtful, strategic in ways you can't be when you're drowning in complexity.

I have one podcast. One newsletter. This blog. Two social platforms (LinkedIn and Instagram). Everything connects. The podcast becomes the newsletter & blog topic. The newsletter & blog link to the podcast. My social content pulls from both. It's cohesive. It's simple. And it's what I can sustain without burning out.

The Brave Thing

It's actually quite brave to simplify your business.

It takes guts to say: This is what I do. This is who I help. And if that's not you, that's okay.

It's brave to put that stake in the ground and commit. This is why people find niching so hard - it requires courage.

It's brave to let go of an offer that's making money but isn't aligned anymore. That's what I did with The Collective.

It's brave to choose depth over the compulsion to be everywhere, to give yourself more chances to get in front of people.

But that bravery is what creates a business that constantly feels like you as your best self. That actually reflects the whole of who you are.

Three Questions to Guide You

So how do you figure out what to keep and what to let go of?

I use three litmus test questions that I come back to over and over:

1. Does it energise you?

I'm not saying every part of your business needs to light you up every moment of every day. But overall, does this thing energise you? Do you look forward to it?

Or is it draining you before you even begin?

If something is consistently draining you, you need to question whether it belongs at all.

2. Does it serve your ideal client?

Not just any client. Your ideal client. The person you're here to help.

Does this offer, this platform, this piece of content actually move them closer to the transformation they want?

If it doesn't, why are you doing it?

3. Does it move the needle?

Is this thing actually contributing to the growth of your business?

Is it bringing in revenue? Building relationships? Establishing you as an authority?

Or is it just busy work that makes you feel like you're doing something but isn't actually getting you anywhere?

Be ruthless with this one. Being busy does not equal being effective.

Do This Exercise

Get out a piece of paper. I want you to list everything in your business:

• Every offer
• Every platform you're on
• Every type of content you create
• Every marketing tactic you use
• Every system you have

Get it all out of your head and onto paper.

Then go through that list with those three questions in mind.

Circle the things that light you up AND make you money.

Not one or the other. Both.

Because if something lights you up but doesn't make you money, that's a hobby. And if something makes you money but drains your soul, that's a trap.

Everything you haven't circled? Question it. Seriously question whether it needs to stay.

When Less Becomes More

Your business needs to feel good for you to run if you want it to be sustainable. Otherwise, you'll either burn out or lose interest. And when you lose interest, that's when shiny object syndrome jumps in. You start chasing change after change, searching for that thing that does light you up.

If your business isn't feeling like that right now, it might be because it's overcomplicated.

Strip it back to what actually matters. What's really aligned for you.

That's when your business starts to feel like it's actually yours again. Like you're the one in control.

Less can be more. Not because minimalism is trendy, but because simplicity gives your business room to breathe. Room to grow. Room for you to show up as yourself.

And that's when the real work begins.

If you're in the early stages of building your coaching practice and feeling overwhelmed by all the 'shoulds', I've created a simple resource called Your First Yes a handful of needle-moving actions that will help you find those first few paying clients. No complexity. No overwhelm. Just what actually works. DOWNLOAD IT HERE