How to Discern the Right Business Coach or Coaching Program

Hey Friend!

Have you ever been disappointed by a course or coaching program you’ve bought into? Maybe you have never invested because you don’t know how to find something that’s right for you. If you have ever invested in a business coach, program, or course, you know how hard it can be to find a good fit – someone who provides outstanding value, the promised results, and aligns with your values. In today’s blog, I walk you through the three things to do before you invest to help you know if a program, course, or coach is a God-send or not. These steps will help you feel confident to spend money on growing yourself or your business.

3 Steps to Take FIRST Before You Invest in a Business Coach or Coaching Program

When looking to invest in a coach, program, or course for you or your business, it’s vital to look beyond the immediate promise they are offering. We need to discern through the marketing to understand who that person really is, what they stand for, and what they created to know if that’s something we want to model. The coach that you choose is the coach you are going to model yourself after. It’s the same if you take an online course. Who and what you learn will shape you and your business. Here are three simple steps to determine if a person aligns with your values, goals, and beliefs so you can purchase confidently.

1. Check the values of the business coach or coaching program creator.

Before investing in any type of coach, e-course, or program, it’s important to check the coach’s or course creator’s values. Do they align with your values and morals? If faith is important to you, do they showcase faith?

Where should you look to see if they align with you?

Examine their content and look for any red flags around their morals, values, beliefs, and things they stand for. Places to find this content are:

• Their long-form content: their podcast, blog, or video. Listen to what they’re saying; do you hear any red flags?
• Video content: Youtube, Reels, Instagram stories. Stories are a great way to get to know someone! 
• Social media: Captions, posts, etc. See what they stand for, what matters to them.

You want to do a deep dive to really get to know the person. Listen to a minimum of 3-4 pieces of long-form content; however, ten episodes or videos is probably a better number to start to get a feel for their values.

My personal red flags

• If someone is in their stories 24/7 trying to capitalize on every piece of their life 
• Talking 99% about money and 1% about faith
• Talking about worldly ways of growing a business, not bringing it back to scripture  
• Constantly working 24/7

2. Review the business coach or creator’s schedule and offers

Step two is to review the coach or creator’s life. Look at their schedule and offers and ask yourself, are their life and schedule what you want? For example, if they are live launching every month, on social media 24/7, to grow their business and have ten offers, do you want that? 

Do you want 5-10 offers? Are you going to want to be on social media 24/7? Do you want the stress of live launching every month? Probably not!

Just because you think someone is successful doesn’t make them the right coach for you. Do you have the same meaning of success? Is how they show up in their life and business the way you want to be in your life and business?

Write down what success looks like for you. What does a successful schedule look like? What does a God-centred business look like? Think about one, two, and three years from now. 

Next, vet this vision against the coaches or mentors you are following and ask, is their life honestly what I want? If it’s not, then they aren’t the right coach for you, and their offers aren’t right for you; because they will teach you what they’ve done.

If someone has 5-10 offers, they probably have a heart for money. A couple of well-positioned offers or stair-step offers (i.e., here’s what you do first, here’s what you do next) suggest they have a heart for their person because they are serving one person instead of attempting to sell to everyone. 

3. Pray before you invest in a business coach or coaching program.

The third thing to do before you invest in anything is pray. Have you truly stopped, paused, and taken it to the feet of Jesus? Ask God, is this where I’m supposed to be? Have you set this person before me to help me in this area?

It’s essential to be discerning in this. Get into scripture, pray and fast if necessary, but wait for the yes or at least the Holy Spirit nudge before you move forward. I personally find that after these three steps, I have perfect clarity on whether a course or coach is right for me. But when I haven’t followed it, I’ve made wrong decisions, wasting my time and money. What’s worse is when we follow the wrong person’s lead, it leads us astray from God’s path. 

There are so many amazing people with fantastic coaching and course options, so we don’t need to settle; we just need to sift through to find the right choice for us, the needle in the haystack. There is a haystack of overnight promises, glittery offers, and six-figure promises that aren’t what they appear to be. But, with discernment, we can find our needle. 

How can I help?

If you decide and discern that I might be the right business coach or mentor for you, please run me through these three steps! If I’m not the right person for you, that’s okay! I only want to work with you if I’m God-sent for you and your business. If you do decide to move forward with me as your coach or course mentor, you can find out all the ways I can help you:

• Get clear on your niche to start your ministry or online business.
• Launch your podcast with success so you can let go of social media.
• Make money from your podcast through coaching or courses.

You check them all out at stefaniegass.com/courses. I have testimonies, freebies, and so much information to help you know if it will be the right fit for you. 

If not, I’ve got over 500 episodes on the podcast to help you no matter where you are in your journey! If that sounds like a lot, please check out the Podcast Catalog in my free Facebook community, which will help you find the right episodes. Or else, you can search the blog to find what you need. 

Investing in your business doesn’t have to feel risky and uncomfortable. With the proper research, you can ensure the person you are investing with shares your values, has a schedule you want, and aligns with your meaning of success. Most importantly, when deciding, pray and wait for an answer. Wait until you get that yes or a Holy Spirit nudge, and you can confidently make your purchase knowing it is God-sent for you.

I pray this blesses you!

Xo,

Stef

P.S. Also, listen to podcast episode 505 for the full training on WAIT! Do These 3 Things BEFORE You Invest in a Business Coach, Online Course, or Group Coaching Program

APPLE PODCAST | SPOTIFY | GOOGLE PODCAST

I believe there are three steps to creating a passive income business from your calling.

A business that is evergreen, sustainable, and successful. 

This is why I’ve created a 3-step framework for you to follow. It will take you from unsure and overwhelmed to clear, purposeful, prayerful, and profitable. 

I can’t wait to work with you sweet friend. God has big plans for you. Uncovering your calling and creating an online business doesn’t have to be hard. 

I would love to walk beside you with step-by-step training, accountability, and faith. Your trust in me is an honor. I’m so here for you. Let’s grow girl. 

To God be the Glory.

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