Why Your Consulting or Coaching Business Should Be Your Next Promotion

Feeling stuck trying to figure out what kind of consulting or coaching business to build?

If you're a mid-career professional with years, or even decades, of experience, you're not short on expertise. You're surrounded by it.

And that's exactly what makes choosing the right business direction and niche is so difficult!

As a business mentor and brand positioning and messaging strategist (link to services), this is one of the biggest challenges I help aspiring, new, and seasoned consulting and coaching business owners solve.

Many experienced professionals assume they should build their business around everything they've done. Others fall back on earlier chapters of their career because they feel safer or more familiar.

But what if the right answer isn't behind you?

What if it's actually your next promotion?

To explore that question, I invited my client Deborah Masak onto Consulting Matters. Deborah spent nearly three decades leading learning and development organizations before deciding to build her own consulting business. Over the past six months, we've worked together to clarify her brand positioning, messaging, offers, and website.

In this conversation, Deborah shares what it was really like to work through the uncertainty of choosing a business direction, why she kept looking backward before finally looking forward, and the mindset shift that changed everything.

Watch our conversation for practical guidance on building a consulting or coaching business that reflects the highest level of expertise you've earned throughout your career.

HERE ARE THE 3 KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS EPISODE:

1️⃣ Your Business Should Feel Like a Promotion

The fastest way out of the struggle of choosing which expertise to focus your business on and which client is right for you is to ask yourself a simple question, 

"What would represent a promotion for you?"

That question changes everything. Instead of building a business around an expertise that you mastered and outgrown years ago, you focus on what represents the next chapter in your career and business. 

2️⃣ When in the Messy Middle, Trust the Process

If you're struggling to figure out which consulting or coaching business to build, don't mistake uncertainty for failure. Exploring different directions, testing ideas, and trusting the process are often what lead to the clarity and confidence you're looking for.

3️⃣ Your Website Is When Your Business Becomes Real

There's something powerful about seeing your business come to life. When your positioning, messaging, offers, photography, and website all come together, your business stops feeling like an idea and starts feeling real. That clarity doesn't just help prospective clients understand your value. It helps you confidently step into your identity as a business owner.

REFLECT AND TAKE ACTION

This conversation with Deborah isn't just about figuring out a direction your consulting or coaching business can take. It’s about making sure you build the right one that reflects the BEST of your career, experience, and strengths. 

When you're done watching our conversation, reflect on these questions:

• What would change if I stopped asking, "What could I do?" and started asking, "What business would represent a promotion for me?"
• Where am I trying to rush clarity vs sitting with it and exploring different directions?
• Do my messaging, offers, website, and LinkedIn profile reflect who I am now – the business I’m trying to build now, the clients and opportunities I’m ready for, and the consultant, coach, and business owner I’ve become?

WHERE YOU MIGHT GET STUCK

It can be challenging to figure out the right business that represents a promotion on your own for one big reason: you're simply too close to yourself to clearly see the power of what you do and the value you bring. 

It's like trying to read the label from the inside of a jar.

Deborah didn't gain clarity because she found the perfect AI prompt or suddenly had the right business idea. She gained clarity because she had someone who could see her strengths, ask the right questions, challenge her assumptions, and help her connect the dots across more than 30 years of experience to uncover the business she was truly ready to build.

If you're ready to stop spinning and gain clarity on your niche, messaging, and offers, along with a custom-built business and brand foundation that positions you for the clients, impact, and income you’re ready for, I'd love to help.

Learn more about my highly personalized VIP Brand Positioning & Messaging programs, designed specifically for purpose-driven consultants and coaches at  https://www.betsyjordyn.com/services