3 Huge Mistakes I Made When Building My Coaching Business (So You Don’t Have To!)

3 Huge Mistakes I Made When Building My Coaching Business (So You Don’t Have To!)

We’ve all heard that success is a journey, not a destination, right? Well, let me tell you, that journey is full of potholes, detours, and wrong turns. 

I’ve hit MANY of those myself, and today, I’m here to share three of the biggest mistakes I made when building my coaching business—so you can avoid them!

One thing I’ve learned is that we NEED to make mistakes, have setbacks and failures… they are our greatest teachers.

So, if you’re like “If you tell me these, and I won’t make them, then maybe I’ll fail.”

Well, don’t worry, you’ll make lots of other mistakes… we all do! LOL!

Anyway, here we go! 

My 3 BIGGEST mistakes:

1. Trying to Be Everything to Everyone

When I first started almost 20 years ago, it was mostly addiction recovery and alcoholism, because I’ve now been sober for 21 years.

BUT, I was broke so I was all about casting a wide net. I figured, “Why not help as many people as possible?” But here’s the thing: when you try to appeal to everyone, you end up resonating with no one. 

My messaging was all over the place, and my ideal clients couldn’t find me.

Lesson Learned: Niche down and speak directly to the people who truly need what you offer. 

It might feel counterintuitive, but the more specific you are, the more magnetic your brand becomes. 

The Rule: You can do business with ANYBODY you want…

BUT, you can’t market to all of them… only to ONE!

Now, I focus on being a business and Linkedin strategist for entrepreneurs, and it’s made all the difference.

I sometimes talk about life mastery because:

1. I enjoy it, it’s part of my personality

2. It’s a HUGE part of being a successful entrepreneur

2. Ignoring the Importance of Systems

Let me paint you a picture: it’s 2 AM, and I’m knee-deep in spreadsheets, trying to keep track of client emails, scheduling, and invoicing. Not fun. For too long, I believed I could juggle it all without a solid system in place. 

Spoiler alert: I couldn’t.

Lesson Learned: Systems are your best friend. Whether it’s a CRM for managing client relationships or automation tools for scheduling and content posting, setting up functional workflows is essential. 

Here is a screenshot of my scheduling tool… I have been using Buffer for many many years. There are hundreds of other scheduling tools but this is simple and cheap… and I’m a creature of habit. Works great for me.

It frees up your time, reduces stress, and allows you to focus on what you do best—coaching!

The Rule: Automate and delegate!

3. Underestimating the Power of Personal Branding

For years, I was the behind-the-scenes guy—working hard but not putting myself out there. Big mistake. 

People don’t just buy services; they buy from people they know, like, and trust. And if they don’t know you? Well, that’s a problem.

Lesson Learned: Personal branding isn’t just a buzzword; it’s the foundation of your business. 

I started investing time in building my LinkedIn presence, sharing my journey, and engaging with my audience. 

The results? A network of 135,000 Linkedin followers and a steady stream of clients who connect with my story.

The Rule: Build an audience. It is the most valuable possession you can have. It is priceless. You can’t sell “stuff” if you have nobody to sell it to. 

You can run paid ads, but when the ads stop running, the phone stops ringing, because there’s no foundation. 

Build your foundation, and you can sell anything you want!

Wrapping It Up

Look, mistakes are part of the process, but they don’t have to derail your progress. 

By niching down, setting up solid systems, and investing in your personal brand, you can avoid the pitfalls I stumbled into and build a coaching business that’s both successful and sustainable.

What about you? What’s one mistake you’ve learned from on your entrepreneurial journey? 

I’d love to hear your stories—hit reply and let’s swap lessons learned!

Here’s to learning, growing, and building something epic!

P.S. If you’re ready to supercharge your LinkedIn presence and avoid the mistakes I made, let’s connect! I share tips daily to help you build your personal brand and grow your business.

Follow Dennis Berry on Linkedin 

If you’re struggling to navigate growth in your business, there are a few ways I can help:

1. Join the Epic Entrepreneurs Community on Skool (HERE)

2. 1-1 Business Coaching to (finally) monetize your business (HERE)

3. Epic Entrepreneurs Newsletter with 100,000+ subscribers  (HERE)

4. Epic Biz Launch© - Launch your ENTIRE business in 1 week (HERE)

Dennis Berry
Founder & Business Strategist
Epic Entrepreneur Media