Cathy Liska Building a coaching business means putting your business plan and marketing plan into action and doing the work involved.
Initial steps for becoming a coach and then getting started were covered earlier, as was getting clients. Once you have done the work to be a coach, start a business, and have your initial clients, your next considerations are growth, sustainability, and scalability. 
Growth involves getting more clients, often through referrals, networking, and presenting. The benefit of having acquired you initial clients is that you can ask for testimonials and you can ask for referrals. The quality of your work will support you growing your client base.
Sustainability includes ensuring you are set-up to effectively manage your workload so that what you do is valuable. This means self-care and balance are essential components. Plan time for yourself, plan your professional development, and balance your work time with time for family, friends, and fun.
Another element of sustainability is a consistent effort to bring in clients, gain business, and enhance your services. For example, if you stop marketing when your calendar is full, you will find that when clients complete their work with you it means you are left scrambling to get more clients. Alternatively, if you maintain your marketing, networking, and request for referrals consistently you will easily move from one client to the next. For example, graduates of the Center for Coaching Certification have the option of listing themselves at www.FindaCertifiedCoach.com and being available for work with www.CenterforCoachingSolutions.com.
Scalability means moving beyond an exchange of your time for money. For some the choice is to bring others on board either as independent contractors or employees. Some coaches create scalability with programs that can be accessed and used independently by individuals or small groups.
There may come a time when sale-ability is a consideration. If someone is going to buy a business, they want to know that they will gain a return on their investment. This means knowing there is a steady flow of clients and that this will continue beyond the time of you being there. Consider a solid infrastructure, effective ongoing marketing, a website and social media engagement, products, and enough large and/or consistent clients to ensure continued work.
When you start a small business consider the long-term implications of what you do, how you do it, and whether in can be duplicated and expanded on in the future.
