What Most Coaches Still Get Wrong About Building a Thriving Practice

by Ankush Jain

The Question That Won't Go Away

Thirteen years ago, when I first entered the coaching profession, the most common question among my peers and myself was some version of, "How do I get more clients?" or "How do I make more money?"

It's crazy to me that it's now 2025 and after a decade of coaching around the world, training hundreds of coaches, and seeing this profession explode with new opportunities, I still hear the same questions.

More than a decade after I started coaching, the profession has exploded but the anxiety behind these questions hasn't gone away. This is despite there being more visible role models, more organisations using coaches, and more proof than ever that a coaching business can thrive. So why are so many coaches still stuck in the same place?

The Real Issue Beneath "How Do I Get More Clients?"

I've worked with hundreds of coaches. I see the same pattern:

The problem isn't a lack of coaching skill or even not enough opportunity.

Some of the most talented, insightful, and genuinely caring people I know still struggle with the business side of coaching, i.e. how to create, enroll, and serve clients in a way that pays the bills, much less provides a comfortable living.

After years of listening, mentoring, and being mentored, I believe "How do I get more clients?" is actually a symptom, not the root cause.

The real question, usually unspoken, is:

"Is it truly possible for someone like me to build a business that is ethical, heart-centered, and also profitable?"

Why Do So Few Coaches Cross the $100,000 Mark?

Here's a statistic few talk about:

$53K

Average ICF Member Revenue

In 2023, the ICF found that the average revenue of their members globally was under $53,000.

Despite all the noise, a tiny fraction of coaches ever make $100,000 a year in revenue, let alone profit. Those who do reach $100,000 in revenue rarely hit $200,000.

For most coaches, coaching is still not as well paid as other professions.

It doesn't have to be this way.

Over the past decade, I've grown a heart-centered coaching business approaching $1 million in annual revenue, and I did it without compromising my values or resorting to tactics that felt out of integrity.

My first years in business were lean and whilst I never cared about making six figures, I struggled to create clients. I was told that I needed one more certification, one more clever marketing system, or some secret six-figure script.

But the more I learned from actual six and seven-figure coaches who loved their work and their life, the clearer it became:

Why Most Industry Advice Misses the Mark

The coaching profession is flooded with tactics:

Courses on niching

Lead generation

Funnels

Copywriting

Pricing

We've all seen the ads, read the books, attended the webinars.

Some of it can help, but none of it will move the needle until a coach resolves their internal orientation toward value and service.

You have to learn the skill of enrollment as well as the skill of coaching.

The best enrollment systems are built on service and genuine relationship rather than marketing and positioning yourself as an expert.

Genuine Relationship

The coaches I see building healthy, sustainable, high-revenue practices are not the ones with the fanciest websites, the most social media followers, or the best funnels.

Clients Are Created in Conversation

They are the ones who understand that clients are always created in a conversation.

From Billion-Dollar Budgets to £50 Sessions

Before coaching, I helped to manage a billion-dollar procurement budget at a global company.

I entered this profession thinking I understood business, value, and negotiation.

Yet when it came to selling coaching, I had no idea what I was doing.

Why? Coaching is much more relationship-based than any other business I know.

The shift for me came when I stopped comparing, stopped chasing, and started truly serving.

  • Serving, not selling.
  • Showing, not convincing.
  • Seeing the human, not just the potential client.

When I simply helped the client have the transformation they wanted before they paid me, my business grew, more clients hired me, and I discovered that the "secret" was not more selling but more coaching.

What Actually Moves the Needle

If you are still stuck at the "how do I get more clients" stage, try these:

01

Ask who has a problem that you know you can help them fix

02

Reach out to the person or people you are afraid of not hiring you

03

Look through your email and social media inbox at who is already in your world that you have been ignoring

04

Identify a resource that you can send to your ideal clients that would help them today

You do not need to master funnels or learn a script. You need to get comfortable serving before you get paid.

You Can Build a Thriving, Ethical Practice.

Yes, You.

I wrote my new book, Awakening the Coach Within, not as a "how-to," but as a lived account of what it actually takes to create a business that is ethical, heart-centered, and abundant. Every lesson in it is hard-won, practical, and used by myself and my clients to build practices that work for our lives, not just our bank accounts.


If you take away nothing else, let it be this:

It is not just possible, it is necessary for the future of our profession that more coaches model what ethical, loving, and successful business looks like.

We do not need more "client-getting" systems. We need more coaches who are living proof that this path works, without selling out, burning out, or giving up who they are.

Let's build that future together.

Ankush K. Jain

Ankush Jain left behind the safety of the corporate world because coaching wasn't just a career change. It was a calling he could no longer ignore. Grounded in the Three Principles understanding and shaped by mentors including Steve Chandler and Steve Hardison, he discovered that coaching at its highest is sacred work. He stands for powerful, life-changing conversations rooted in service, love, and connection, and against gimmicks, hustle, and chasing income at the expense of true transformation.

For over thirteen years, Ankush has served clients globally. He's the founder of the AJC Coaching Career School and creator of the Powerful Men's Immersion. He's the author of Sweet Sharing: Rediscovering the REAL You and has just published Awakening the Coach Within: Lessons for Building and Embodying a Thriving Coaching Practice. His proudest achievements aren't awards or accolades, but the words of clients who tell him they received something far greater than they came for.

Outside of coaching, his greatest joys are his family, and the everyday miracle of being human. His journey is proof that anyone can create a life of freedom, love, and service.

Amazon.com

Awakening the Coach Within: Lessons for Building and Embodying a Thriving Coaching Practice

Awakening the Coach Within: Lessons for Building and Embodying a Thriving Coaching Practice - Kindle edition by Jain, Ankush, Ford, Melissa. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading Awakening the Coach Within: Lessons for Building and Embodying a Thriving Coaching Practice.

Amazon.com

Way of the Dragonfly: 101 Maxims for Leading a High Vibrational & Conscious Life

Way of the Dragonfly: 101 Maxims for Leading a High Vibrational & Conscious Life - Kindle edition by Carroll, Jonathan. Religion & Spirituality Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.

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