Why I hired a business coach before I even I started my business

Six months before I even had a business, I hired a business coach. It sounds crazy when I say it out loud. 

Why would I hire a coach when I don’t even have a business yet? Well, here is how it all played out.

I was in Queensland with my Mum, staying in Noosa, and while I was supposed to be on holiday, toxic work behaviour was playing out behind my back. It had been building for a while, but this was the straw that broke the camel’s back (so to speak).

I was an absolute emotional wreck, shaking, adrenaline pumping, couldn’t think straight and crying. As my Mum hugged me, I remember thinking, I can’t keep living like this, the emotional stress on my body – something has to change. 

That day I made the decision. It was time to start my own business.

A few days later, I was walking along the beach in the early morning and stumbled across Steph Gorton’s podcast – I really liked her. Then I started devouring hours of her content.

I realised that if I was going to leave my corporate Head of Brand role and start my own business, I couldn’t do it alone. I needed support, a community, and access to shortcuts that would save me years of trial and error.

So I walked back to the house and told my Mum that I’d made the decision to join Steph Gorton’s coaching community without any idea of the cost.

Here’s the thing though… every single dollar I was earning at the time was going towards saving a 20% deposit for my new apartment, which was settling in December. I couldn’t afford this, it felt crazy to spend money I didn’t technically have.

But I knew what I wanted.

From day one, I needed to replace my corporate salary. I wanted five-figure months from the very beginning. And I didn’t want to wait three years before I could afford to travel or live the kind of life I’d been dreaming of either. For me, that had to happen Year 1.

So in September, I started working with Steph, I had just flown into Bali for 2 weeks holiday and to work. And that’s when I began slowly building. Learning everything I didn’t know yet about running a business in this new Instagram-driven world. Setting up all the tools and systems. Putting the foundations in place.

And it paid off. 

I signed contracts with five clients at $2k each, which meant I had $10k per month locked in for 3 months before I even officially launched on February 1st 2023. That gave me the security and confidence to kick off my business with a 3-month safety net (phew).

Looking back now, it’s still the smartest decision I’ve ever made. I left corporate on January 31st, launched the next day, and I’ve had consistent five-figure months ever since.

Here’s what I’ve learnt:

“You can always make more money. You can’t make more time.”

When you invest in expertise, you collapse time. You move faster, skip mistakes, and open doors that might have taken years to unlock if you’d tried to figure it all out yourself.

That one decision not only fast-tracked my business – it set the philosophy I still live by today.

It’s the same reason people invest in me to build their brand. Because a strong brand (besides looking good), amplifies your business growth, increases revenue, attracts more aligned clients, helps you stand out and collapses the buying decision time to choose you.

I’ll always choose the faster way, will you?

Speak soon