April 19, 2022
Is it possible to grow your coaching business almost 4.5X in just one year? Well, yes, and we've got the best case study to prove it! In this episode, Coach Ajit interviews Abdias E. Garcia, a graduate who grew his own coaching business by 433%...
Is it possible to grow your coaching business almost 4.5X in just one year? Well, yes, and we've got the best case study to prove it!
In this episode, Coach Ajit interviews Abdias E. Garcia, a Certified Business Coach graduate who grew his own coaching business by 433% in just one year after finishing the certification program. Abdias shares how he achieved that growth, the skills and strategies he used, and his best advice on how you could do the same.
He also reveals how to coach someone who is more successful than you, breaking 2 of the most common limiting beliefs coaches have and giving you the tools to start building your coaching career.
Key Insights:
Coach Ajit (00:00):
You are listening to Master Coaching with Ajit podcast that inspires coaches to impact the lives of their
clients more meaningfully. I am Coach Ajit and I'm known for coaching high performers, entrepreneurs,
and leaders. I'm also a serial entrepreneur and author of many books. On this podcast, I am answering
your burning questions. I'm also demonstrating and deconstructing behind-the-scenes coaching
sessions.
Coach Ajit (00:35):
And today I wanna share with you a very fascinating story of a coach that was able to grow their
coaching business by 433%. Yes, that's four and a half times almost of their coaching business in about a
year and a half. This is the story of Abdias Garcia. Abdias is one of our former graduates Certified
Business Coach, and he used becoming a better coach, learning how to communicate better, using his
presence and using his competencies around fundamentals of coaching that he learned during Certified
Business Coach, to be able to develop his business. What I was so impressed with, as I was talking to
Abdias, was he was able to reduce the number of clients he was taking. He was able to charge a higher
fee. He was able to create a system that organically through referrals was able to build his business. This
is a fantastic, fascinating story for you to know what fundamentals of coaching that you need to
implement, so you can envision a greater future for yourself.
Coach Ajit (01:32):
That is how quick growth can be 433% in about a year and a half after he graduated. Certified Business
Coach completely changed the way he coaches, completely changed the way he positions himself. And
of course, completely changed the outcomes that he's generating for himself. And this conversation was
recorded over our phone. So the audio may be a little bit tricky, but we have optimized it to our best
ability, so you have a great listening experience. Now let me invite Abdias to share his story. So Abdias, I
got your email and it said, well, ever since I've completed CBC or Certified Business Coach, your business
has grown by 433%. And I was just curious. I was like, okay. That's, that's amazing. First of all,
congratulations on on doing that, because I would say it's been maybe a year since you've done Certified
Business Coach, maybe slightly over that, right?
Abdias Garcia (02:26):
Thank you. Yeah, yeah. Over a year
Coach Ajit (02:27):
Just about, yeah, just maybe a year and a half ago. So it's not so long time ago. So tell me what
happened. I mean, what changed ever since you did Certified Business Coach? What changed in your
business?
Abdias Garcia (02:39):
Well, I think my confidence level certainly went up in terms of having more of the fundamentals of
coaching in place, because, you know, like talked about effective communication and all the core
competencies. And I had been coaching previous to that as a productivity coach with a, I guess, already a
formula that they had given me to coach. So this was much broader. There was more information, more
things to learn, but at the same time it was more fundamental. So that allowed me to kind of break out
a formulaic kind of approach to coaching and just create that space for the client where I had enough room to go, okay, I can use, this is where you're at with this. This is where you're at with that versus
saying, okay, you're not fitting to this protocol or you're not fitting to this agenda that I have for you as a
productivity coach
Abdias Garcia (03:27):
These are the things that you have to do. It was a very different approach where now I could sit and act,
actually identify, okay, what are your challenges before we can even get into business and anything else,
you know, what are their challenges, what their perception of their challenges were and so and so forth.
So it allowed me to have better communication with the client to learn their process versus
implementing my process. That's probably the most condensed version I said in the last few sentences,
but that's essentially it, it allowed me to learn their process versus trying to implement my process.
Coach Ajit (04:00):
So would you say the key that you got out of Certified Business Coach? The first key let's say is that you
got just more comfortable and increased the breadth of your ability to coach in a way.
Abdias Garcia (04:12):
Yes, absolutely. Whereas before let's say I was using three tools or three brushes to paint a picture. Now
they're like, Hey, aside from brushes, you can use sponges. We got this thing over here. Like there's all
these other different tools. It, it helps me help the client get a much clearer picture of what we're talking
about versus kind of limiting them to mind, limited knowledge.
Coach Ajit (04:35):
Tell me something Abdias. So you're saying that you were a productivity coach, which means you had
some experience of coaching, of course. Right. And now your breadth has increased. And so now you're
able to work more holistically with a client. Yes. That couldn't be the only reason why your business
grew. Right. Because I mean, or that's, I'm imagining, I'm kind of curiously asking as to how did the story
unfold. If I was to get you to rewind back, let's say a year, year and a half ago, when you graduated from
Certified Business Coach, I remember you mentioning that you were already able to increase your fee
while you were, I think you were just doing it or it was right after that. You were like, oh, I was able to
create these results for my clients. And because of that, I was able to increase my fee manyfold. Is it that
you were now focused more on less clients or did getting clients all to become easier because of all
these different things that you've talked about? Walk me through your story. What happened in the last
year and a half? Okay. This is, this is a fundamental shift in your coaching ability of course, but what
happened in, in context of maybe how you approached line, maybe how you were engaging with them
and so forth.
Abdias Garcia (05:38):
Okay. That's fair. Well, the first thing I did was I immediately took what I was learning and put it to the
test with a cohort, exploring all of the different core competencies and just kind of getting in touch with
that side of, of coaching. Whereas I was very much on the business side of things we're talking about,
here's your goal, here's your strategies and accountability. And that's it, like you said right now, the
approach is more holistic now. So I took a deep dive into trying to understand the other side of coaching
and the side of maybe we would call it live coaching if you will, or the person. And so that's where the
story begins that I started to explore that side of it. And it was not easy for me because, you know, my
personality is a much of a doer, an action taker and etcetera.
Abdias Garcia (06:25):
And for me to have to slow down, to listen more about where they were at versus trying to say, Hey, I'm
over here, come, come to me. I could go where they were at. So it started with that, just kind of in a
sense, challenging myself and looking at these things and saying, okay, before we go and try this on
other people, this is something you need to look at. So I did that, but with other people, and then that
broadened my awareness of, wow, there's a different way of doing this. So I think what happened was I
started to create more meaningful relationships with my clients and my clients started referring more
clients. So that was like the big game changer. When I started getting the referrals, the results that I was
getting from the people that were referring me are what allowed me to raise my prices because I had
tangible evidence. Now, does that make sense?
Coach Ajit (07:17):
It makes perfect sense. And I can see how many of our coaches really would struggle with that.
Understanding that a lot of times, it's not about how much more you can put out as content, how much
more you can do things versus just listening to your clients and becoming so meaningful in relationship
with your clients, that your clients refer you to other clients. And it becomes like an organic engine that
just works for your business. What I'm hearing is that you were able to build great results for your
clients, build more meaningful relationship with your clients and that organically got you more referred
clients, which were probably easier to engage and, and sign up anyways. I would imagine this is my, my
projections on this story, this part of the story. And of course they were also more long term because of
that. And, and it probably reduced your cost and anxiety of creating clients. Would you say that's
accurate?
Abdias Garcia (08:09):
Yeah, that's pretty accurate. I went from having a lot of clients that were, cuz I was working for a big
company. So they were supplying the leads if you will. They were bringing in people. And my only job
was to convert 'em into my program. And so when I transitioned to, to just doing my own business, I
knew that I did not want to do the quantity thing. I wanted to do the quality thing. And so when I tell
you 433%, it's because literally all those clients that I have from coaching one by one, went into this
transition mode into saying, guys, I'm gonna focus on business coaching holistically. And it's not the
same as it was before. So my prices are going up and so on and so forth and not everybody was on
board, but for the ones that did stay, it was so much better because now I could spend more meaningful
time with them.
Abdias Garcia (08:54):
I was more present with them. I was doing better. And if I could, you know, kind of pinpoint what was
the, the X factor. The X factor was me growing. Believe it or not me being able to slow down, me being
able to listen. More me being able to understand from a, a wider perspective, everything that they were
dealing with and it started to create a ripple effect. And one thing that I remember you talked about is
once you start coaching somebody and having an impact, it causes a ripple effect. And that's exactly
what happened. That X Factor was actually me and my growth as a coach and then going all in on the
clients that I had with confidence. When I started feeling more confident and competent in section by
having now more room mentally having more space internally and slowing my pace to really was able to
help them more. But there was also evidence of what was happening. And so the people around my
clients were the ones serving the changes in my clients and they would ask them like, what are you guys
doing in your business going so well? And they would say, oh, well, we hired a business helping us with this and so on and so forth. So it was really, I can't take credit for that growth part in terms of getting
more clients and increasing the value entirely because it was really my clients that did that.
Coach Ajit (10:08):
That's the most beautiful way of, of building it. Isn't it? Because it's so gratifying because you know, you
will only be referred out because you were able to add value to the client, right? Nobody's suffering you
if you didn't do a good job. So it kind of like it takes care of both the sides. You were a phenomenal
coach to them is why they wanted to refer you out all the time. So that's a beautiful story of just pure
coaching ability, creating the kind of financial outcomes that one may desire as their coaching business.
Obvious what I heard, at least what I understood of. And I did have a little cutout there, but what I'm
hearing is that what you were able to do is once you finished Certified Business Coach, you were able to
reflect back into your own coaching business and say, I'm chasing way too many clients. I need to
consolidate my clients. I need to chart the right fee. So that was more than what you were initially
charging. So you went for fewer clients, but higher value. And that became one of the cornerstones or
foundations of building a now financially more successful coaching business as well.
Abdias Garcia (11:17):
100%. That's exactly what happened.
Coach Ajit (11:18):
So what I'm, as of now, what I've taken away from our conversations, the first thing that happened is
you became a better coach. And so that led to organically because you were able to create great results.
The second thing that I'm getting is you were able to take on less clients at a higher fee, which allowed
you to also financially become lot more profitable and scalable because you could actually render
services to less a client, but at a higher value. Thirdly, what I'm hearing is because you were doing a
great job as a coach, you were also able to build an organic system around you that was bringing
referred clients back to you. And the fourth thing that I've captured as of now is doing all of this
together has given you a lot of personal growth for yourself as a coach. So these are the four things I've
captured as of now. Did I miss anything until now?
Abdias Garcia (12:06):
No, that's a great way to break it down.
Coach Ajit (12:08):
So if somebody was listening to this right now, right, they were either in the program or wanting to join
the program or have joined the program. What is it that you would say are some of the other things that
one must notice consider as they are going through the program? So not for people who are deciding or
not deciding, but they're already in the program to some degree or they have deposited their initial
deposit and so forth. And now to go, Hey, look out for this in the program because this will help your
business going forward.
Abdias Garcia (12:38):
Yeah, that, that's a great question. I think what I got a lot from, in addition, obviously to the material
was the calls that we did. And in all honesty, your style specifically of coaching was something that I had
not really seen. And, and what I mean by style is you have a very kind of casual nonchalant approach. It's just one of the most mellow approaches I've ever seen in a coach. And that was kind of nice to see. It
gave me a, it gave me kind of this feeling of like, Hey, just, you know, relax and be yourself. And, you
know, there's no role as a coach in a sense you do have obviously ethics and things like that, guidelines
and so on and so forth. But in terms of your style of coaching I think one of the things about the
program that was very helpful is to watch you be so comfortable in your style that I said, oh, wow, this is
cool.
Abdias Garcia (13:28):
Like, you know, just, just do your own thing. And I went from wearing suits and being in an office to I
coach from my patio, you know, and the clients don't care as long as you're serving them. So that was
very helpful to, to actually see you on those calls, coach people and, and what your approach was that
was super helpful. Second was you have a great team and people can take advantage of that team. You
can learn so much from you and Fran, etc, they're so accessible and, and very encouraging, etcetera. It
felt very different. It felt like a, an encouraging environment. And, you know, in all honesty, there were
moments where I felt like, man, do I really need to know this? You know, I wanna focus on more like
business business, and I didn't necessarily see the value while we were doing it on some of the more, I
guess, emotional intelligence and things of that nature.
Abdias Garcia (14:16):
But man, when I would have my sessions, that's when the stuff would start to surface and I'm like, oh, I
guess that worked, I guess that worked. So I would say it's, whoever's taking the course is that you might
not understand it all and you might not absorb it all. And you're not, might not process it all as you are
taking it, but it's gonna permeate if you're really, really listening. And if you're really eager to grow, it's
going to permeate. It's going to go into your subconscious. And as you coach, these themes will come
up. So, you know, I think for a lot of people that I ended up talking with during the whole program and
then a little bit afterwards, is that they wanted to do more. They wanted to see more results and so on
and so forth. So I would say that this is like, anything else you're planting a seed. You gotta nurture that.
And, you know, take advantage, slow down, take the course in stride and really try to absorb everything
without having any kind of outcome expectation for the course. The outcome expectation should be
when you start to practice these things with your clients.
Coach Ajit (15:18):
Thank you so much Abdias for that. Thank you. Thank you for your generosity of comments there as
well. Anything that I'm missing, anything that I should have asked to capture your experience that I
didn't?
Abdias Garcia (15:28):
In terms of the people that are... Actually I'm gonna share an anecdote with you? You'll really like this.
So I have a currently a client who found me through ever coach 'cause I'm, you know, listed as they're
one of the coaches. So he's a fan of Mindvalley. He had been doing a book and from life book, he, he
decided, you know, maybe I need to hire a coach. And I, I think I wanna be a coach. So he reached out to
me, I've been coaching him now for three months. I think he's joining your business coaching course this
time around. And he is one of the reasons why I reached out to you because he was the one that said,
Hey, I saw something and a mentioned you and blah, blah. And I'm like, really? He's like, yeah. And I was
super excited. I'm like, Hey, that's my coach. That's my coach. So you never know how this thing turns out right where I was in his shoes just a year and a half ago. Now I'm coaching somebody who's going
through the course.
Coach Ajit (16:17):
Oh, that's amazing. I didn't know that story. Yeah. That's such a great angle evidence of also how things
connect and kind of testimony to the platform that we're building, where we profile people who are
certified by us to be able to get clients. I mean, you've been working with this gentleman for three
months now just because they found you on the Find A Coach platform that we are still, to be very
honest, we are still developing it to be really good for everyone. That is our certified coach. So thank you
so much, Abdias, for taking the time. I know this was like super last minute. I saw your email. I was
about to head out and I was like, well, let me see if I can capture this experience. And thank you so much
for being generous with your time and coming in today.
Abdias Garcia (16:55):
Oh no, my pleasure man. Anytime just let me know and whatever I can do to help you guys
Coach Ajit (16:59):
Absolutely. Thank you so much, man. Take care. Have a good one. If you're inspired by Abdias' story and
you're wondering, Hey, I wanna grow my coaching business by 433% this year. Well, this week is the last
week of our enrollment. So I invite you to go over to evercoach.com/cbc. Evercoach.com/cbc and check
out the details Certified Business Coach. We made the program even more affordable, so you can still
join the program and get the maximum benefit out of it and create a coaching business that impacts
society in a great way. Thank you so much for tuning in. This is Coach Ajit and you're listening to Master
Coaching with Ajit