GROWING A COACH TRAINING BUSINESS

By Glen Murdoch

It started with a desire to share the skills and knowledge that transformed my own life and turned into one of Australia’s most successful Life Coach Training College’s.

I was a Phys Ed teacher with a life story that could have easily rendered me dysfunctional; and for a period, maybe it did. I look back fondly of the changes and growth both as the owner of a Coach Training College and, more importantly, the changes I’ve been able to make as a man.

After completing my own personal development courses and becoming a Master Practitioner of Coaching, Sports Psychology, NLP and other therapy models, and then immersing myself in the one-toone coaching service delivery, I launched my first two-day ‘Quick Coach’ course in late 2011.

I had no idea if anyone would turn up and to be completely honest, I had no idea if I would really be any good at Training Coaches.

I knew there was a hole in the market and hoped there would be a market in the hole.

Fast forward to 2018 and The Life Coaching College has just under 1,500 coaching students around the Globe, an incredible new training facility in Melbourne and a full complement of coach training programs in WA, Qld and NSW.

My vision is simple; “change the world one life at a time” and the students our College attracts share this vision.

We are proud to be Australia’s leading Coach Training College with the most live, face-to-face, in-room trainings of any provider.

The student learning experience is our prime focus, and we are constantly reviewing our delivery and adding more support, resources, programs and content to deliver to their expectations and beyond.

My background as a teacher shaped the way I want to teach and I still believe the only way to learn the skills of Coaching is to immerse yourself in them, practicing with clients.

The two-day ‘Quick Coach’ program was so basic when I look back at it now, and yet it was incredibly effective. If you had told me back in 2011 that I would one day own a College that was delivering 350 days of live classroom training per year, backed by hundreds of hours of on-line additional content, working with some of the world’s best trainers and impacting the lives of thousands of people, directly and indirectly, each year, I would not have believed you.

The Life Coaching College has grown from demand. Demand from more students joining our College each month and their thirst to learn even more.

We have a handful of graduates who are now turning over, in excess, of 1 million dollars a year, which fuels my team’s desire to keep the content cutting-edge. It’s a great challenge to have.

We also cater to the coaches who dabble or are driven by community service. There is more to success than money. The depth of knowledge and breadth of skills our coaches take on is exceptional.

It’s satisfying to hear from the trainers, some of whom have trained for the biggest brands in the live-learning-sector around the world, how the Life Coaching College’s students are a joy to work with.

We are proud to attract the people who have a mission to make a positive impact in the world. They want to be the best at what they do, and what they do spans such a wide space.

We have coaches in therapy, healing, fitness, health, business, wealth, leadership, executive, fashion/styling, children, relationships and so much more.

The community spirit of the Life Coaching College is something the students speak of most passionately. There is a genuine desire to lift each other higher.

The online social group allows students from around the country to post questions and share experiences and insights.

The philosophy of ‘we rise by lifting others’ is status quo at the Life Coaching College.

One of the questions we ask people who enquire with us is ‘what do you want to do with your coaching skills when qualified?’

We find that most people have an idea of what they see themselves doing as a coach, albeit vague, and we pay attention to this.

Not everyone comes to coach training to be a coach, there are those who see personal/professional development as the end game.

We encourage students to choose their own journey rather than apply a one-size-fits-all course.

If the student isn’t yet 100% clear on what they will do with their qualifications, we suggest they begin in our Diploma Course, which gives them all of the tools to set up their business and start coaching.

We even supply a done-for-you web site and a 12-step coaching system to get them started quickly. We have taken all the hard work out of getting started.

The Master Practitioner of Coaching program gets more popular each year. This is the business end of town for those serious about coaching as a profession or for those in executive leadership.

With 15 units delivered over 45 days of live training and another 6 on-line units, this tool box is bursting, and it equips coaches with the skills to go into any organization as a trainer, speaker, keynote, coach or mentor and work one-to-one or one-to-many, in-person or online.

The days of a 2-day Quick Coach course are certainly long gone!

I believe it’s important to keep one eye on quality (of content etc.) and another on the pace of change and the needs of consumers; in our case, students.

It’s becoming more common for people to want a custom training experience that serves a specific career outcome.

The beauty of our longevity in business and breadth of programs is that we can accommodate that need, fast. Our newest programs in development for launch 2019 cater to this sector specifically.

As an ICF recognized training institution, we offer the world standard in coach training.

Standards matter

Standards matter and the constant pursuit of excellence is our culture. My seven years in the Coach Training business has taught me so much. The mistakes I have made have been, and continue to be, my greatest gifts. My personal business standards have served me well throughout.

I have built a successful coach training college where I played every role in the business myself to get it started.

I invested lots of my own money and took risks that, at times, were scary to take. There’s nothing I have done that others couldn’t do too, and yet I now totally appreciate why people choose to not do it.

Whilst scary, it has also been completely rewarding, and the lives we have changed make every hurdle or set-back a worthwhile experience.

Now I have a National team of trainers, consultants and crew, I can appreciate my own achievements a little more.

Still working hard and still passionate about the student experience, I have appointed our first ever GM and a professional team of people who make the magic happen.

There are mountains still to climb but as I pause to reflect for this article, I am grateful and happy. At the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about.