Why Business Coaching Programmes Don’t Work

Posted on 26/06/26 in Coaching

Why Business Coaching Programmes Don’t Work (And What to Do Instead)

Business coaching programmes don’t work, and there is no success manual. And once you understand that, everything changes.

I recently held an end-of-year review call with my client Jennifer Horler, founder of Lionheart Virtual Assistance. Jen told me that before working with me, she thought success was some dark art. She thought that everyone else had received and was working from a success manual. Let’s just say she felt lost, in the dark — and thought Amazon was playing tricks on her by hiding the success manual she so desperately needed.

Why business coaching programmes don’t work

A manual, a twenty-step process to be a millionaire. Follow my ten steps, sprinkle my secret sauce, and you will be a six-figure business owner before you know it. None of this will work for you because they were built by someone else.

Don’t get me wrong, they might have worked for that person — but you are not that person. You are not 25. Don’t have all the energy in the world, and no kids. You are not the kind of person who gets up at 5 am and has done X, Y, and Z before the kettle boils. Well, I’m certainly not that person!

Equally, you could be at the other end of the scale: the kids have left home, and there’s a little more financial ease in the house. You are no longer running around after your fabulous offspring who seem to think calling you in the middle of the night is the same as calling a local taxi firm.

Something in between, or nothing like my examples!

I’m being playful, but the point is this: we are all different.

We have different responsibilities and different working styles. From the person who can’t function before 9 am to the night owl who hits their stride after the kids are in bed. Then there is the person with a natural flair for tech, or the one who can write compelling content all day long. And I’ve worked with them all, all types and all stages, from those just starting out to those building multiple six-figure businesses. The common thread is never the formula. It’s always the person.

Hopefully, you can now see why business coaching programmes don’t work.

Or why something you invested in didn’t deliver what you hoped. And there are a few other reasons this happens too:

  • Most programmes require you to follow every single step; there are no shortcuts. Skip a stage and the foundations wobble.
  • You need to complete the training and fully implement what you’ve learned. Consuming content is not the same as doing the work.
  • Life gets in the way. You haven’t yet carved out the time in your business to work on it properly (and that’s something worth addressing in itself).

How to Build a Business Plan That Actually Works for You

What Jen came to understand was that there was no dark art and she didn’t need a magic wand. Instead, she needed clarity about where she was heading. Although she had that before, her goals had still remained out of reach. So what was different this time?

She aligned her business, changed her business model and approach. Something she felt able to do because she had support by her side, and as she made those changes, she grew in confidence. She started acting on her own decisions, and slowly, slowly, she noticed her goals drawing closer. I’ll be honest: initially, Jen couldn’t see it. She couldn’t quite grasp that when you do X and Y, the result doesn’t just show up instantly.

But then one day she got the calculator out and realised she had hit her financial goal three months early. Another shot of confidence to help her hit the next one.

The moral of the story: do the work, show up, trust the process and stop to celebrate the wins. That first part, the doing and the showing up, comes down to habits. And sometimes that means doing the things you don’t enjoy- just ask Jen!

What Does the Real Work of Growing a Business Look Like?

Great question. And I’m going to point you back to the top of this piece, where I told you there are no formulas, no twenty-five steps to success. Like Jen, you need your own roadmap and to start using 90-day plans to stay on track, focus on the right activity, and move forward. (And a place in Action Focused Results Driven, where Jen has been working with me. 😉)

You need to show up and do the work. The ‘work’ being what you decide or need it to be, which is exactly where so many business owners get stuck. Unsure or scared of getting it wrong, they look for an external something to follow. And as you might remember, they most likely don’t follow it in full and find themselves on the other side of an investment or programme wondering what happened.

For Jen, the work included putting herself and her qualification as a bookkeeper at the heart of her business. It meant gaining clarity about what financial success looked like and aligning her offers and services with that vision. Learning to say no to work that didn’t serve the bigger picture. And none of that happened overnight.

Whether you are just getting started, moving from start-up to early years, have been around the block, or are ready to move to the next level, building a business foundation you can grow from is essential.

And the best foundation is built by you, and to your plan. Meaning it can be turned up, ramped up, or even slowed down, because it was built that way from the start.

How Working With a Business Coach Changes Everything

I asked Jen during her end-of-year review what the most valuable lesson was from our time working together. This is what she said:

“If I had to give anyone a piece of advice, it would be to get a business coach. Having someone look in from the outside is much easier than being in it. Getting a business coach is the priority.”

Jen will tell you that investing was scary and a leap of faith. But over the past 12 months, she has built stronger foundations. Has developed more consistent habits, made clearer business decisions, and achieved significant financial milestones ahead of schedule. This is not just progress on paper. It is evidence that she is becoming more confident, intentional, and strategic as a business owner.

Business Coaching Programmes That WILL Work

As a business coach, I’ve worked with solid, strong four- and five-figure-a-month businesses. I have also worked with multiple six-figure businesses, with and without teams, and across all sectors. And no matter the size or stage, we always start in the same place: where are we heading? What are the goals and aspirations? And then we build the foundations from a personal roadmap that belongs to the business owner. And because they own it, they will actually implement it, and it can be tweaked as they grow because it was built around them from day one.

Your Next Steps:

If you are ready for a business coaching programme that will work. If you are ready, or at least interested, in creating your own roadmap. Here are two ways to get started.