#98 A year of scale - 2024 annual review

A review of what it took to scale my successful coaching business

It’s Saturday 14th December 2024. My son woke us up at 6.15am (I normally sleep until 7am in the winter!) so I returned to bed with a coffee and my laptop to reflect on my year.

I’ve published an annual review every year since starting my business in 2020 and I’ve loved recording the journey, not only for my own benefit but also as inspiration to others with an honest not hype reflection of growing a business.

I wish I’d made my previous reviews even more detailed now, so I could look back on specifics like numbers of clients gained, number of offers launched, income generated etc.

So, I’m going to be brave and be super specific from now on, starting here!

Word of the year

At the end of 2023, I set two words of the year (greedy I know 😂).

The first was ‘Championing’ (both me them and them me).

I am blessed to have nailed the Championing one. Championing others is my favourite thing to do, though I’m not sure how often I allow myself to be championed in return.

So, this was my intention for this year and, my goodness, just by setting the intention it has well and truly materialised.

My second word of the year was ‘CEO’.

Because I run my business like a huge family, I care about every single person in my world. I want to know them. I want to be there for them.

However, this approach isn’t sustainable when you have 48 current clients at the same time (and two kids!).

It’s important to me that people are valued, seen and heard.

But that doesn’t need to be by only me.

I have a team who are AMAZING. So, I want to double down on this in 2025 and be the CEO of my business.

Reflection questions

Every Friday and during annual reviews, I reflect on three main questions, which I also ask my clients:

• What am I proud of?
• What could be even better, and what did I learn?
• Finally, I consider my priorities for the next week (or year if it’s an annual review).

What am I proud of?

PRIORITIES

Looking back to my 2023 annual review, you’ll see that I set these priorities for 2024:

1. To put my family at the heart of everything I do.

I wrote this pledge because I know that sometimes my mission comes at the expense of being present in the moment with my family.

I feel very lucky to drop my kids to school each day, to take them to all their clubs. To work term time only so I can enjoy every holiday with them.

I’m getting there, but I still have work to do on creating boundaries so that I can be a fully present mum.

But I’m also not beating myself up about this, for a change!

I’m learning that we’re set up to fail. To be the perfect mum, wife, friend, daughter, coach.

And we will always feel our attention is scattered when we now work and parent.

Running a successful business is hard in 4-5 hours a day.

So I will allow myself the grace of being okay with catching up occasionally at weekends. I enjoy my work. And I enjoy my kids.

And I’m at peace with that.

2. To continue to build my team, systems and processes to create a sustainable business which can help more people.

I have achieved this goal and gone big on systems and processes this year.

The difference to prioritising this was investing in a programme to make me prioritise it!

My key learning is this - when you put energy in (ie invest money and time) you get energy out (ie great systems and processes).

This is a key learning of how I prioritise things in my life and business that I need to remember, as everything falls to the bottom of the pile without commitment, focus and investment.

3. To launch my Group Coaching programme in Q1.

Yay I actually achieved this! I have wanted to launch a programme on creating an online course/group programme for YEARS. I created Elevate this year and launched it with a 5-day challenge.

Nine incredible women took part and got great results.

After I sold the course, I created the course content weekly and it feels AMAZING to have this resource available now. It’s truly step by step (including the audience building to make filling it possible).

But I haven’t utilised this brilliant programme. And this is where my ‘honesty not hype’ value can sometimes be frustrating.

Why? Because most people who attended my 5-day challenge were not in a business position to launch a successful course or group programme successfully straight away.

And I told them so (hence why I only got nine brilliant women into the programme!).

I struggle with the lies in the industry where ‘anyone can make passive income’ with a course or group programme.

Yes, anyone can spend six months creating one. But not everyone will be successful in filling that programme if they don’t have the niche, offer or audience…yet. This means it can lead people up a garden path wasting their time for six months prioritising something that just isn’t a priority for them at their stage of business right now.

I know that I wanted to create a course or group when I started my business, and I wasted my time pursuing  this when I didn’t have the niche, offer or audience to fill it. And most other coaches do this too.

If they don’t buy the course from me, they’ll just buy it from someone else. And that someone else might not be as specific or honest as I am on what it really takes to create a programme that will sell. Plus, crucially, they may not show them how to build the audience required to fill a programme.

So, I’m currently considering what to do with my Elevate programme in the longer term as I know it’s needed. I just want to be transparent in my marketing of it.

For now, I’m including it in my first ever Mastermind, The Next Level, which I’m launching in January 2025.

I have created specific criteria for the mastermind to call out those who are likely to be successful with a course or group programme.

CLIENTS

I’m proud to attract the most amazing clients into my world.

In a paid capacity this year, I’ve worked with:

• 63 people in the Business of Coaching in 2024 (22 more than in 2023)
• 9 people in my Elevate, online course programme
• 29 people in my Signature Solution online course
• 32 people x 2 at my Dare Greatly events
• 42 people in my paid planning online workshop
• 5 people 1:1
• 3 people (at time of writing) have joined my 2025 mastermind

In a free capacity, I’ve had:

• 195 sign-ups in free workshops/webinars
• 229 sign-ups for my 5-day challenge
• 103 sign-ups for my free 3-day podcast series
• 559 downloads of my online coaches’ planner

MARKETING

I’m pleased with how consistent I’ve been this year in terms of my audience growth. Regular LinkedIn connecting has been a huge win.

Here are my marketing stats at time of writing (14th December 2024)

Socials and podcast

• 11,539 LinkedIn followers
• 1,949 Instagram followers
• 22,700 podcast downloads with 11.2k all-time unique listeners

I’ve loved growing my audience and am SO excited to be doubling down on LinkedIn in 2025.

BALANCE

There have been ups and downs in terms of balance this year.

This last month I’ve done way too much, with an in-person event, online planning workshop and 3-day podcast series for my Mastermind launch.

I felt shattered a week ago but I’m refreshed again now. I feel content and I’m looking forward to a break at Christmas.

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

Books

I normally list all the books I’ve read here, but this year I have just not kept track! One I’m reading at this very moment is called ‘The Book of Boundaries’. As you’ll soon discover, this is going to be important to me in 2025.

Groups and coaches

• Phil Harrison in his Rise Mastermind in Q1 2024.
• A peer mastermind that has continued throughout 2024 with Gemma Gilbert and some kick-ass business women.
• Sky Barbour in a programme about building a ‘business beyond you’.
• Heidi Williams in a 30-day content programme

HABITS AND BEHAVIOURS

I don’t have great habits in terms of my health. In winter, particularly, I struggle to prioritise getting out for walks which is crazy as it’s my favourite thing to do. I practice yoga for 10-15 minutes each day which is my only saving grace.

I must get back to my Atomic Habits book to set some habits, particularly on focus and time blocking for 2025!

OFFERS

This year I ran:

• The Business of Coaching
• Offer to Market
• Elevate
• Two in person events
• One paid online workshop

SALES AND INCOME

My business generated:

£167,964 in 2024 which is exactly double what I generated in 2023.

I’m quite shocked it’s grown so much this year.

Firstly, I put it down to raising my prices. And a proportion of the rise is due to increasing my prices to cover VAT.

And the podcast had a huge impact.

This is my business’s total income. I have a team to pay, expenses to cover and I invest money in my personal and professional development.

TEAM

This year I’ve had four trusted team members:

Olga started with me in September 2024 and I have found a true gem in her. My business friends are always trying to get her details as it’s rare to find someone as committed as Olga.

Jacqui is a coach and mentor within my programme and I am so happy that she is in my world, as are all my clients. She treats my clients as if they were her own and I feel so blessed.

Jo is my VA and she takes care of recurring tasks which maintain my business growth such as LinkedIn connections, articles and blog posts (from my podcast transcript). I feel lucky that these get done super effectively without me ever needing to think about it.

Nicole, my social media manager, has recently moved on to a different chapter of her life but was with me for most of 2024 and designed me the most beautiful coaches’ planner.

HIGHLIGHTS

My three highlights of this year are:

1. A year of scale.
2. A year of team.
3. A year of systems.

I’m also celebrating being No 4 in the UK podcast Marketing Charts, with 'Women in the Coaching Arena'.

CHALLENGES

My three significant challenges are:

1. Continuing to systemise so it’s not all in my head.
2. Letting go of the need to ‘hold’ everyone emotionally.
3. No clear boundaries.

WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER AND WHAT DID I LEARN?

I’ve actually improved family wise in 2024, as looking back to last year’s review shows that it was a super draining time.

I was looking for a co-working space to separate home and work. I didn’t get round to booking a co-working space but I feel okay now with working from home, now I have one day when I don’t have calls so I can get out of the house and work at my gym.

The energy of showing up and holding space for a lot of people has occasionally been exhausting. You have to be on your ‘A-game’ when you host groups or events (which is pretty much what I do in my business week in week out).

Time blocking and focus need much improvement. 2025 is going to be a HUGE year for me - I just feel it - so this will have to improve.

I’ve made more time for my friends and family this year which I’m super happy about.

WHAT ARE MY PRIORITIES FOR 2025?

To live life aligned with my current values:

Honesty

Connection

Space

Freedom

Key priorities

1. Boundaries

I don’t have any in nearly all areas of my life. I’m far too much of a people pleaser and changing this is something I find deeply uncomfortable if not impossible! I’m reading a book on this right now. I’ve bought a clock for my room so I can leave my phone downstairs. I will create a clearer manual and onboarding for clients outlining boundaries so they know where they stand - I discovered recently that setting boundaries is kind and lets people know what to expect, whereas I’d been associating it with being rude. I’ve got a lot of work to do in this area, which is going to take significant effort.

2. Redo my Business of Coaching portal

AI has changed so much and my own learning has increased, so I want to update my programme content to reflect these changes.

3. Ask ‘What does my business need?’

This is a key insight I gained this year from Antje Langsch’s workshop on finances in my group. I realise I still think of my business as me and my personal energy, whereas it’s growing so much I need to consider it as a business with needs, team and expenses. Not just a ‘personal project’ which is sometimes how it feels because I care too much.

4. To launch my mastermind in 2025

I want to uplevel and to uplevel my audience to this next level. I haven’t yet done the audience growth and positioning needed to attract clients who are further along in their business.

5. Team and systems refinement

To continue maximising my team and systems so that I catch and capture every single detail and process that I can automate or delegate.

Stop | Automate | Delegate   ...This is an acronym I heard recently which is gold!

WORD OF THE YEAR 2025

Can you guess? It's...

‘Boundaries’

Not a word I would have ever chosen for myself as I HATE boundaries – okay, maybe that’s too strong of a reaction but I know I have a very negative association with boundaries as my immediate thought is that they are ‘over the top and selfish’.

I need to massively work on my natural people pleasing traits as you can’t scale a business or have a good life when everyone else gets to decide what your priorities are.

Fortunately, this word was suggested to me by Gemma Gilbert at a recent masterminding day and I’m grateful for it.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I thought last year was a huge year of growth in my business however this year really has been HUGE.

A year of scale.

I’m so happy to provide the knowledge, structure and community to so many brilliant coaches to help them grow their business, and to personally grow and add value beyond my wildest dreams.

I’m creating a priority to double down on LinkedIn for the first quarter of 2025.

It’s funny, but I just know that 2025 is going to be a huge year for me. I hope your year will be just as huge too.

I’ll also be uplevelling all other areas of my life too as, after five years of hard work, it’s time to start reaping the rewards.

I hope you enjoyed reading this year’s honest not hype annual review.

What resonated with you? Drop me a message here - I’d love to hear from you.

You can catch up on my 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 reviews below if you want to follow my whole business trajectory.

2020 The Year I Dared To Believe

2021 From Stress to Alignment

2022 Simplify to Grow

2023 A year of growth