Solo business coaching is practical help for people who want to work for themselves, or already do, and whose business is not yet working the way it should. I teach you to build each part yourself, in the order I built my own online business from nothing in 2019: a clear niche, an offer people understand, a website you make with your own hands, the ways strangers find you, and the calm conversation that turns an enquiry into a client.
This is for service businesses run by one person: coaches, tutors, therapists, consultants, trainers and freelancers who sell their knowledge, their time and their care, and who would rather build something steady than something loud.
Some people arrive before they have registered anything, after years of careful preparation; others have been in business for a while and suspect that the website, the mailing list or the way clients arrive is not doing its job.
Practical, hands-on consulting, carried out privately and online. I teach and advise; the building is yours.
01 Where people usually are
Most people who come to me are not short of ideas or ability. They are stuck in one of a few familiar places, and each of them feels, from the inside, like the careful and responsible thing to do.
You have finished three online courses on marketing, read the books everyone recommends and saved dozens of posts about finding clients, and yet you have still not told a single person what you offer, because there always seems to be one more thing to learn first.
You bought a domain two years ago and have rebuilt the homepage more times than you can count, changing fonts and colours, while the one page that would bring someone to you, the page that says who you help and how, remains unwritten.
Clients do come, mostly through friends and word of mouth, but every euro you earn is tied to an hour you work, so the only way to earn more is to work longer, and the months when referrals slow down are quietly frightening.
People book the free call, the conversation is warm and useful, and then it ends with a polite promise to think about it, because neither of you was quite sure how the call was supposed to finish.
None of these is a flaw of character. Each is a sensible response to not knowing the next step, and each begins to change once the next step is small enough to take this week.
“The more time you spend on theory, the less you have for practice. Start before you feel ready, in steps small enough to take.”
The principle behind the work
02 Two ways in
The work is the same map read in two directions. If you are starting out, we build the business one part at a time; if it already exists, we use the same parts to find what is holding it back.
For those starting out
You want to work for yourself, or you have only just begun, and you would like to build each part of the business in the right order, with someone beside you who has already done it once.
For those already running
Your business already exists and some of it works, but something is holding it back: the website brings no enquiries, the mailing list never grew, or every extra euro seems to cost an extra hour.
03 Door one · Start from zero
We work through eight steps in this order, because each one makes the next easier, and we move at the speed of your real life rather than a fixed programme. There is no set number of sessions; we continue for as long as the work is useful to you.
We begin with the idea behind everything else: the more time you spend on theory, the less you have for practice. You choose one small, real action for this week, such as telling three people what you plan to offer, and we treat whatever happens as information rather than a verdict.
You leave withA first step you take this week
A niche is simply a clear answer to the question of who you help, and with what. We test a few candidates against your experience, the people you already know and the problems you enjoy solving, until one sentence feels both true and specific.
You leave withA one-sentence niche
We shape what you actually sell: the result a client can expect, the format, the length and the two or three packages they can choose between, so that each one has a clear purpose and a visitor can tell at a glance which is meant for them.
You leave withAn offer and its packages, written down
You build the site yourself, with my guidance at each stage, from choosing a name, a domain and a simple platform to writing the pages that matter most: home, about, services and a way to book. I will not build it for you, because a site you understand is a site you can change on a quiet afternoon without calling anyone.
You leave withA working website you can edit yourself
This is where I can help most. We cover search engine optimisation properly, from keyword research to page structure, then blog posts and content that answer the questions your clients actually type, social media used sparingly, and a simple email list that belongs to you. My own tutoring site ranks in the top three on Google Greece for OET preparation, and these are the methods I teach.
You leave withA keyword plan and a content rhythm you can keep
Being findable is only half of it, because people also need to meet you. We look for partners who serve the same clients, chances to promote each other, people worth interviewing, things you could create together, presentations and workshops you could give, a simple business card, and the short answer you give when someone asks what you do.
You leave withAn elevator pitch and a list of partners
We design the whole path from a booked call to a new client: the free session and its intake form, what the first conversation should achieve and how to lead it, how to decide whether you are the right person to help, how to make an offer calmly and without pressure, and what happens after someone says yes.
You leave withAn intake form and a first-week welcome
Finally we set up the small system that keeps the business running without eating your week: a place for tasks and notes, online booking, invoicing software and a home for client files. I show you how I set up my own tools, and any questions about tax itself go to your accountant.
You leave withA set of tools you understand and trust
Some people move through all eight steps over several months; others come for two or three of them and carry on alone. We review progress every few weeks and stop when the work has done its job, not when a package runs out.
04 Door two · Review what you have
The review uses the same map as door one, read as a diagnosis rather than a to-do list. We look at where your business stands in each area, what is not working and why, and what to fix first; then we work on it together for as long as it takes, without a fixed report or a set number of sessions.
Who the business is for, and whether the first screen of the website says so.
The description is accurate but so broad that no particular reader recognises themselves in it.
What you sell, how it is packaged and how a visitor chooses between options.
Everything is sold by the single hour, so income can only grow with time.
Structure, clarity, speed and the path from the homepage to a booking.
The booking link is three clicks deep, and the services page answers questions nobody asked.
Search visibility, keywords, blog content and the email list.
There are blog posts, but none of them targets a search a future client would actually make.
Partners, referrals, talks and the places where people meet you.
Almost every client arrives through the same two or three friends.
The free call, the intake form and how the conversation ends.
Good conversations close with “let me think about it”, because a next step was never offered.
Booking, invoicing, tasks, notes and client records.
Three apps doing the work of one, and none of them quite trusted.
Where the next increase in income could come from.
Growth is assumed to mean more hours, when the same hours could serve more people.
When a business has one person in it, growth rarely means hiring. It usually means arranging the work so that each hour serves more people, or so that some income arrives without you: packages instead of single sessions, a small group or a workshop, an email list that keeps people close, referrals you ask for properly, and perhaps a digital product. My self-published guide to Scrivener became an Amazon bestseller, and it still sells while I am teaching.
05 From conversation to client
Many solo businesses lose good clients at the last step, simply because the free consultation was never designed. We build it as a short, clear path that respects both people in the conversation, and that leaves either of you free to decide it is not the right fit.
A simple page and an online calendar, so booking takes a minute.
Four or five questions that let you arrive prepared.
A clear purpose, a useful half hour, and a real next step.
Whether you are the right person to help, said honestly.
An offer made plainly, without pressure or scripts.
A welcome, the paperwork, and a good first week.
I use this path myself: clients book through TidyCal, answer a few questions before we meet, and we both know what the call is for.
06 What you leave with
Every step ends with something you can use the same week. These are a few of the documents we build together, shown here with examples from my own tutoring business.
I help doctors and nurses who need the OET to pass the speaking test with confidence.
Who · what they need · the result
One sentence you can say out loud, test with real people and put at the top of your homepage.
Each package has a purpose and a result, so a visitor can tell which one is meant for them.
| Search | Intent | Page |
|---|---|---|
| OET speaking tips | Learning | Blog post |
| OET preparation course | Choosing | Services |
| OET tutor online | Choosing | Homepage |
Every important search gets one page written to answer it, and every page knows its job.
A few questions before the call, so the half hour is spent on what matters.
“I help doctors and nurses pass the OET, so they can work abroad in English without the exam standing in the way.”
Said in under twenty seconds
What you say when someone asks what you do, practised until it sounds like you.
One place for each job, chosen because you will actually open it every day.
07 Who you would be working with
In 2019 I left a salaried teaching job and started an online English tutoring business from nothing. I registered the business, found an accountant, taught myself to build a website, wrote the pages, learned how search engines work and slowly turned strangers into regular students. Almost everything on this page is something I had to work out for myself, often slowly and sometimes twice.
I hold a PhD in Education Policy and I am ICF-trained as a coach, but what I bring to this work is mostly practical: how to teach a skill so that it stays with you, and how to build a small business one step at a time without waiting to feel ready.
I teach and advise. I do not build websites, run social media accounts or make changes for clients, because what you build yourself you will understand, and what you understand you can keep improving long after we finish.
2019
Left salaried teaching and built an online business from zero: the brand, the website and the clients.
Top 3Google
On Google Greece for OET preparation, a narrow niche built with the SEO methods I teach.
1bestseller
A self-published guide to Scrivener that became an Amazon bestseller and sells without my time.
30min
Every client relationship starts with a free consultation, booked through TidyCal.
08 Clear expectations
It helps to know exactly what you are asking for before you book, so here is the plain version.
09 The larger path
My work follows three stages. This page is the third, and you can begin here directly if the first two are already in place.
Solo business coaching is the Launch stage of a larger way of working: first a direction, then the habits and confidence to carry it, then the business that turns it into a living. Most people who come to this page are ready for the third stage, and we start there.
If you are not yet sure what the business should be about, or the thought of telling people about your work still makes you freeze, it may help to begin a stage earlier. We can decide that together in the free consultation.
10 Questions
It helps to know roughly which field you want to work in. If you have no idea at all, life purpose coaching is the better starting point, and we can move on to the business once a direction is clear.
No. I teach you to build it yourself and review each stage with you. It takes a little longer at the start, and it means you will never have to depend on anyone to change a sentence on your own site.
There is no fixed length. Some people come for a handful of sessions to fix one area; others work through all eight steps over several months. We review progress every few weeks and stop when the work has done its job.
It is for service businesses run by one person: coaches, tutors, therapists, consultants, trainers and freelancers. If you sell physical products, some of it will still apply, but my own experience is with services.
Not in the usual sense. We go through the business area by area, agree what matters most, and then work on it together. You keep notes and working documents throughout, which tend to be more useful than a report you read once.
I can show you how I set up my own tools for invoicing and records, but tax questions belong with an accountant in your country. I do not run or manage paid advertising.
We spend thirty minutes on Zoom talking about where your business is, or where you would like it to begin, and whether I am the right person to help. There is no pressure to continue, and you will leave with at least one useful next step either way.
Begin
Book a free thirty-minute consultation on Zoom. Tell me where your business is, or where you would like it to begin, and we will decide together whether this work is right for you.
