A Year on the Job
Happy Birthday to my very small business! Sifuentes Coaching is officially 1 year old.
Throughout this past year I was often asked “how’s business” and would reply “I don’t really know.”
Of course there are few obvious measures of success: I have clients. Big win. In my first year I got to help 49 runners become better runners. And I have some profit. Huge plus. I learned what it means to be “in the red” and I am happily no longer there.
But I had never started a business before, and don’t know how to define a good or bad first year.
As a pro athlete, I had very clear measures of success: set new personal bests, win races, make teams. Results are public and rankings get updated every weekend. It was pretty cut and dried. And it was a struggle.
Anyone who has been following the blog knows that I was in a constant battle to accept my results with gratitude and peace knowing that I was doing my best, regardless of how fast my competitors were running. But competitive sports don’t exist when you take out comparison. I always wanted more.
In my new line of work, ignorance is bliss. I can’t check rankings for “sole proprietor personal running coach and consultant” to see where I stack up. And no one can measure themselves against me because my results aren’t public knowledge. I relish the privacy. This was an unexpected upside to my new career: without the comparison factor I am way more content with simply “doing my best.”
The other best part about coaching compared to professional running is the entire focus of my work is on other people instead of on myself. (Disclaimer: with my whole heart I believe that you can love the Lord and serve Him in any job including pro sports.) Realistically, pro running is very self-focused and I had to fight so much harder against self-centeredness than I do now. As a coach my thoughts are occupied with the needs and goals of my clients, not my own. My job is serving others and helping them succeed. It’s been really really good for me.
The year hasn’t all been rainbows and lollipops though. There has been less actual coaching and way more tedious administration work than anticipated. I’ve been constantly back and forth from encouraged to discouraged. One day I’ll be super optimistic and the next day I think this business is definitely going to fizzle and die.
But every day I wake up and ask God to help me offer kindness and truly excellent service to my clients. I pray for wisdom to run this business well, and then I listen to alllllll the business and leadership podcasts. It also doesn’t hurt that my husband is my highly qualified (Ross MBA) business consultant, personal photographer, financial stability and top encourager.
Little by little, there’s more traffic on the website. Every week there are a few more followers, every month there are new subscribers to the newsletter. People are finding me on GOOGLE! (YAY!) AND LEAVING REVIEWS. (Thank you from the bottom of my heart you 9 angels. You know who you are.) More runners who want what I have to offer are hiring me to be their coach.
Before I started this business, I prayed a lot about my future. I was leaving pro running and my hope was to somehow maintain the level of freedom and flexibility I had as an athlete, and be my own boss. I felt drawn to use my knowledge of running to encourage people. And I wanted to give to my church, to causes I am passionate about, and to people in need.
1 year in and Sifuentes Coaching has already filled all those dreams. Today, I’m feeling optimistic.
“In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice”