We work with a lot of freelance and agency web design businesses in the past few years. In that time, we’ve taken note of what separates the successful from the stagnant. There are a lot of factors like a businesses’ ability to take action vs. paralysis in planning. Or, having repeatable systems vs. approaching everything as a one-off. And, how about the ability to outsource vs. trying to do everything in-house. Just to name a few.
When it comes to investing in the success of your freelance or agency web design business, one thing we highly recommend is investing in a business coach. Or, maybe a couple of business coaches. Sure they don’t come cheap for the most part, but neither do expensive mistakes, lost clients, and missed opportunities.
Here’s a curated list of some of the best business coaches for a freelance or agency web design business like yours.
Chris Lema
If you work in the WordPress space you likely already know Chris or have seen him deliver a keynote speech at a WordCamp. If you want to turn your business into a major player in the WordPress industry, you might want to have a conversation with him.
Chris has been in the WordPress space since its inception and the tech world for over 25 years. He’s currently the General Manager at LearnDash and has helped companies like Zeek Interactive, Purple Finch Studios, GoWP, and WP101. Here’s what some of those folks have to say about working with Chris.
He has a seemingly boundless reservoir of knowledge and experience to pull from and if you don’t believe us, go look at his blog. He’s also baked some of his favorite coaching topics into a collection of courses and mini-courses that you might appreciate.
Believe us when we say he’s good at what he does. He’s our business coach and the insights he’s provided have been critical to our success.
Best for: Agencies that want to make more money.
Nathan Ingram
You might recognize Nathan if you’ve ever participated in one of the many iThemes trainings he’s hosted over the years. Or, attended one of the dozens of WordCamps he’s spoken at.
One of the most down-to-earth people we’ve met in the WordPress space, he specializes in helping WordPress business owners thrive. He has courses and does one-on-one coaching sessions which you can sign up for directly on his site.
He also has a wealth of highly useful resources that will help you tighten up your operations and improve your productivity. Not only does he provide useful tools and guidance, but he’s also a delight to work with.
Best for: Freelancers and agencies that need one-on-one coaching, accountability, and perspective.
Jennifer Bourn
Looking for group coaching combined with business growth training? Profitable Project Plan (PPP) with Jennifer Bourn is the soup to nuts business training and mentorship for you. We work with a ton of PPP alumni and have seen firsthand how Jennifer’s offering can be game-changing for freelancers and micro agency owners.
While Jennifer doesn’t offer the regular one-on-one coaching sessions many of the other coaches on this list do, she does offer a few things many of these coaches don’t: an online community, group coaching, and a truly impressive business growth curriculum.
While Profitable Project Plan is the flagship offering Jennifer provides, she also has a solid collection of other programs and courses that shouldn’t be overlooked. Here’s a little taste of what it’s like to work with Jennifer when it comes to a topic like pricing your services.
Best for: Freelancers and micro agencies that need a playbook for business success.
The Coaches at Agency Mavericks
If there’s a gold standard when it comes to WordPress agency coaching programs, it’s surely Agency Mavericks (formerly WP Elevation). If you’re a web design or digital marketing agency, Troy Dean and his team of expert coaches at Agency Mavericks have the chops — and resources — to help you grow your business into the one you’ve been dreaming of.
Beyond providing expert guidance and resources to help you get your agency ducks in a row, Agency Mavericks has the added bonus of having an amazing online community of current and past participants. This community shares advice, tools, resources, and is one of the most impressive professional networking opportunities available to agencies and freelancers that we’ve seen.
Best for: Agency owners that are just getting started and want to network.
Nev Harris
If you’ve worked with one or more of the coaches above to get your business strategy and systems dialed in, chances are you are going to have an influx of cash. What will you do with all of it? If you want to put it to work for your business, talk to Nev Harris.
Nev is the money guy that helps agency owners and freelancers make sense of their finances. He’s joined us for a webinar in the past and has some great tools to help you take the confusion out of managing your finances so that you can increase your business's profitability and have a greater impact.
Best for: Agencies and freelancers that need to get a grip on their finances.
Kelly Azevedo
A throughline in this list is that most of these coaches help you develop systems. Why? Because good systems are imperative if you want your web design business to scale and become more profitable.
If you feel like you have your finances dialed, a solid growth strategy, an awesome offering, but you still need some systems that help you pull it all together, Kelly Azevedo at She’s Got Systems is the coach for you.
Kelly has a solid track record of helping all types of business owners get their systems dialed in. She’s also the systems expert media outlets call when they need a systems pro to provide insights.
Best for: Agencies and freelancers that want to focus specifically on building systems.
The Takeaway
If you’re serious about growing your business, don’t go it alone. Getting help from a professional business coach can be the difference between success and failure. Or, rapid growth and painfully sloooow drawn-out growth.
Don’t be afraid to interview a couple of coaches either. Even if the initial consults cost you a bit, the last place you want to end up is working with a coach that you don’t click with six months into your engagement.
We’ve witnessed the benefits of working with a coach firsthand in growing our business. And, we see the difference between those freelancers and agencies that work with coaches and those that choose not to because they are too expensive.
If you choose to work with any of the coaches on this list, your return on investment is likely to be substantial.
