UPDATE: http://RickButts.com/business-therapist !
Watching “In Treatment” on HBO last weekend it hit me.

The coaching/consulting conversations I have with entrepreneurs and business owners is nearly identical to a personal therapy session.

90% of what we need as business owners is help making difficult decisions.

I’m a solo entrepreneur – and have been for 2 decades. I know what it’s like. Who do you turn to for help in solving those frustrating double-edged sword decisions where you are damned if you do it – and damned if you do nothing?

This ain’t no party, this ain’t no disco, and this ain’t corporate cubicle world where the blame gets spread around and risk taking is avoided. Every day you put your entire business on the line by the decisions you make.

Some of the biggest decisions independant and solo business owners struggle making is what projects to spend their time doing?

This is one of the reasons coaching is popular. But, most coaches can simply draw out of their clients what is important to them and help with traditional personal productivity and time management issues.

My specialty is actually coming up with NEW ideas, new directions, combining the skills and resources of the client with branding, strategy, names, vocabulary, and the sales funnel, to break them out of their current income levels to bigger larger (or sometimes more focused and easier) results.

Now, here’s the interesting part.

I thought about what it’s like for a therapist to sit in their office and have people come to see them for 45 minute sessions – charging say from $100 – $150 per hour and seeing 5-8 patients a day.

Not  bad living – you get to wear what you want – and many work out of a room with a side entrance in their home.

If you go with the higher $150 number (of course you ALWAYS go for the higher number!) 6 patients a day – 4 days a week – and multiple that by the ever popular 4.3 weeks per month – you’ve got an income of $185, 760.

So, I figured I could easily live on 1/2 of that – so 3 a day – and do it on the phone or skype, and you’ve got a 12 hour work week – (well technically 12 sessions 45 minutes each is only 9 hours – for a $92,880 gross income.

And do my other happy Internet marketing stuff as I see fit and probably earn another $50,000 – $100,000.

I’m busy this week putting together The Starudst Factor, a course I’m going to teach over the next 6 weeks about how to get famous in your niche, blow away the competition, and seriously increase your income.

There will probably be a lot of opportunities for personal coaching that come out of this – branding, identity, vocabulary and strategy are just so hard to do for yourself – even with a good template. I’ll just have to see if the idea of making a weekly schedule of coaching calls at a lower ($150 per 45 minutes) fee is something I really will enjoy doing.

In the end though, it would apparently make a great reality TV show. Most of my clients tell some epic tales. Just ask HBO!

PS:

Coaches, shrinks, or if you use a coach, please let me know your thoughts on this idea?

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