No Plans Survive Contact with the Enemy

As an endurance coach, you have a wealth of knowledge, expertise, and a passion for helping athletes reach their goals. However, when it comes to launching your products and services online, you may find that you've hit a roadblock.

Too often, I’ve seen coaches spend countless hours planning, strategizing, and perfecting their offerings, only to find that they've missed the mark with their target audience or never actually launch. The truth is, no plans survive contact with the enemy – in this case, the customer. Some coaches never even make the battlefield.

The problem with excessive planning is that it can lead to over-complication, causing your product or service to be less appealing to potential customers or too difficult to launch in a timely fashion. Customers want simple, straightforward solutions that solve their problems quickly and effectively. So, how do you avoid over-complication and ensure your products and services resonate with your target audience?

What NOT to do

For example, in the beginning don't attempt to launch a comprehensive membership that tries to address multiple audiences and goals. For example I’ve seen coaches try and launch a bunch of different training plans with different options for people with different goals and abilities all at once. On top of that they spend weeks or months building up the library of content required to support each plan and it’s corresponding target audience. It’s just far too difficult.

If you ever manage to finish such a huge job this will likely lead to over-complication and confusion for your customers, making it harder to understand what your product or service actually offers and who it’s even for. Don't waste time creating too much content before launching your minimum viable product (MVP). Get your MVP in the hands of customers as soon as possible, and iterate based on real feedback.

This can be very challenging for A type perfectionists who take an all or nothing approach. The end result though is is more likely to be "nothing" than all.

Done is better than perfect, if perfect is never done.. 

What TO do

A better approach is to be more iterative. Instead of over-planning, start with a minimum viable product (MVP) and get it in the hands of real customers as soon as possible. This will allow you to understand what your customers actually do and don't want, and make necessary adjustments.

For example instead of creating a comprehensive training membership with multiple options, you can start by launching a single training plan that addresses a specific niche in the market. This MVP plan can be a highly targeted offering that is easy to explain and get up and running without wasting time creating too much content. It should be various obvious who the product is for and what it achieves. Here are two examples:

1. A running plan for busy professionals who want to complete a marathon but need to balance performance with their busy business and family lives.

Or

1. A plan for runners who have completed a few marathons and want to achieve a new personal best, performance is their priority and they are willing to commit whatever is required to reach their goals.

By starting with a simplified MVP plan, the coach can iterate and make improvements based on feedback from real customers, rather than relying on assumptions about what the market wants. This approach will help you create products and services that are in high demand, and grow your business effectively.

Conclusion

In conclusion, launching your products and services online as an endurance coach can be a daunting task, but it doesn't have to be. By avoiding over-complication and embracing a simplified iterative approach, you can create MVPs that resonate with your target audience and grow your business effectively.

No plans survive contact with the enemy, but by starting with a simple MVP and iterating based on real customer feedback, you can create products and services quickly with less effort so both you and your clients can start reaching their goals.

Here at Training Tilt we have all the tools you need to launch a plethora of online endurance sports based products and services from one-off training plans, to cohort group coaching programs to full fledged membership sites. Just start small and build from there!

I’d love to hear about your ideas for the products and services you’d like to launch online and always happy to offer my honest thoughts and feedback!