Business is not just an extrovert’s game. Introverts can be successful business owners and coaches. They just have different strengths and weaknesses compared to their extroverted counterparts. This is what you need to know about owning a business as an extrovert.
What Is an Introvert?
A generally accepted theory believes that people can be sorted on a scale based on how socialising affects their energy. In general terms, introverts lose energy through socialising while extroverts gain energy from socialising. However, introverts and extroverts are not completely separate camps where you’re either a hermit or a social butterfly. It is a scale. Introverts will need different amounts of time to recharge their social batteries depending on where they fall on the scale.
It is also worth pointing out that where you fall on the introvert/extrovert scale is one aspect of your personality. There are a number of things that impact your personality and your preferences as a business owner. You may find that you identify with some of the things in this blog post and not identify with others.
Research also suggests that not all social interaction is tiring for introverts. In general:
- Socialising with friends is less tiring than socialising with strangers.
- Socialising with other introverts is less tiring than socialising with extroverts.
- Socialising in small groups or one-on-one is less tiring than socialising in large groups.
- Discussing passions and interests will be less tiring than small talk or situations where the introvert feels like they have to be “on.”
This doesn’t mean that introverts are socially awkward or have social anxiety. It just means that they’ll feel a little burnt out if they are socialising for large amounts of time.
What Strengths Do Introverts Bring to Business?
On the surface, it may seem like extroverts are more likely to find business success because they are more outgoing. They tend to put themselves out there and are better at meeting new people. However, introverts have some serious strengths as coaches and business owners too.
- Observant – Introverts tend to listen and observe more than they speak which are great skills for a coach to have. As a business owner, this allows you to understand the full picture before jumping in to find a solution.
- Deep Thinkers – Introverts tend to like to consider something from all angles before giving an opinion or insight. Thinking before you speak has the obvious benefit of avoiding embarrassment, but you also tend to dig a little deeper and give insights that others may not have expected.
- Impactful Networkers – Introverts tend to focus on the quality of relationships rather than the quantity. You may not leave a networking event with many business cards, but you’ll know a lot more about the people you just met.
- Self-Motivated – Introverts tend to thrive when working autonomously. As a business owner, this means your deep work time or business focus days are extremely productive without the need for collaboration.
If you are an extrovert reading this, please note that the inverse of these introvert strengths are not extroverted weaknesses.
Introverts should not be underestimated. They bring a lot to business and introverted coaches provide great value to their coaching clients.
Where Do Introverts Struggle in Business?
Your other personality traits will impact your strengths and weaknesses as an introverted coach. Some of the things on this list may not impact you much or at all.
- Interruption-Haters – Introverts tend to prefer a quiet environment where they can focus on their work. Open-plan office spaces or busy working environments can be incredibly frustrating. Stopping what they are doing to attend to emails or questions all the time can also be incredibly frustrating.
- Reserved – Introverts can often be misunderstood as being aloof or difficult to get to know because they are quiet until you get to know them. As business owners and coaches, introverts should make an effort to offer more so their ideal coaching clients can know, like, and trust them.
- Process Time – Introverts often require a little bit of time to process new information before responding. This is both a strength and weakness. While it ensures you don’t react from a place of emotion, it may be frustrating in collaborations where you feel like you’re expected to toss around ideas.
- Spotlight-Dodgers – Introverts tend not to enjoy being the centre of attention, especially for long periods of time. They may feel awkward when public speaking or producing video content. This can be overcome by practicing the skills so that you feel a little more confident and by preparing what you want to say ahead of time.
How to Design Your Coaching Business as an Introvert
Introverted coaches can be wildly successful. We work with a number of introverted coaches who have a dedicated following and a large pipeline of coaching clients keen to work with them. The key is to work with your introversion instead of against them.
Consider your strengths, weaknesses, and preferences and design your coaching business in a way that allows you to show up for your coaching clients at full energy. Here are some ways you can adapt your coaching business to suit your introversion.
Schedule Your Coaching Sessions Carefully
Coaching requires a mixture of socialising (coaching sessions) and deep work (business planning and product development.) Each introvert will need a different balance of the two. Some introverts may like to block out coaching days and deep work days. Some introverts may like to split their day in half and do deep work in the mornings and coaching in the afternoons. Find what works best for your energy levels.
Protect Your Recharge Time
Make sure you have plenty of recharge time both during the week and on the weekends. For your business, that could mean that you have 2 half-days where your VA takes over all client communication and you turn off all methods of contact so you can focus on your business. That could mean that you have a full day of your workweek that looks like that. Find what works best for you but try to build a big chunk of “unavailable for contact” time into your schedule on a weekly basis.
We’re not here to tell you how to spend time on your weekends but we would like to say this. You are allowed to take quiet time to yourself. It doesn’t matter what you are doing, you are allowed to advocate for recharge time. If people think you are rude for doing so, just wait until they experience the crabby, socially drained version of you!
Have a Discovery Call Process
Discovery calls are quite common for coaches, but they can be even more draining than coaching sessions because you’re not sure who will be on the other end of the call and what to expect.
A discovery call process can help you to feel a little more prepared for discovery calls and therefore reduce the discovery call dread. We recommend having the following elements in your discovery call process:
- Pre-screening questions – Ask up to 3 questions to see if they are your ideal coaching client and if you can actually help them with their problem.
- A discovery call checklist – Use a discovery call checklist to prepare what information you want to provide and obtain during discovery calls. This allows you to feel a little more prepared for discovery calls.
Remember, it’s okay if you don’t have all the answers on the discovery call. Coaching clients will respect you saying, “I’m not sure, can I look into that and email you the answer following the call?” It shows that you are honest and won’t just make something up.
Create the Content that Works for You
The push for short-form video content that is happening across social media and content platforms is an introvert’s nightmare. But you don’t have to create video content if you don’t want to. Find what works for your business and go all in on that instead of forcing yourself to dance around on TikTok. Your audience will feel it if you hate creating a particular form of content.
Mute Notifications
This has been a complete gamechanger for our business. Mute all notifications everywhere – both personal and business. Hearing and seeing notifications of people wanting to socialise with you can be extremely overwhelming and stress-inducing for introverts.
You do not owe your coaching clients’ 24/7 availability. Nobody is going to die if it takes you 2-3 hours to respond to an email. Nobody is going to die if it takes you 12+ hours to respond to an email. We mute all notifications, and we promise that we will respond to all emails within 24 hours on weekdays. Our clients are all okay with that. The world hasn’t crashed and burned. Your coaching business will be okay too.
Prepare Ahead of Time
Introverts like to prepare in advance rather than feeling put on the spot, so prepare in advance. Write talking points for your coaching calls if you need to. Have a copy cheat sheet that helps you go live to promote your lead magnet. Do whatever you need to do to feel prepared for whatever situation you are about to go into.
Block that preparation time off in your schedule too so that you have sufficient time to prepare.
What are your introverted super powers? How have you designed your coaching business to be introvert-friendly? We’d love to hear from coaches in the comments below. (It will make a nice change from the backlink bots we usually get.)