The Selfishness of Not Sharing Your Gift: Lessons from a Serial Entrepreneur on Building a Coaching Business
I'm Gus Van Dender, and honestly, I've been an entrepreneur since I was nine years old. I've never had a "real job" in the traditional sense, much to my parents' initial disappointment, growing up in a small village in Belgium. My first venture? Riding my bike to the next village to buy toys that were scarce in mine and selling them on the playground. It wasn't even about the money at first; it was just about filling a need. But quickly, I realized the power of exchange: solve a problem, get paid. That was cool, and I wanted more of it.
Europe, while wonderful, wasn't the easiest place to be an entrepreneur. Setting up a business was a lengthy, expensive process, and the tax structure made it tough. I saw the US as the place where entrepreneurship was truly supported. So, I made the leap.
Over the years, I've started, grown, and exited businesses, consulted for others, and eventually found myself deeply involved in the coaching industry. This happened when I joined a program called Wake Up Warrior and ended up helping Garrett J. White scale it dramatically. We took the membership from 300 to 6,000 active members in just six months.
Working on that project, I got hooked on coaching, not just because of the business side, but because I saw the direct impact. Growing a coaching business isn't just about making more money; it's about reaching more people and genuinely changing lives. That's powerful.
Cracking the Code: The Four Pillars of a Successful Offer
Early in my career, I studied product development, fascinated by why some products explode while others fizzle. I wanted to understand what made people pay a premium for something seemingly simple, like an $8 coffee. After a deep dive, I uncovered a concept that I believe is incredibly valuable and applies perfectly to coaching:
Successful products and services deliver an Intentional, Curated, Transformational Experience.
Let's break that down:
- Intentional: Every interaction, every part of your offer, must have a clear intention. Why are you doing this? What do you want for yourself and for the other person? For a sales call, my intention is to help the person make the right decision for them. For a coaching call, it's to make it the most productive, valuable hour possible. Getting clear on your intention before you start makes you present and focused.
- Curated: You are taking your client on a journey. You need to curate that entire experience from start to finish. Think about every touchpoint, from the moment they first hear about you to their final interaction. Is it seamless? Does it feel designed specifically for them?
- Transformational: This is the core of coaching. You are helping people get from point A to point B, from pain to desired outcome. Your offer must create a noticeable, impactful transformation in their lives.
- Experience: Wrap it all up and make it an experience, not just a transaction. People remember how you made them feel. They remember the journey, the details, the care you put into it.
Apply these four components to everything you do, a Zoom call, an email, your entire coaching program, and you will see incredible results.
Marketing Isn't Selfish, Withholding Your Gift Is
A common struggle I hear, especially from new coaches, is that marketing feels "gross" or "spammy." They worry about annoying people. My response to that is pretty direct, maybe even harsh: Stop being selfish.
If you genuinely believe you provide value, if you know you can change someone's life, then withholding that from the people who need it is a selfish act.
Marketing is simply letting people know you have something valuable that can help them. If your intention is truly to make their life better, then why wouldn't you market? Send more emails, do more podcasts, and post on social media. It's not about you; it's about the people waiting for you to show up and make a difference in their lives.
Imposter Syndrome? It's Not About You.
This ties directly into imposter syndrome, another topic that comes up constantly. Why do you feel imposter syndrome? Because you're making it about you. Why do you need external validation? Because you're making it about you.
Stop doing that. It's not about whether you feel good enough or you deserve it. It's about the people you are here to serve. They don't care about your internal struggles; they care about the transformation you can help them achieve.
It's a feeling, an emotion, and feelings are valid. Acknowledge it, but then ask yourself, "Why am I having this feeling?" If it's rooted in making it about yourself, consciously shift your focus to the people you serve. When you focus on them, that feeling starts to disappear.
Scaling Smart: Lessons from 300 to 6,000 Members
Growing Wake Up Warrior so quickly was a massive undertaking, and it wasn't just me, it was a perfect team dynamic. But the core of how we did it came back to those four elements: Intentional, Curated, Transformational Experience.
We completely redesigned the customer journey. Instead of just offering one main product, we created a structured path:
- A 30-day challenge as an entry point.
- This led to a higher-tier monthly membership.
- Which then led to large in-person events.
- Ultimately leading to the high-level Warrior Week experience.
We didn't invent new things; we just created a much more intentional and curated journey with clear steps.
We also fixed the "leaky bucket" syndrome. Many businesses constantly have to sell because clients finish a program and leave. We plugged that hole by creating a recurring revenue model, the membership, which kept people in the ecosystem longer, increasing their lifetime value and building a strong community.
Finally, automation was key. We ran this with a very small core team because we automated everything possible. We used messenger bots for daily check-ins, accountability, and collecting information. It felt personal to the users because the bots had personalities and names, but it allowed us to scale without needing hundreds of staff members. This automation, especially the bots, had the biggest impact on our ability to handle the volume.
Mistakes Happen: Break Things, Learn Fast
Scaling that fast wasn't without its bumps. One major screw-up was choosing a platform called Workplace (like a private Facebook for companies) to host our community. I connected with the executives, told them we'd be power users, but when we launched and 2,000 people signed up in a day, we completely broke their system. It wasn't built for that kind of rapid onboarding volume.
When something like that happens, the worst thing you can do is bury your head or blame others. You have to:
- Communicate: Immediately let people know there's a problem.
- Take Responsibility: Own the mistake. "We made this decision, and it broke."
- Offer a Solution: Tell them what you're doing to fix it.
That situation was a total disaster at the moment, but handling it with transparency was crucial.
Another key lesson, especially for coaches building programs: Don't build the whole thing upfront.
I've seen people spend $100,000 creating a perfect, polished 90-day program before they even have their first client. Why?
Instead, get the first week or two ready. Then, build the next week based on the immediate feedback you get from your first cohort of students. When we did the 30-day challenge, Jeremy and I were creating content the night before, based on what people were experiencing and asking about that day.
This allowed us to tailor the experience perfectly for that first group. They felt heard and amazed that we were addressing their questions almost instantly. While you don't have to do it the night before, building just ahead of your students allows you to use their feedback to make the program truly impactful and relevant. Your customers want to give you feedback; use it!
Validating Ideas: It's Not Lying, It's Testing Resonance
Some coaches feel like it's "lying" to sell a program or offer that isn't fully built yet. I disagree, provided you have a genuine idea and know the value you intend to deliver.
If you have an idea that you truly believe is valuable, putting up a page to see if it resonates isn't lying. You're testing the message, the language, and whether people identify with the problem you're solving in the way you think they do. You're validating if your intended value connects with your audience. What's wrong with trying to figure out the best way to reach people with something you believe can help them?
What I'm Doing Now & The Business of Coaching
Today, I'm involved in a few things because my brain just works that way, I'm more of a visionary than an in-the-weeds guy.
One passion project is my marketing/coaching company, where we teach the business of coaching. There is tons of great info out there on marketing, sales, and course creation, but many coaches hit a wall when it comes to the actual business side, how to set it up, run it, and maintain it uniquely for a coaching practice. We have programs like Foundation Lab and Creative CEO Accelerator specifically focused on helping coaches build the business structure around their expertise.
My main focus right now, about 80% of my time, is an AI enablement agency. So many companies are overwhelmed and confused by AI tools. They buy tools without understanding how they fit into their existing processes. It's like going to Home Depot and just grabbing a cool-looking tool without knowing if you need it for plumbing or gardening.
We help businesses understand which of their current processes can be enhanced by AI, rather than forcing them to change their entire operation to fit a tool. This need is huge, and it's a blue ocean right now, not many people are focused on the enablement side of AI.
Influential Resources & The Best Advice
When it comes to resources, I get a lot from books, though my memory for titles isn't the best! The E-Myth was an early one that made a big impact. But honestly, my biggest resources have been the people I've interacted with – mentors, clients, even business partners like Garrett. I always approach conversations with a student mindset, ready to learn. I've learned immensely from people running everything from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies. Seeing how things are done at that level and then applying simpler versions to smaller businesses is incredibly powerful.
Advice for other coaches who want to get started or just starting out?
Be Authentic.
Seriously, this is the most important thing. Don't get lost in the noise of social media gurus telling you exactly how to do things. Listen, learn, take advice, but never let it become your absolute rulebook. What works for someone else might not work for you.
If you start adopting strategies or trying to be someone you're not because you think that's the "right" way, it's a recipe for disaster, and it will eat away at you.
You have something unique inside you to share. Coaching is about guiding someone on a path you've likely walked yourself. Just be you and do it your way. Take the advice, process it, but filter it through your own authenticity. The noise out there is deafening, and it's easy to get pulled in different directions by the next shiny object. Stay true to yourself.
And my final piece of advice? Don't listen to what I just said.
Seriously. Take it, think about it, but ultimately, you have to figure out what resonates with you and your audience.
Where can we go to learn more?
Email: gus@shortenedegap.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/primeai/
Website: https://join.primelive.ai/
