What I Wish I Knew Before Coaching My First 100 Entrepreneurs

The truth they never tell you when you become a business coach

When I started coaching Indian entrepreneurs, I thought I was ready.

I had the qualifications. I had confidence. I had even built a successful business myself.

But nothing prepares you for what happens when you sit across from a business owner who's drowning in pressure, bleeding cash, stuck with the wrong team, and still smiling like everything is okay.

No textbook, no MBA, no training can prepare you for that moment.

And in those early days, I made mistakes not because I didn’t care, but because I didn’t fully understand what it truly meant to guide Indian entrepreneurs who were stuck in the daily chaos that comes with running a business.

If I could go back, there’s a lot I’d do differently. I’m writing this for first-time business coaches, young consultants, and, most importantly, for business owners themselves, because they deserve better advice than I had in the beginning.

You’re not just solving business problems. You’re healing emotional wounds.

Most Indian business owners don’t have a strategy problem. They have a self-belief problem. A leadership problem. A mindset problem.

When I coached my first few clients, I was focused on their business model, marketing, team structure, and numbers. And yes, those things mattered. But they weren’t the core issue.

Behind every stuck business owner, I found a pattern: a fear of delegation, guilt about raising prices, a lack of confidence, and years of unspoken failure.

I wish I had known earlier that scaling a business starts with believing in yourself.

That’s why mindset mastery became one of the most powerful parts of my journey. Not just because it’s popular but because it truly matters.

The real battle is inside the entrepreneur, not outside

In my early coaching sessions, I used to feel frustrated.

Why weren’t they taking action? Why were they resisting systems? Why did they always pick confusion instead of direction?

It took me a while to realize business tactics don’t work if the mind is full of doubt.

You can show someone the best business strategy, but if they still see themselves as a small-time vyapari, they will never behave like a CEO.

This shift from Vyapari to CEO is not just a strategy change. It’s a deep personal transformation. And most entrepreneurs don’t even realize they need it until it’s too late.

I thought systems would fix everything. I was wrong.

In the beginning, I was obsessed with structured SOPs, organisation charts, and productivity hacks. And yes, they work. But only after you address the foundation of the identity of the entrepreneur. A broken mindset can destroy even the best business systems.

What I’ve learned coaching 100+ Indian entrepreneurs is this: business isn’t built on tools. It’s built on clarity, courage, and the ability to think like a leader even when your world is on fire.

That’s why today, before I talk about strategy, I first talk about the business owner’s mindset.

Behind every entrepreneur is a quiet hope that someone will believe in them

I’ve sat across from business owners who have turnover of ₹100 crores and still feel like failures.

I’ve worked with MSMEs who couldn’t pay salaries one month, then hit record profits the next because they changed how they showed up mentally.

The one thing I didn’t know when I started was how lonely this journey is for entrepreneurs.

Everyone sees the office, the Instagram stories, and the clients. But no one sees the 3 a.m. breakdowns, the guilt of missing your child’s birthday, the fear of not knowing whether you will survive next month.

That’s why I don’t just coach now. I listen. I support. I stay.

Because building a business is not just about profit, it’s about peace.

If you're a coach, pause before jumping in with answers. First, understand the war they’re fighting.

And if you’re a business owner reading this, I want to tell you something I wish someone had told me early on: You don’t need to know everything. You don’t need to be perfect. But you need to be willing to grow not just your business, but yourself.

Because the journey from Vyapari to CEO isn’t about power, it’s about evolution. It’s not the business that transforms first. It’s the entrepreneur. And if you feel stuck, lost, or tired, don’t worry. You’re not broken. You’re just beginning.