By: Michelle Lake
Published September 16, 2026
Many part-time coaches working alongside their day jobs dream of one thing: how to quit that soul-sucking job for good and live the LIFE they want, coaching athletes all day while still paying the bills?
I still remember the moment I decided to go full-time in 2013, driving a Jeep through Kona during the Ironman World Championship. That decision changed my life. I traded a nightmare government contract job for my dream career.
The next question I am often asked is: how many athletes do I need to go full-time? That is a great question. But it is the wrong one. Going full-time is not possible because of the number of athletes. It is enabled by the systems BEHIND that number, which make coaching a profitable endeavor.
There are plenty of coaches with 20–25 athletes who are still drowning in debt and barely making ends meet, barely covering their expenses with coaching income. We must fix that first.
Why a lack of systems holds back your growth
A lack of systems can be compared to a training plan without any structure. It is just random workouts combined with the "hope" that they will be enough for progress. The athlete, of course, does the work, but without structure, who knows if it is too much, too little, or the wrong type or combination of intensities.
That is exactly how I want you to view a business without systems. These are plans written at any time of the day. These are notes about athletes scattered across eight different notebooks (and by the way, you lost one notebook, and now you can't find what John said about his 2027 goals seven months ago). These are countless messages at 11:00 PM via text, DMs, Facebook Messenger, email, etc. These are payments accepted via Venmo, checks, and cash on any day of the month, without any system for auditing cash flow. And much more.
A business without systems forces you to be constantly busy, but does not make you profitable, and because of the clutter, you are likely missing key information that could help your athletes. A double whammy that needs to be addressed first.
And finally, without systems, more athletes just mean a massive breakdown: more hours, more scattered payments, and more late-night messages.
Unfortunately, I often see this in coaches who have become amazing specialists, but whose business does not keep up with their knowledge in the field of training.
4 mandatory systems for going full-time
Here are 4 systems I recommend creating before thinking about going full-time:
System 1: Marketing so athletes can find you consistently.
A repeatable system for attracting ideal potential clients. A clear niche for your expertise, a visibility plan for a constant presence, and a simple way to talk about who you coach.
You cannot count on going full-time solely through word-of-mouth.
System 2: Finance so you know your real numbers.
A single payment system with a subscription to simplify the process. This will help you understand what the real value of an athlete is per month and how much you need to earn monthly to replace your salary from your main job.
The transition is a math problem. So do the math!
Tip → I recommend the TrainingPeaks Payments system. It simplifies the setup and monitoring of recurring payments and allows you to process them directly in the app. This guide explains how to set it up. (Note: Payments are only available to coaches in the US, Canada, Australia, and the UK.)
Bonus: move all your athletes to the premium version of TrainingPeaks and include its cost in your rates. They will get a premium experience and much better coaching!
System 3: Operations to coach more efficiently and in less time.
Create excellent workout libraries, progressions, as well as a REPEATABLE and simplified onboarding procedure, and also store all notes and conversations with athletes electronically in one place, rather than in notebooks.
A coach who writes every workout from scratch and has to dig through notebooks to find information about an athlete has a hobby, not a business.
Tip → If you haven't already, it's time to start using the Strength Workout Builder in TrainingPeaks and try the new Workout Generator. It's amazing! (Note: The Workout Generator is a tool for coaches only.)
System 4: Boundaries and time management so you can continue living your life.
This is the BIGGEST problem I have encountered while working with over 300 coaches. Here is my main request for you today: keep 99% of your conversations with athletes THERE, IN THE TIME AND PLACE — IN TRAININGPEAKS. Not in private messages, Facebook messages, or random text messages.
Tip → I recommend moving most conversations with athletes to workout comments OR the new messaging feature in TrainingPeaks. Just last week, one of my new athletes told me via the messaging feature that he was going to do his first Ironman. Yay! Now I will always be able to find this information in the app where I coach.
Build systems now, take the leap when you are ready
So, here is my homework for you: choose ONE of these four systems and start building it this week, while coaching is still your side hustle. Do not try to build all four systems in the week you quit your main job. Build them now, one at a time, so that this step stops being a leap of faith and turns into a math problem that you have already solved.
As I mentioned in my last article about losing an athlete, we are in the middle of the sales season. Athletes are coming. Build the systems now, and the decision I made in that Jeep in Kona will become yours: conscious, profitable, and FULL-TIME.
Need help filling the open spots on your roster this season? Start with my free training: The Full Roster Fix.
