How to Use the 80/20 Rule to Grow Your Coaching Business and Get Massive Results for Clients

If you’ve spent any time in the business world, you’ve probably heard of the 80/20 Rule (or Pareto Principle). As discussed by Karl Bryan in episode 292 of Business Coaching Secrets, this isn’t just theory—it’s a universal law you and your clients can leverage to explode productivity, revenue, and results.

What Is the 80/20 Rule?

At its core, the 80/20 Rule states that 80% of your results come from 20% of your efforts. In business, this typically looks like:

• 20% of clients generate 80% of your revenue
• 20% of activities create 80% of your progress
• 20% of staff contribute 80% of the value

And here’s where it gets powerful—you can keep “80/20-ing” your 20% for exponential results (Karl points out that the most productive 1% can be 50 times more effective than the rest!).

Why Coaches Must Do More Than Understand 80/20

Here’s Karl’s challenge: “If you’re not living it, do you really know it?”

Most business owners and coaches think they know 80/20. But knowing and doing are two very different things. The magic happens when you use 80/20 as a mental model so regularly that it becomes second nature.

Action Steps for Coaches

1. Audit Client and Business Activities
   Ask: “Which 20% of my (or my client’s) tasks, services, or clients bring in 80% of the outcomes?”
   Write it down. Get the hard data if you can—don’t just guess.
2. Go Deeper: Layer the 80/20
   Once you find your 20% top performers, repeat the analysis:

• Of that top 20%, what’s the top 20% within that group?
• Keep going until you find the true game changers in your activities, offers, or team.

3. Prioritize Ruthlessly
   Karl says: “Anybody can sit down with an entrepreneur and dramatically increase their to-do list. The magic is to simplify it.”
   Pick your “vital few” tasks every day—the ones that knock down most of the dominoes. Do them first.
4. Manufacture Deadlines
   To ignite action and get results faster, set artificial deadlines. Announce product launches, schedule campaigns, or simply book regular check-in calls (Karl notes that clients execute because they know the coaching call is coming up!).
5. Use 80/20 in Staff and Client Management
   Ask: “Which team member provides most of the value?”
   Consider doubling down on your top talent, or cultivating top clients instead of chasing endless new leads.

Powerful Examples

• Revenue Streams: A coach analyzed their client roster and found that two clients paid for 80% of their revenue. They shifted their marketing from wide net to “deep sea”—fewer, better clients paying higher rates.
• Marketing Channels: One coach realized that 80% of leads came from LinkedIn, but they spent most of their ad budget elsewhere. After recalibrating, lead flow soared.
• Personal Productivity: By focusing first thing every day on the two most important tasks (rather than ten small ones), coaches saw their client transformations speed up and their own burnout decrease.

Final Words: Train Yourself and Your Clients

The 80/20 Rule isn’t something you read about once and move on. As Karl Bryan says, you must train it—practice making it a lens for every business decision, every week, every call.

When you get your clients (and yourself) using 80/20 instinctively, results multiply. That’s how world-class coaches separate themselves and create rapid transformations.

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