What Is Business Coaching And Do You Need It To Succeed?
Are you an entrepreneur or business owner who is feeling burnt out or overwhelmed? Do you wish running your business was easier? Business coaching could be the answer!
Business coaching is a powerful experience for entrepreneurs because it helps you get from where you ARE today to where you want to BE in the future. It gives you direction on how to reach your goals and achieve success.
In this article, I’ll share all the deets about business coaching, including why it can be beneficial for small business owners and whether it’s right for your unique situation. So come along as we dive into all things related to business coaching!
What Is Business Coaching?
Let’s get started with a simple definition of business coaching.
Business coaching is when a professional coach works with an entrepreneur or business owner to help them pursue & achieve their goals.
Business coaches help you reach your business goals by working with you one-on-one or in a small group setting with business owners who are at a similar level. You can work with a coach in person, but these days (in the post-pandemic era) you’ll find primarily online business coaching.
What Does A Business Coach Help You Do?
Business coaches can help you with just about any aspect of your business, including:
Identifying obstacles to your success
Developing strategies for overcoming challenges & obstacles
Setting your vision & goals for both the long-term & short term
Developing action plans that are aligned with your goals
Providing feedback on your progress & current work
Holding you accountable for progress toward your goals
What Is The Difference Between Business Coaching, Consulting, And Mentoring?
There are some unique differences between business coaches, consultants, and mentors, so here’s a great way to distinguish between them.
Business Coaching: Business coaches work with you to help you achieve your goals, primarily by providing specific guidance, insight, and advice. They will give you direction on what action to take, but ultimately you are the person responsible for implementing the work.
Business Consulting: Business consultants offer similar strategic guidance and advice to their clients, but they also typically do work on behalf of the client. A consultant will often work directly on projects with a business owner & their team, helping implement the work.
Business Mentors: Business mentoring is typically less defined than either coaching or consulting. It’s often an experienced business owner who occasionally offers up some advice or tips, but they typically do so freely and aren’t really involved in the daily happenings of your business.
What Are The Benefits Of Business Coaching?
Business coaching will help you see, think, and act differently as a business owner if you stay open to the process. Without exaggeration, it can be life-changing!
Benefits Of Business Coaching
Improve your leadership skills. A great business coach will help you develop strong leadership skills that help you effectively and confidently guide your business forward.
Enhance your communication skills. I don’t have to tell you this, but communication is everything! Amazing communication is essential to fostering relationships with your team, vendors, clients, customers, and vendors.
Increase your self-awareness. As the visionary leader of your business, it’s essential that you have a high level of self-awareness, which helps you spot your strengths and weaknesses.
Greater team collaboration. Building a business is rarely done without the help of others, so learning how to build positive relationships & collaborate with others is key.
Improve your performance. A business coach can help you spot areas that need improvement and develop strategies to develop a high-performing team.
Achieve greater success in your business. A business coach will help you get focused on the right stuff, so you can increase revenue and drive profits.
Improve work-life balance. It goes without saying that business owners tend to burn the candle at both ends! Working long days & nights is usually a sign that something isn’t functioning well inside your business, so your business coach can help you spot the things that need to be improved so you can get your personal life back on track.
Who Can Benefit From Business Coaching?
I’m a business coach, so I’m a little biased with this answer, but I stand by it.
EVERY business owner can benefit from business coaching IF you have the desire to change.
If you’re super happy in your business, loving life, and don’t want to change anything, it’s probably not for you! But if there’s something that feels off or challenging, and you’d like to improve it, you will definitely benefit from working with a business coach!
Business Coaching Is A Good Fit For:
Business Owners – Whether you own a service or product-based business or even a franchise, you can benefit from executive business coaching.
Entrepreneurs – If you’re a solopreneur, mompreneur, or an entrepreneur with a tiny team, you’ll find business coaching helpful.
Startups – Just getting your business off the ground? You can benefit from coaching in a big way! A business coach can help you from making costly mistakes, as well as speed up your learning curve!
Executives – Senior-level executives who are responsible for big decisions in a business will find business coaching helpful. For example, a VP of Operations who’s responsible for implementing the vision of the CEO and managing a team will find it super helpful to have a business coach by their side.
Managers – Managers play a really important role in growing and scaling a business, so it’s smart to invest in their growth with business coaching of some kind!
Types Of Business Coaching
Whatever challenge or opportunity you face in your business, there is a coach for it! So it’s important to get clear on what help you want in your business, so you can hire a business coach that will have the most impact.
What Kind Of Business Coach Do You Need?
Executive Coaching – An executive coach works primarily with the owner of the business to help them think about the big picture and learn how to truly act like the CEO of their business. As your business grows, you will face new challenges, like growing a bigger team, developing better processes, and even handling more customers, so it’s important to learn how to manage your business at a higher level, so you don’t get sucked down into the weeds of the little things someone else should be handling.
Leadership Coaching – A leadership coach is someone who helps you develop your ability to guide others. As you hire more employees and your team continues to grow, you need to be able to inspire your team while also developing a culture of high performance. Good leaders aren’t born; they’re developed, so investing in your leadership abilities is always a good idea!
Business Growth Coaching – A business growth coach helps you figure out what you want & how to get it. It starts with some vision work, helping you get clear on what you want in the future, typically 5+ years from now. Then your coach will help you reverse engineer your business vision to develop a strategy to reach your goals.
Sales Coaching – A sales coach helps you and your team sell more effectively and efficiently! This type of coaching is squarely focused on revenue generation, and if you’re in growth mode, this kind of coaching can be super powerful!
Team Coaching – Developing a high-performing team should be a top priority for every business owner, so investing in your team’s growth and skills is key. Team coaching often involves group activities activities designed to help you & your team get to know each other better and improve their ability to work together and deliver amazing results.
Financial Coaching – A financial coach for your business helps you analyze and interpret the money moving in and out of your business. They can help you make great decisions about future financial decisions, including hiring, large purchases, and more.
How To Choose A Business Coach
There are literally thousands of business coaches out there, so how do you find the one that’s right for you?
It starts with getting really clear about what you want and then scheduling time to interview potential coaches to make sure they’re the right fit for you.
How To Find The Right Business Coach
Determine your goals. Start by writing down some challenges you’re facing in your business. Get clear on the areas in your business that you’d like help with, such as growth, scaling, sales, marketing, finances, etc.
Research potential coaches. When you’ve identified what you need help with, start Googling! Honestly, it’s one of the best ways to find coaches who will fit what you want. For example, you might search for “business coach for female entrepreneurs,” “sales coach for service businesses,” or “leadership coach for the franchise owner.”
Get referrals. Talk to other business owners and ask if they’ve worked with a coach before. Many of my clients are direct referrals from past clients! Be sure you ask what they liked about working with their coach to get a sense of their style and personality.
Schedule a consultation. Reach out to potential coaches through their website and schedule a consultation. This could be free or paid, depending on who you’re talking to. My coaching consultation is paid because I provide a true one-hour coaching session during our first call. Other coaches will just listen to your concerns and then share a proposal with you.
Ask if they have relevant experience. You want to hire a coach who has experience working with businesses like yours, so be sure to ask questions about your specific challenges.
Consider cost and time commitment. Business coaching is not cheap, and there’s a reason why! It’s because your coach is going to help you improve your ability to grow & scale your business, which often means you’ll make more money over time! Evaluate whether the investment is something you can truly afford at this time in terms of both the actual $ cost, but also the time. If you aren’t willing to make time to implement the things your coach outlines, it’s going to be a waste of money!
Sign a coaching contract. Never work with a coach that doesn’t put their terms in writing! Be sure to clarify upfront all the details of your coaching engagement, including the details of the coaching program, number of sessions, payment terms, etc.
Common Business Coaching Techniques
A business coach’s job is to help you get better results! It could be about generating more sales, improving their leadership skills, or even feeling more confident giving feedback to employees. No matter what goal or challenge your business coach is helping you with, they will employ some powerful techniques to help you achieve success.
What Kind Of Techniques Do Business Coaches Use?
Setting SMART goals. Great businesses aren’t built by accident. That’s why goal setting is so important for business owners. Your goals help you allocate your precious time, energy, and resources, to make sure you reach your future vision! SMART goals can be a powerful tool in helping you get clear on what matters and what needs to be done.
Developing action plans. A great action plan outlines exactly what needs to be done, by when, and by whom. If you’re clear on what action to take, you can achieve outstanding results in less time than you would otherwise.
Accountability check-ins. As a business owner, you don’t have a lot of people asking you what you’re doing, do you?! All humans, including business owners, need accountability, and a business coach can play a big role in helping you stay on track and accomplish your goals.
Feedback and reflection. This is one of the coolest things you’ll experience in business coaching! You get feedback on what you’re doing. You know, the kind of feedback a really good boss gives to their employee so they can get better at their job? This is the kind of insight a business owner rarely gets but desperately needs!
Business Coaching Statistics
You may be wondering if business coaching actually delivers solid results, and the answer is a resounding yes! Here are some compelling statistics showing the power of business coaching!
99% of individuals and companies who hire a coach are “satisfied or very satisfied,” and 96% say they would repeat the process. (Source: ICF Global Coaching Client Study)
80% of coachees report increased self-confidence (Source: Institute of Coaching)
Coaching produced a 529% return on investment and significant intangible benefits to the business (Source: MetrixGlobal Executive Coaching Study)
Businesses that employed a corporate/executive coach saw an average return on their investment of 5.7 times the amount that they paid for the coaching services (Source: Manchester, Inc study)
Over 70% of individuals who receive coaching benefit from improved work performance (Source: Institute of Coaching)
Business Coaching Vs. DIY Learning
Do you really need a business coach, or can you just learn all this on your own? Sure, you can DIY your business learning, but here’s something you should consider.
You don’t know what you don’t know until you know it.
Right now, there are hundreds of things you don’t know about how to grow or evolve your business. The key to reaching the next level in your business is likely something you just don’t know YET!
So how are you going to get that ah-ha moment?!
It probably won’t come from reading tons of articles, listening to podcasts, and attending more boring webinars. Even business coaching courses tend to fall flat, because they tend to lack the personalization and intimate support you’ll get by working with a business coach.
You can short-track your learning and fast-track your growth by working with a business coach instead of trying to figure it out on your own!
Benefits Of Working With A Business Coach
Goal Setting: Business coaches help individuals and teams set clear, achievable goals that align with their business objectives.
Improved Decision-Making: Coaches can provide an outside perspective that helps business leaders make more informed decisions.
Increased Accountability: A business coach holds clients accountable for their commitments, which can increase motivation and productivity.
Enhanced Leadership Skills: Through coaching, individuals can develop stronger leadership abilities, such as communication, delegation, and management skills.
Personal Development: Coaching often includes elements of personal development, such as increasing self-awareness and improving work-life balance.
Better Team Dynamics: Coaches can help improve team collaboration and communication, leading to a more productive and harmonious workplace.
Overcoming Challenges: A business coach can help identify and overcome obstacles that may be hindering business growth or success.
Growth and Profitability: By improving efficiency, productivity, and morale, business coaching can ultimately lead to increased business growth and profitability.
Limitations Of Self-Directed Learning
There is definitely a time and place for self-directed learning, and frankly, most of building and running a business involves “on-the-job learning”. That said, there are some real limitations to trying to figure things out on your own, including:
Lack of Structure: Without a structured learning program or curriculum, it can be difficult to know where to start or what to focus on.
Time Management: Running a business is time-consuming, so carving out the time to work ON your business versus IN it can be a real challenge without the support of a coach
Lack of Accountability: Without a business coach or mentor, there’s no one to hold you accountable for doing what you say you’ll do. If you want a transformation in your business, you can’t just think about it. You have to do something about it!
Knowledge Gaps: It can be hard to identify your own knowledge gaps and even harder to fill them without guidance. As I said before, you just don’t know what you don’t know!
Lack of Feedback: Self-learning doesn’t provide opportunities for feedback or productive critique from a knowledgeable source, which can slow your growth or ability to change.
Distraction and Procrastination: Without a set schedule or deadlines, it’s easy to get distracted or put off learning. I mean, how many times are you going to pick up your phone and just look at Instagram for a few minutes?!
Difficulty Implementing Learning: Applying what you’ve learned to your business can be challenging without someone to help translate that theory into practice. It’s like learning from a textbook versus from a supportive teacher!
Isolation: Running a business can be lonely, and without interaction with others, you can miss out on different perspectives and insights.
Conclusion
So should you hire a business coach or not?
You should ask yourself these 2 questions.
Do you want to create a change in your business?
Do you want that change to come (more) easily?
If you answered YES to both of these questions, you need (want) a business coach.
It will be one of the best investments you ever make in yourself and your business, so don’t keep putting it off.
Your future self will thank you!
If you’re interested in working with me, you can book a Business Coaching Clarity Call right here. And yes, it’s a paid session because I’m going to drop some BIG insights on your in our first hour together. Pinky promise.