Does every small business need a business coach?
Is it really necessary to hire a small business coach? In your experience, what has been the most valuable aspects of business coaching services?
For both of my business i have started i have had a business coach. The first one was a coach that offered her services for free so i would give her a testimonial. This was great as I didn't have much money to start with and she was a great help in setting goals and looking at ideas as to what my business was about. The second business I started we was investing lots of money so we employed a business strategist. I am so glad we did this, he got right into the nitty gritty about why we were starting the business, what our goals were, how we were going to market ourselves and pushed us to be even better. The benefit of a business coach or even a mentor is that they can look at things from a different perspective. We can often get stuck in our business and cant see the wood for the trees. they open things up and get you to see the unknown. I personally think a business coach is very important.
As a business coach and mentor of 22 years the answer is definitely not everyone. There are some people who are very dynamic, understand their industry, hit the ground running and their business keeps growing with very few troubles.
To say that everyone needs a business coach, especially by business coaches I don't agree with. I'm met many very super successful business owners in my time that never needed one, never had one and didn't really need one.
They are a minority of businesses as I have found the majority of businesses needs and will benefit from one, but it all depends on the experience and skills of the business coach.
I'm a bit biased on this answer :) but perhaps this will illustrate how important it is - I have several specialist coaches of my own! Even a coach needs a coach...
By definition you can't see your own blind spots. Everyone needs someone to help, even if it just to hold up a mirror.
I can't speak for every business, but when helping run our digital marketing agency we engaged with a coach/mentor after about one year of running our company. Our business had 3 business partners (including myself), and the coach was very helpful in:
- Helping us strategise long term
- Provide an objective, outsider's opinion on our financials and where our company was heading
- Act as a trusted sounding board to help us settle our differences
What worked well for us was that we engaged with someone who several years of experience in building and selling businesses (having built and sold his own IT firm, as well as having helped build and sell several others of different industries), as well as finance (he was great at accounting and numbers and was able to prove it, where we were not).
His monthly advice, mentorship and guidance was part of the reason why we were able to overcome many tough times and grow as well as we did. When looking for a business coach, just make sure you find the one with qualities that best suit the needs of your business.
Next time you have a idea for your business then ask yourself this one question - "Who can I share this with; without having it get out and will assist to build it into a Great idea".
The answer to the question is a question of yourself and that question is easy.
I believe the answer is yes for a couple of reasons.
A small business usually means that you are often working in the business for a significant portion of your time and this usually means you do not have as much time to look at the business from the outside, looking in. The second reason is there are so many individual distractions in life and having the right mindset is extremely important for success.
A good coach can assist you achieve both of these
Future growth may also mean further personal development is required.
As a business coach, marketer, artist and entrepreneur I have a couple of coaches.
I receive amazing ROI from all of them.
Some of the things that I think about are...
1. Not the cost of a coach, but the cost of my inaction - I value momentum and speed.
2. Not the cost of a coach, but the cost of me 'not seeing something' because I am so tied up in the day to day of some of my activities.
3. Not the cost of the coach, but the value in the networks they bring to the table that I would never have accessed without them.
At times, I play with ideas to see if they have legs, once I am serious about them a coach is not a luxury but a necessity
As to using a coach to stop someone 'pinching' my idea - I like to come from an abundance mentality - ideas are everywhere once you start looking - it is the hard work and execution of the ideas that sets you a part and that matters.
I think so - every athlete has the coach for their specific sport and usually a high performance coach and/or psychologist. Even if they are at the top of their game they have a coach. The benefits of coaching are to push you outside of your comfort zone (challenge you) and keep you accountable.They also give you an outsider's perspective as to what is happening in your business - the things you can't see because you are too close.
When going into business by yourself, you are the one that is creating the business. It is all up to you.
To do this, you will need to learn and leave your comfort zone again and again to grow. You will experience roadblocks and hurdles, you will need to be resilient and persistent to grow. A business coach will help at these times.
Also, there are a couple of things that you will need to do:
1. See the bigger picture and set goals for success
2. Learn skills you may not even know you need
3. Implement business systems and processes
4. Be accountable to getting things done
A business coach will help you with knowledge, experience and support to help you get to the next level.
Yes, having a Business Coach or mentor along side is a great asset.
Great insight @Adrienne McLean ! An interesting point about it being up to you - a coach can guide but you have to take that knowledge and action it in a way that works for you.
Does a coach need to have specific skills to your business/roadblocks or are some coaches more 'general'? What do you think @Lisa Ormenyessy @Leo Eliades ?
I think the answer to this is yes - but I also think that when the coach is needed, and what the focus of the coaching is will depend entirely on the individual running the business.
At different times there will be different things that create impact and challenges. There are always times that skillsets, wisdom and knowledge need to be grown and sometimes personal coaching and/or mentoring is needed for the individual.
Other times, it's a systemic issue that's causing challenges and then a business focus is more appropriate.
It's really up to each individual to work out what it is that's needed to take the business to the next stage.
If there is minimal to no downside to engaging a business coach, then why not do it? Having an indepenent external party looking at your business without emotion or ego is gold. A sample of the support available includes:
The NSW government provides access to 4 hours of free business coaching under the Business Connect program.
www.business.nsw.gov.au/support-for-business/businessconnect
The ACT has the Business Growth Program providing a business review to SMEs with a turnover of $500k+ .
www.business.act.gov.au/grants-and-assistance/grants/sme-growth-program
Queensland has Accelerate Small Business Grants Program offering $10k to engage a business mentor, coach and advisory board for 6-12 months.
www.business.qld.gov.au/starting-business/advice-support/grants/accelerate-grants
In Victoria they have Small Business Mentoring Service providing low cost mentoring, programs, workshops and events. www.sbms.org.au/services.html
SA has great wine and the Startup and Early Stage Company Incentive providing matched grants of $20k-$100k for commercialisation and business development, skills development and mentoring.
https://innovationandskills.sa.gov.au/funds/research-commercialisation-and-startup-fund
NT has crocodiles and WA has mines. They probably have SME support as well.
There are grants to support women and indigenous Australians in business. There are also state specific grants for export training and support.
Any good grants specialist should be able to direct you to appropriate grants at no cost. If your grants consultant or accountant that prepares your R&D or EMDG claims have not advsed you, then they are not grants specialists.
Wishing you success.
Thanks everyone. When it comes to business coaches I would say ... 'Trust the process and do the work'...
https://www.savvysme.com.au/article/8612-why-business-coaching-is-becoming-a-must-for-success
Wendy Huang, Full Time Blogger and YouTuber at A Custom Blog in 4 Minutes
Interesting point Timothy, really puts into perspective how you see a business coach. I guess in the end it's a label for someone that will help you while keeping quiet confidence. Do you think a business coach's role can add more value than just someone that you can share with?