Business coaching provides some valuable solutions for many businesses and business owners. Do you want to know when it’s time to engage a business coach? This article may help you identify some aspects of your business which may tell you it’s time for a business coach for you.
Here are The Top 10 Signs That I Believe It’s Time You Consider Engaging a Business Coach
1. You are new at starting your business and have never done this before.
That is business; you will have likely done the service before (doctoring, lawyering, painting, electrical, engineering) but have you operated a business? Is your experience mostly as an employee? Knowing how to do the job is one thing, but as important, is knowing how to do business, marketing, having effective systems, productive staff (productive self!), great sales processes and much more. A good coach will ask lots of tough questions, but they also will have lots of answers to your questions as well.
2. You’re having a hard time to find clarity and direction.
This is a good time to get that clarity back on track. After all, if you don’t know where you’re going, how do you know you’re on the right path? Business is an ever-changing arena, so knowing your direction 5 years ago, or even 12 months ago, doesn’t mean you might need a re-tweak of your strategy.
3. You’re overlooking essential parts of your business foundation.
This may be money, systems, people management and more. None of us is perfect (myself included) and we will have gaps in our skill set and knowledge. Two heads are absolutely better than one and having been helping business owners for over 3 decades (plus formal quals) does give me skills, experience and knowledge which I love sharing with clients.
4. You’re having difficulty connecting or converting your ideal clients.
In other words, marketing and sales can be improved – a little, or maybe a lot. Another of my strengths is teaching and training clients on how to do better in important aspects of their business.
5. You’re facing an upper limit problem.
Things like impostor syndrome, perfectionism, and self-doubt can truly hinder our ability to reach our full potential in business. An all-round business coach will have the ability to not only help you with the practical side of your business (financials, marketing strategy, recruitment of a great team etc) but also the soft skills, like time mastery or mindset, motivation or appreciating your true worth and the true worth of your business.
6. You’re frustrated by all the advice given by other people (sometimes conflicting or wrong), yet you just can’t seem to find the right path.
Friends and family mean well, but unless they have expertise in business and their true intention is to help you and your business, then sometimes it’s better to have a person who is a little removed from you – but still very passionate about your potential.
7. You need support for your transformative journey of building and operating a new business.
I appreciate that not every potential client will have a tonne of money and funds behind them; they need to make this work! That added pressure of ensuring your primary source of livelihood is on track, sensible and well-planned not only gives you peace of mind, but helps you ensure more likelihood of success. And, if I don’t think it’s got what it takes, I’ll be honest and tell you! Remember, no-one goes into business planning to fail or do poorly, but we’ve all heard the stats and one of the biggest reasons for business failure is inadequate management. That includes not having enough funds to start, not doing enough research and due diligence, as well as poor marketing.
8. You’ve got a specific challenge in your business.
I pride myself on solving problems before they even happen, although sometimes you need a coach to help you sort out something that is already occurring. The problem might be around cashflow, or converting leads, or having effective marketing, a website that converts, or a myriad of other challenges. A business coach will often know how to get something back on track efficiently.
9. You got started just fine, but you’re struggling with growth – either getting the extra work in, or managing the growth.
Sometimes clients struggle to get in the business and then at other times, they can struggle to cope with the extra work. Your coach will help you adapt to your changed circumstances so that the ‘growing pains’ are somewhat mitigated and reduced.
10. You’ve lost your forward momentum.
Accountability always helps as part of business coaching. Your coach will keep you on task, focussed and doing what needs to be done. For some of us, sometimes we get stagnant or lose our forward movement and drive. We might need that bit of a prod to ensure things happen and we stay true to ourselves and our future goals.
When Thinking About Business Coaching – Some Important Things to Action
Think about what you want to achieve. Communicate this with the coach you engage. There is a cost (or investment) in engaging a coach, but the ROI (Return on Investment) is worthwhile with the right coach. As a ‘hybrid business coach’ to me, coaching is more than talking. There is talking, but there is also a plan, action, assistance and results that need to be followed.
Do your due diligence. How much experience does the person have? Did they start up a year ago, or have been doing this for decades? Do they have experience in business themselves?
Also ask about the industries that they have serviced. My expertise is in service-based businesses; hence I won’t take on other industries that I don’t feel I’m an expert at. If you’re say a doctor or tradie, your coach doesn’t need to have practiced medicine or operated an electrical business, but they should have had a good number of clients in your field. As a coach, I’m not going to tell you how to diagnose a patient, or swing a hammer, but I will definitely know how to guide you with your business.
See if your potential coach has tonnes of great reviews and delighted clients and ex-clients. Especially find out about contract periods and how long you’re committing to. Even if you can ‘leave at any time’ ensure you don’t have to pay out a 12-month contract to do so.
Be ready! Sometimes people are not ready for coaching; often because they have some huge things happening in their life at present (house move, family health issues, baby on the way or massive project they are 1000% focussed on) … if that’s the case, then plan to start when you can focus on your business and get action done that’s required.
If you’d like to know more about coaching (business, leadership or life) just reach out via my CONTACT PAGE.
