However or whenever you set up your small business, there will likely come a point where you have outgrown your current space, both physical and metaphorical. You’ve put your heart and soul into everything, but you just can’t shake that feeling that you’ve peaked and need some new ideas and to expand. This is where a business coach can help you.
In order to grow further, there may be some essential changes that you need to make. These could include investing more money, moving to bigger or improved premises or taking on more staff. A business coach will be able to lead you through such changes to make your business a flying success.
Read on to find out more about business coaching and how a coach could help your employees and your brand.
What is a business coach?
A business coach is a professional entrepreneur who hires themselves out to businesses that require their expertise and knowledge. They are successful business owners themselves, and they can be hired by you to help you make general business decisions and make positive changes that could help your brand to grow. Coaches are there to support you, educate you and motivate you to achieve your goals.
It’s important to note that a business coach differs from a business mentor. A mentor will provide advice and guidance, whereas a coach can give you multiple options and advise you on which you should choose. A coach will be more involved and will actively work with you through the implemented changes.
What to expect from a business coach
So when you come to hire a business coach, what exactly can you expect from them?
Whatever your reasons for hiring a business coach, the main aim is to grow your business and this can generally only be achieved through change. A coach will help you to identify the areas for improvement and will come up with a solid action plan. On this basis, you must be willing to make some of the adjustments that they recommend and embrace change should you wish the coaching to be successful.
Upon hiring a coach, they will initially want to gain a good understanding of your business – who you are, what you do, what you provide, your USPs, your target audience, your profits and/or losses and more. This information is imperative for them to have full visibility and create a business growth plan that will work. They will also wish to observe your processes and strategies too.
Once they’ve gathered all their necessary information, which could take days or weeks, they will be able to start thinking about how they can achieve your business’ goals and objectives.
A coach can challenge you to think differently, deploy new technology to improve productivity and the accuracy with which tasks can be completed and help you to address the areas that require more attention and development. They may believe that management and leadership skills need to be improved, and they can do this themselves, by helping you to navigate difficult decisions and set a good foundation for your business that would be hard to shake down. This can only make your brand stronger in the future.
With changes can come complications, and change can be hard for both business owners and employees. For this reason, it’s essential that the change is managed properly and you can do this with the help of change management services. A coach will help you to make the required changes, while management services will ensure that they’re implemented smoothly and flawlessly.
Why business coaching is important
We’ve discussed a little bit about what a business coach can do for your business, but what are some of the benefits of hiring a coach and what can you expect to get from them?
Gain from their experience
Running your own business is a bit like riding a rollercoaster – there are highs, there are lows and there are moments when you rarely stand still. The great thing about a business coach is that they have also experienced this, and will have learned from the mistakes they’ve made in the past. This experience and expertise could really help you and actually prevent you from making the same mistakes they did.
Use their ideas and knowledge and apply it to your own business with confidence.
Realise your blind spots
Every business has blind spots – perhaps the areas you don’t excel in so well, gaps in your business offering or staffing, considerations that you don’t think are important. No business is perfect, and so blind spots like these are almost a given. A coach can open your eyes to such issues that could be holding you back, and may come up with a solution (or multiple solutions) to help you see the forest for the trees.
Not every blind spot solution can be (or should be) actioned, but there may be a few small changes that could be made in your favour. These things are easy to forget about, when you’re used to running your business day in and day out but an outsider may easily see them.
A business coach is an outsider
There are tons of people you could turn to for business advice – your employees, family, friends, lawyer, accountant, etc. But these people can be biased to your cause, and might not understand how your company fits in with the industry, your strengths and weaknesses, the processes and strategies, your leadership style, etc.
A coach can come in with fresh eyes and provide unbiased constructive criticism. They understand your needs, wants and desires and can take a critical perspective without letting a personal relationship cloud their judgement.
Stay on the right track
In business, there are many opportunities to go after, but it’s usually not possible or feasible to take on all of them. Instead, you may have to hand-select the ones that will have the best, most positive outcome, but this can be hard to predict, which is where you need someone with experience.
A business coach can judge which opportunities will result in the best outcomes and help you to stay on the right track, instead of getting distracted by other opportunities that may not be worth your while. They could assist you in identifying patterns and methods that have been successful for other businesses, and help you to apply it to your brand for success and growth.
A business coach should be seen as an investment – the benefits could outweigh the initial cost and they could take your business somewhere you wouldn’t have reached on your own.