Do I need a business coach?

Just as a personal trainer helps you reach your fitness goals, a business coach can help you reach your business goals. A business coach will help you clarify your vision, set the right goals and keep you accountable to achieving them. 

As you set your goals for the year, you may be asking yourself: how do I close the gap between where I am, and where I want to be? Maybe that gap has to do with your revenue and profits. Maybe it’s about who you are as a leader, or work-life balance. Maybe it’s all of those things. Hire a coach to get better at something that's important to you.

Begin with the end in mind

Get clear on your vision. What kind of life do you want your business to provide you? Go deep and put yourself in this future state. Get excited about it! 

Then begin to put together the right action plan to get there. Make the money you want to make; create the business – and the life – you want to create; be the person you want to be. Once you’ve got a clear idea of where you’re going, the right decisions will start lining up.

Here are some of the benefits you’ll get from working with a business coach:  

Higher-altitude perspective

When you're running a business, it's natural to get so occupied by the day-to-day operations and problems that you forget the bigger picture. A business coach can help pull you up to higher altitude so you can look at your business from a fresh view.

Sounding board

“Coaching is a process that is centred around deepening learning and achieving some kind of change or transformation. Entrepreneurs can often feel isolated – a coach can help you unpack the things that are in your brain and be a sounding board for decisions,” says Jennifer DeDominicis of Distill Coaching.

It’s often lonely at the top. It can be hard to find someone to talk to about business problems because they can be so complex and difficult to understand, without the proper background and business experience.

Set work-life boundaries

A coach can help you establish healthy boundaries to ensure you're balancing work-life with family-life and you-life. Don't lose sight of your friends, family, community and health – all the really important parts of life. 

Referee for business partners

If you have a business partner, sometimes the relationship can be tricky to navigate. A coach can help you work through the difficult topics in a healthy way. They can be an arbitrator and a peacemaker. They can help each partner contribute with their strengths and promote collaboration and shared vision. If that doesn't work, they can facilitate the hard conversations.  

Tips when looking for a coach

• Find a coach with real business experience. Check into their history and see if they've done what you want to do. Experience in your specific field would be an asset, but not required for them to add a great deal of value.
• Look for someone you have an authentic connection with. The connection is the most important piece of the relationship. 
• A good coach will be genuinely curious and interested in you, your family and your business. They will ask tons of questions. Jennifer says, "That's how you'll know. If a person is just dispensing advice, that’s a red flag. A coach should be curious, not all-knowing."
• They shouldn't be in it for the money, but a good coach isn't free. Some charge higher fees simply to increase your level of commitment to the coaching relationship, and not waste their time. A lot of times you get what you pay for; just be sure you understand the coach’s fee structure upfront. 

Special thanks to Jennifer DeDominicis for your help with this post. Jennifer is a trusted strategic leader with more than 20 years experience spanning higher education and not-for-profit cultural institutions. Jennifer is a Certified Organizational Coach, a Designing Your Life certified coach and a member of the International Coaching Federation. 

Book an appointment with us today to discuss this further.

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