Planning, starting, running, and growing a small business is not a small undertaking for any entrepreneur.
It takes detailed planning, long hours of hands-on work, and a healthy dose of determination, flexibility, and versatility to overcome all the obstacles that come your way.
But if you’re an entrepreneur that’s already started your own business, or are planning to start one, you already know that.
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Virtually all small business owners find themselves overwhelmed at certain points while creating a successful business.
When it comes time to make crucial decisions, don’t you wish you had an experienced, reliable source to gain a second opinion?
That’s one of the benefits of hiring a small business coach. A good business coach has experience overcoming the same adversities that you will face. They can help you develop strategic action plans, react to problems, and set yourself and your business up for long-term success and growth.
Every business owner has different needs and there are many paths to success, so even though most businesses will benefit greatly from hiring a small business coach, it may not be the best option for everyone.
Here, we’ll explain what a small business coach does and what types of business owners will benefit from small business coaching.
What Is a Small Business Coach?
A small business coach is a seasoned business leader that helps less experienced business owners and their company achieve long-term business success and prosperity.
A qualified and great coach will have years of business experience with growing their own successful businesses and has most likely sold or grown their business to a place where they are no longer needed for it’s day-to-day growth. They are an experienced entrepreneur who has chosen to use their talents for strategic planning, building, and developing businesses to help other entrepreneurs carry out their short, mid, and long-term goals.
A prospective coach will do four critical things for their clients:
1. Provide structure for growth and development
Business coaches draw upon their experience and training to help develop a plan of action for sustainable growth that is customized to your business’s strengths, weaknesses, and needs. The personalization of this service sets it apart from standardized video courses and seminars.
2. Contribute a valuable outside perspective
Often, the best way to solve problems is to have someone who is looking at them from the outside provide advice from their viewpoint. Business coaches have seen many different types of businesses fail and succeed and can help provide a unique perspective to expedite problem solving.
3. Provide accountability to make sure you follow through on your plan of action
Everyone performs better when they are being held accountable for their intentions and actions. Asking an employee, whose salary you’re paying, is asking quite a lot. By hiring a business coach that you respect, you will be motivated to accomplish all of your goals and will be held accountable if you don’t.
4. Provide support through tough times and difficult decisions
Every small business owner will be faced with hard decisions and times of stress. A business coach’s role is to help provide encouragement and perspective to help motivate you through these tough times, as well as celebrate your victories with you.
Who Can Small Business Coaches Help?
When and why you hire a small business coach depends on your entrepreneurial needs. Some people need help conceptualizing and planning their business path, so they would hire a coach in the developmental stage.
Other owners may be having a hard time growing or scaling their businesses, and hire a business coach to help them organize their budget, make key hires and cutbacks, and expand their operations.
A business coach can help many different types and sizes of businesses. The best thing to do is to document all of your projected problems and issues before you start looking for one. This way you’ll be prepared to find out if they really will be able to help with your specific needs.
What Makes a Good Small Business Coach?
A good business coach is:
- Experienced
- Focused on you
- Motivational
- Flexible
- Empathetic
They have years of experience in the business world as well as coaching experience and have created their own successful businesses. They will recognize the value of your time and help you focus your attention on what really drives success.
They will also encourage and motivate you in a way that fits your personal learning style. A good business coach won’t just make you play by their rules, they’ll create new ones to help you achieve your full potential.
When is the Best Time to Hire a Small Business Coach?
There is no one size fits all answer for when you might want to hire a small business coach. Some entrepreneurs may just need a business coach’s help at the initial stages of building their business. Alternatively, some entrepreneurs may need help at the later stages of their business. For example, they may need help on improving operations growth or simply how you can become a better manager.
It’s imperative to identify the problems or provide broad examples of areas you’re looking to improve or you’re facing within your business before you find a small business coach. Ultimately, you want to be sure you’re getting the right help from the right business coach.
Should You Hire a Small Business Coach?
The only person who can answer this question for yourself is you.
Business coaches offer many benefits, but you’ll only be able to unlock the full potential of your business coaching program if you are ready and willing to undergo the process.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed, or like you’re not reaching the level of business success that you’re capable of, the best thing to do is to reach out to a business coach that can answer some basic questions and help guide you in the right direction, even if you don’t wind up hiring them.
How Do I Find a Business Coaching Service?
If you’re looking to improve your business’s overall performance, but need some help on how to address your business needs, look for further. Maui Mastermind offers a free 90-minute business coaching session to all qualifying businesses. We want to help business owners succeed, and we’ve found that the best way to see if we have a mutual fit is to actually do a coaching session together.
Our average clients grow 5 times faster than the average privately held company, enjoy a 194.5% increase in Owner Independence, and many have cut their work hours in half within 24 months of joining us.
If you have any questions about our business coaching program, schedule a consultation today, or take a look at our free resources.