Is your business struggling to make the level of profit you feel your efforts justify? Maybe you have fallen out of love with your business and you need to reassess the direction you want to go in? Whatever the issue may be, you may have been advised to use the services of a business coach. That’s a great idea but what actually do they do?
A business coach will assist you by taking a hard, honest look at your business after which they will work with you to devise strategies and solutions to improve your company. This involves enhancing the personal effectiveness of the owner and/or leaders as well as overall business effectiveness. In regards to the latter, professional business coaching deals with helping owners and leaders to enhance various areas of their business. This can include everything from leadership and HR development to strategic planning and customer service. It can deal with a wide scope of issues, from people problems to cash flow challenges, with many of the challenges arising from poor company culture, lack of leadership depth and quality problems.
Personal effectiveness deals with helping a business owner to recognize what he or she should and should not be doing. In essence, it deals with the bad habits leaders have picked up, as well as identifying personal strengths. This always starts with knowing yourself and your personal goals and vision. Ultimately, it is about achieving behavior that is congruent with your values.
A business coach will provide knowledge and help you create a structure so you and your team can reach optimal levels of personal effectiveness and performance. A good business coach will be there to educate, guide and support you but also hold you accountable.
Finding the best business coach for you
So, how do you find a good business coach? There is only one place to begin and this is with experience. Find of if they have they owned or managed a business before. If they have, can they provide case studies of the companies they have worked with? Find out how successful they were and what kinds of challenges they faced.
A good business coach will display their ability to adapt to different companies and their unique requirements; they certainly won’t operate via a one-size-fits-all approach. Look for someone that uses an array of approaches, from training to changes in business culture.
They should also have reliable contacts and resources as you may need a managed services provider to help you regain efficiency in your business. Aside from this, it is advisable to ask for referrals and read reviews from previous customers. This is a great method for acquiring a truthful assessment regarding the level of service you are likely to experience. If a particular business coach has not been helpful or impactful, you can rest assured that unhappy clients will have taken to the Internet to warn you from making the same mistake that they did. If there is a bad review, you may want to ask them about it to see how they respond.
Hopefully, you now have a better understanding of what a business coach does and what to look for when hiring one. Working together, you can create a roadmap for your business that will take your business to a whole new level. If you need additional help finding a business coach that fits your needs, send me an email at cowens@infinitycoaching.net. I’ll see how I can help you and make some recommendations that are just right for you. Until next time, here’s to your success!
Carolyn R. Owens has over 25 years of proven experience and serves as a Career Strategist, Executive and Leadership Coach. She is the President of Infinity Coaching, Inc. where she can help you up-level your skills, so you can up-level your income, career, business or life. Infinity Coaching, Inc. provides coaching, organizational training, personality assessments, and a signature program, the Infinity Coaching Inner Circle. Carolyn is certified to give both The Energy Leadership Index Assessment and Myers Briggs Type Indicator Assessment. You can find out more he about both assessments and other products and services at https://infinitycoaching.net.
