Business Coaching
Running a business is certainly no walk in the park. There’s so much to think about, from employee retention and sales to IT and customer loyalty.
How great would it be to have to someone who you can lean on for guidance and support - someone who actually ‘gets it’ and can provide constructive feedback to help you improve and grow your business?
That’s where business coaching steps in.
Having a business coach is the norm for many entrepreneurs. Seeking out professional help and guidance in a good business coach is one of the best ways to grow into your role as a business owner and combat problem areas and challenges you face in your business.
Let’s take a closer look at business coaching and what it entails.
What is business coaching?
Business coaching is a service offered to business owners, entrepreneurs and professionals to develop and grow in a variety of ways. A business coach works with you to develop a holistic plan of personalised advice and actionable feedback to help you accelerate your professional skills, business growth and overall success as a business owner.
There is a little confusion surrounding the different terms in the business coaching world. While the nuances are subtle, it’s helpful to know the differences between the various types of business coaching.
What is the difference between a business coach vs business mentor?
A business coach typically works with you over a short period of time on more objective-based goals, or when you’re hitting a specific milestone and you need some guidance. For example, a business coach will work with you at the beginning of your new startup venture to help you identity, plan and set goals and hold you accountable for your actions.
On the other hand, a business mentor is usually someone who has worked in a similar industry and has the knowledge and real-world experience to guide you. Your relationship with a business mentor is more informal and less goal/objective orientated.
What is the difference between a business coach vs business consultant?
A business coach works with you by guiding, supporting and encouraging you on a more personal level to help you gain traction with your business, whereas a business consultant provides a higher level of expertise to advise you on how to improve particular areas of business such as strategy, marketing, IT and planning.
What is the difference between a business coach vs business advisor?
The difference between a business coach and a business advisor is who they help. Coaches focus on the business owners or CEOs while business advisors focus on providing advice on the business itself. Business coaches help you on a personal level by working with you on your mindset, habits, routines and motivation - just like a coach.
Why is business coaching important?
Business coaching can be a tremendous asset to your business growth no matter where you are on your journey. Our perspectives as business owners are often blocked by personal roadblocks and biases, physical limitations and other barriers - business coaching can help you break through those barriers to get your business to exactly where you want it to be.
You may be in the early days of starting your own business or launching a startup, or perhaps your business ideas have become stagnant and you need a fresh perspective. Whatever it is, there’s a business coach out there with a fountain of experience to help you.
What are the benefits of business coaching?
The benefits of business coaching can be divided into professional/business and personal benefits.
Here are just some of the reasons why business coaching can help businesses of all shapes and sizes.
Professional/business benefits:
- Strategy and planning
- Management and leadership skills
- Authentic and compelling marketing
- Setting goals and business growth
- Increasing employee retention
Personal benefits:
- Increased confidence
- Increased self-awareness
- Identify blind-spots in the business
- Critical thinking about your business
- Improved time management
Who should consider business coaching?
Every business owner has different strengths and weaknesses to work with. You may have already established the areas you want to work on, but here are some of the most common reasons why people seek out business coaching services:
- A feeling of overall dissatisfaction with where your business is currently
- Your business is not steady or predictable
- You struggle to define or explain why your business is different from the rest
- You want to develop your business into something more than just generating leads and profit - you want to a deeper cause and do good
- You’re not afraid of trying something new but you don’t have any fresh ideas
- You’re afraid of change and trying new things
- You want to establish a clearer vision for your business
- You’re unsure what you can do to drive business growth
- You're not seeing good return on investment (ROI) in particular areas or across the whole business
How does business coaching work?
Business coaching is a diverse landscape, but it generally provides coaching in the following areas:
- Executive business coaching
Executive leadership coaching helps leaders and executives unlock their potential developing their self-awareness, work towards development objectives and clarifying both short and long term goals.
- Business development coaching
Development business coaching helps individuals improve their personal and professional characteristics and competencies and how to translate those skills over to business such as time management, strategic planning and building employee rapport.
- Transformational business coaching
Transformational business coaching is a more personal approach to identify behavioural patterns and personal traits that may hinder your approach to running a business. You’ll then develop a plan with the bosch on how to target the things which may be hindering your personal and business growth.
You can also get business coaching in more niche areas, including:
- New business coaching
- Small business startup coaching
- Entrepreneur coaching
- Social media business coaching
- Female business coaching
- Life and business coaching
- Mindset business coaching
How is business coaching structured?
There are various business coaching structures to suit your goals, budget and the amount of time you have on your hands.
Business coaching can either be in one on one or group sessions, in person or online.
One on one business coaching vs group sessions: Which is better?
One on one business coaching sessions provide a detailed and tailored analysis of your business problems to develop solutions to fix them. One on one sessions aim to grow your business into what you want it to be.
Group business coaching sessions provide general information about common business problems and Q&A style discussions to compare the different ways of approaching challenges.
Group sessions are usually less expensive than 1:1 sessions but can be an excellent option for new businesses just starting out, or businesses on a tight budget.
So now that you know a little bit more about what business coaching entails, you might want to learn more about business coaching services or how to find a business coach.
You can browse our helpful Q&A section below or get advice from an experienced business coach here on SavvySME.
Or, simply tell us what you’re looking for and we’ll introduce you to the best business coaches who can help.
