A Business Coach – why do I need one?

Can you think of anything in your life that you haven’t had ANY help doing?

As a baby, parents, family, and friends help you to learn everything from feeding to crawling to speaking.  You don’t need to ask for help, it is a given.

As a child, teachers play an important part in our education, parents look after us when we are ill and we don’t worry about asking a question that ‘may make us look silly.'

As a teenager, our teachers/tutors, our parents, and social media influencers offer tips, tricks, and recommendations – they also teach us that this is where a level of independence begins and that it’s good to ask for help but also good to start stretching your wings.

When we want to learn to drive, we approach a driving instructor.

Then you decide to start your own business.

Initially, it seems fairly straightforward, particularly if you have a service offering as opposed to manufacturing or selling a product. 

You can start as a sole trader, you know a little about social media, you don’t have an immediate cash requirement and you can start it part-time and ‘see how it goes.’ 

You tell yourself that it can’t be that difficult.  Surely you can do this alone – you are an intelligent human being?

My question to you is why on earth would you embark on something this important without taking professional advice? 

This is something that potentially affects you and your family for both the short and long term. 

The success of this business can influence how financially comfortable you are for the rest of your life.  It can affect whether you can take family holidays, whether you can support children whilst enjoying a lifestyle that you flourish in, whether you can achieve personal goals such as working for not-for-profit organisations, and last but definitely not least when you can retire. 

Unsurprisingly, I’d highly recommend engaging the support of a business coach/mentor to ensure that you have a plan in place rather than ‘see how it goes.’

What do you aim to achieve from this business – financially, ethically, and morally?

Do you want to work alone or would it be beneficial to partner with someone?

How will you legally structure the business?

How much time can you devote to it on a weekly basis and how quickly will the business move forward on this basis?

How long can you remain financially stable with no income return from this enterprise?

What financial records do you need to keep?

What returns do you need to make to HMRC?

How will you market your business?

There are lots of questions to be answered, and it’s very much worth the investment of setting yourself up well and responsibly from the start. 

You also give your business a better chance of not only surviving but of growing quicker and reducing your stress levels. Undoubtedly you will have financial challenges and you may struggle to justify spending on a business coach.  This is where you need to find a business coach who is both inventive and flexible.

The level of coaching at this stage is less onerous than you may be led to believe. 

Find a business coach who will work flexibly with you as and when you need them.

Find yourself a coach that you feel comfortable with and who comes with good recommendations and a track record within growing businesses.

Do not become tied up in a contract of a meeting for 2 hours every fortnight if that doesn’t work for you. 

My recommendation is to make an initial investment of a good 2-3 hours to set the foundations

Use your business coach as effectively as possible.  Ensure that they set you some clear actions and clear goals prior to the two of you meeting again. 

Ensure that you outsource areas that are outside of either your skillset or comfort zone and focus yourself on your areas of strength.

Meet with your business coach say once a month for 1-2 hours if that works for you.  Give yourself time to progress your
actions but not too long to allow you to procrastinate.

If you know someone that can help with your social media for example, for an exchange of services or as a friend – go for it – but don’t listen to all and sundry who are offering an opinion rather than factually based knowledge! 

Your business is only just starting.  Trust that you will make some mistakes but that you will learn from them.

As your business grows, I am afraid to say that you will be met with more challenging decisions and the implications of an incorrect decisions grow in size:

• What are the legal and financial implications of employing someone?
• How do you know when the time is right to commit to having a full-time employee?
• What does your pipeline need to look like?
• What is the risk of taking someone on too early?
• Should you add another service offering?
• Should you be staying within your niche area?
• Do you trade solely within the UK?
• Do you hire costly equipment or purchase it? What are the long term financial implications of this and can the cashflow of the business support this?
• What do you need to do / supply in order to acquire funding?
• What are the options for raising funds?

These are just a few of the scary questions that you may encounter along the way.

According to a survey conducted by the International Coach Federation (ICF), executives and entrepreneurs who use a business coach can increase their net income by an average of 46 percent; however, further statistics reveals that 42 percent of organizations don't use a business coach.

Some of the statistics on business coaching they gathered are:

• 70% accepted business coaching is "very valuable."
• 50% admit to their coach as much as their best friend, spouse or therapist
• 12% confide in their coach more than anyone else.
• 62.4% developed a more intelligent goal-setting
• 57.1% lowered their feelings of anxiety
• 52.4% built more self-confidence
• 43.3% saw improvement in personal satisfaction
• 25.7% generated more salary

What value do you replace on lowered anxiety and increased self-confidence?

As ever, if you wish to discuss anything further just give me a call on 07867 418568 or get in touch via my website.

All the best

Angela

www.chrysalis-coaching.co.uk

07867 418568