By Michael Deane, Marketing Blogger, on behalf of Pedddle
It may seem that finding the right Business Coach for you should not be that difficult. In reality, it is. The main reason is that no two businesses and business owners are alike, each with their own unique stories and realities.
Whilst the following tips are not a 100% guarantee you will find the perfect Business Coach straight away, they will help steer you in the right direction.
Here are 6 top tips for finding the right Business Coach
1) Understand your business needs
The mere fact that you are reading this article means that you have probably at least wondered if you should consider hiring a business coach. You most likely already have a feeling that you have plateaued as a business owner or that you have reached an obstacle that requires a bit of help to clear.
Understanding why you need a Business Coach is the crucial first step as it will inform all your other decisions, and then you can focus on finding the right business coach for you.
Maybe you need someone’s industry experience? Perhaps you are looking for someone to help you give structure to your growing business? Maybe you wish to bounce ideas off of someone more objective?
Make sure you are clear on why you are entering this relationship.
2) Look for specific Business Coach experience
A business coach’s past experience is the most important factor that should guide your decision.
For example, a spectacular business coach with decades-long experience in the hospitality industry is probably not the best choice if you are running a cutting-edge tech startup and are having trouble scaling up your embedded software development efforts without losing on quality, or finding a tech wizard may not necessarily help with selling your art.
On the other hand, a business coach who used to manage Microsoft’s dev teams may not be the best choice if you’re just returning to work after a career break.
Specific business coaching experience is crucial because it enables everything else to flow from there. Or, in a bad scenario, precludes it.
3) Ask around
Personal recommendations by people you know and trust will always trump random people’s online reviews. Check out this article on ‘the plague of fake coaches’ so see what you need to avoid. By now, you probably have a network of business acquaintances you trust or at least respect in these kinds of matters.
Talk to them. Even if you are not sure they have had experiences with business coaches, perhaps they did and most of them will gladly share those experiences, and point you in the right direction.
This is a great way to find out more about specific business coaches because you will hear about the little things that might make or break your future relationship.
4) Read their stuff
One of the best ways to learn about a business coach is to read and/or listen to their stuff. You will have to look hard for a coach who has not at least written a blog post here or there and this is the perfect opportunity to learn more about their philosophy and the way they approach their coaching.
Often, this will also provide you with insights into their personality, which, incidentally, brings us to the next point…
5) Look for the personal fit
You might think that finding the right business coach should be an exercise in objectivity and detachment. After all, you are not in it to make friends but to find someone who will help you as a business person, right?
Well, not really.
The relationship you will have with your business coach will, among other things, be a personal one. You will be digging deep not just in your business personal, but you as an individual.
If you end up with a coach that is not the right personal fit, you might find this difficult and you might withhold certain opinions or ideas.
As you might expect this is not good.
There are innumerable ways in which you might not exactly click with your coach; perhaps they are too abrasive or not abrasive enough; perhaps they are too hands-on for your liking; perhaps they focus too much on esoteric aspects of running a business… you get the idea.
6) It’s OK to make a mistake
As the previous points illustrate, there is a lot to factor in when finding the right business coach, and it is not unheard of to make a mistake. It happens.
The worst thing you can do when it becomes clear that you have made a mistake is to stick with your chosen business coach for some reason (e.g. not wanting to admit your mistake).
Not only will you get nothing from such a relationship, but you might put your business in jeopardy.
It is possible to find the right business coach for you. Always remember – there is nothing wrong with changing your mind.
Michael has been working in marketing for almost a decade and has worked with a huge range of clients, which has made him knowledgeable on many different subjects. He has recently rediscovered a passion for writing and hopes to make it a daily habit. You can read more of Michael’s work at Qeedle.
At Pedddle, we love to help small businesses and answer all of your small business questions. If you’d like to know more, find out where to go to get all of your small business questions answered in our recent blog: https://pedddle.com/where-can-i-go-to-get-my-small-business-questions-answered/