It’s that typically awkward moment, when you’re at a social gathering, enjoying a few beers in the sunshine on a Sunday when someone rolls out the convo-starter question, “So Chris, what do you do?”.
The awkwardness only arises when I shoot back my reply, “Oh, I’m a Business Coach” which is generally followed by, “Oh, right…uh, so WHAT is a business coach?”. So to eliminate any more backyard BBQ confusion, I’ll give you an insight now.
A business coach is exactly what the title suggests – a person that acts as a coach for you and your business. Just like you have personal trainers, elite sports coaches and footy coaches, a business coach is a person that is blowing the whistle and cheering you on, in your business.
You see, small business owners are generally really good at delivering their product or service. Whether youre a plumber, you own a clothing store or you sell lipstick, you will be THE BEST person to deliver and sell that product. However, not everyone is good at running a business.
The range of other skills and competencies that you need to master, to run a successful and profitable business can sometimes become overwhelming. To survive in business today you need to become an expert in sales, marketing, planning, strategic vision, efficiency modelling, training and leading teams, financial control and so much more. It’s tough. But there is a solution. And it comes in the form of a small business coach.
An experienced Small Business Coach has the knowledge, expertise and answers to know what-to-do AND what-not-to-do to help move your business along further, and faster.
They have the proven history of “runs on the board” (successful past clients) and in most cases, have the in-depth knowledge on how to achieve all the business goals you wish to conquer.
Think of it this way…
Picture your business like a car. You have done all the hard work to put it together and get it moving, but find it difficult to travel at speed, because you have to keep maintaining it, putting in fuel, looking after the passengers, replacing tyres etc.
Enter the specialist mechanic (the small business coach – for your car). The specialist mechanic has worked on many types of cars before and knows the road ahead of them, in many different scenarios. What he does is observe the car in motion, completes an assessment, and then starts working with the car’s owner (YOU) to start fine-tuning or adjusting the way the car operates.
He might have to help change the fuel, educate the owner (YOU) about how to drive differently, put on more suitable tyres, consult with the passengers and change the road you are driving on, all in an effort to help you to travel to your desired destination.
Basically, he’s “been there and done that” before. And it works the same way in your business.
Once you start working with a small business coach, in much the same way as the mechanic scenario, he or she will help shift the gears in your business and get you to your business goals much faster.
The business coaching programs that we use at UpCoach are designed in a similar fashion.
We start off with the business coach meeting the business owner and running a comprehensive strategy session where they are able to gain a full understanding of where the challenges lie in the business and together create some clear outcomes. From there the business owner and the coach start working step by step to overcome those challenges by following the proven steps in the program.
Whether its a perspective shift for the business owners mindset, mapping out a marketing strategy, working with the business owner to improve their sales conversions or teaching them about the effects of expenses on a profit & loss statement, the coach provides the personal training, education, expertise and accountability for the business owner to learn and understand how to run their business more effectively. In essence, “coaching” them so they gain the essential skills and expertise so they can run the business by themselves.
So in the same way as the specialist mechanic having an in-depth understanding of how the car works and how to optimise its performance, a small business coach does the same for your business. They have an in-depth knowledge of how to shape and transform a business so that it can operate profitably and at its peak level, AND they educate the business owner along the way.
It’s also important to note that business coaching doesn’t only happen in small businesses, BIG businesses use them too. You are probably familiar with companies such as Google, Apple and Intel? Well, they too use business coaches to help them stimulate and achieve greater growth and performance. And don’t think for a second that some of the biggest companies on the planet managed to get there by themselves. Their successes would have been attributed to some of the specialist help they received throughout their business journey, from most likely…..a business coach.
If you wanted to wrap it all up in one sweet bundle, a business coach’s responsibility is to get the best out of the business owner, so they can get the best out of their business. It’s the coaching and mentoring that helps to educate and elevate the business owner, so that they can transform their business and reach their business goals.
In terms of growing your business, you will only get as far as you can, based on what you know. Recruiting the help of an experienced small business coach will not only provide you with the right advice and strategy to growing your business, but they also provide invaluable insight, guidance and accountability to grow you as an entrepreneur and achieve your business dreams.
If you are looking to grow your business and would like to have a no-obligation conversation with an experienced business coach, then simply reach out to us by emailing us at ask@upcoach.com.au.
