Chances are you have heard about business coaching and perhaps you are familiar with the statistics that cite a Return on Investment (ROI) of 570% (Manchester) to 1000% (Triad Performance Technologies). That coaching is the second fastest growing industry because it works is the buzz.
What does this mean for a small to medium business owner? What exactly does a Business Coach do? The text book answer is that the business coach serves as a sounding board and strategy partner for defining specific goals. Sounds good – what does it really mean? Consider the following.
William starts a small business and because he does excellent work it grows. His success becomes his challenge – while William knows how to do the work, running the business is an entirely different type of expertise.
What does the Business Coach do for William?
The Business Coach starts by asking William to explore his goals for the business. The Business coach asks questions about time, energy, and money. William chooses how much time and energy he wants to invest in his business. Then William is asked to determine how much money he needs to make and how much he wants to make from his business. The next step for the Business Coach is to explore with William where his business is at in terms of structure, organization, resources, competition, and opportunities. Over time William works with his Business Coach to explore strategies and possibilities to accomplish the goals William set. Without his Business Coach, William would have continued working at capacity; with his Business Coach William determined what he wanted, set his course, and achieved results.
In the next blog post we will explore Business Coaching for a partnership.
