frequently asked questions
Why Hire a Business COACH?
01
What does a business coach do?
A business coach is a professional mentor who supports, educates and motivates business owners. A business coach will assist and guide the business owner in running a business by helping them clarify the vision of their business and how it fits in with their personal goals. Business coaching is a process used to take a business from where it is now to where the business owner wants it to be.
02
How do I know which coach is right for me?
Determine whether you need advice or to hire someone. A coach isn’t the right fit for every business owner. If you need hands-on help organizing your business finances, for instance, you may need a bookkeeping service or accountant. And take legal questions to an attorney.
Seek out the right expertise. A good coach should be aware of what they don’t know. If they’re not a good fit for your needs — whether that’s expertise in a particular industry or a specialized skill set, like marketing — they might be able to refer you to someone who’s a better fit.
Consider free options. There may be some in your city or region:
- SCORE offers free in-person and virtual mentoring in all 50 states, including Guam, Puerto Rico, and other U.S. territories.
- See if your city has a Small Business Development Center, Veterans Business Outreach Center, or a Women’s Business Center. All are funded by the U.S. Small Business Administration and offer free training and advising for entrepreneurs.
- Do an online search for the city- or state-specific programs. Philadelphia, for example, offers a business coaching program designed for entrepreneurs who want to qualify for particular business loan programs. Business incubators often offer courses or coaching.
Make sure your coach is invested in you. They should take the time to learn about you, your business, and its unique needs, then leverage their experiences and creativity to help you.
“I’m on your team now,” Robinson says of his clients. “Let’s do this together and make this a success.”
03
What a business coach can't do?
A business coach isn’t the same as a consultant, whom you would hire to perform a specific task. A coach or mentor could look over your business plan, for example, but they wouldn’t write it for you.
“If you were to hire me as a consultant, you would expect me to roll up my sleeves and pitch in and work with you to get things done, and you would pay me for that,” Robinson says. Coaches, on the other hand, “try to show you how to do things so that you can do them [yourself].”
Business coaches are also not therapists, Sun woo says. Entrepreneurship can be emotionally and mentally taxing, but it’s important that coaches refer clients to mental health professionals when necessary.
03
What a business coach can do?
Some ways a business coach or mentor might do this include:
- Offering feedback on your ideas and suggesting new ones.
- Giving you templates and other tools that help you make plans.
- Connecting you with resources in your region or your industry.
- Giving you deadlines and holding you accountable to them.
Some business coaches may also offer coursework or group training sessions on particular topics, like sales.
Working with a coach should help you identify opportunities you hadn’t seen before or develop new strategies for pursuing those opportunities, says Sophia Sun woo, who coaches women and nonbinary entrepreneurs through Ascent Strategy, her New York City-based firm.
04
My business needs special knowledge to run. How can someone outside my industry help me?
All businesses have access to an extensive pool of knowledge – whether this is their understanding of customers’ needs and the business environment or the skills and experience of staff.
The way a business gathers, shares and exploits this knowledge can be central to its ability to develop successfully. This doesn’t just apply to huge multinational companies. Knowledge management can benefit everyone from a local newsstand to a manufacturing firm.
05
How and when can I begin?
The first thing that you want to do is set up a free consultation, in today’s world, these can be set up remotely. Talk to one of our consultants, and after that meeting, then there will be a clear picture of the next steps. And the following steps will always come down to whether are you mentally ready, financially, and physically ready for the journey ahead.
- You have a passion for your new venture.
- You’re a true believer in your idea.
- You have a product or service with a good market.
- You know your players.
- You have a plan.
- You have a good brand idea.
- You’re ready to learn — a lot!
- You can face the fear of failure.
Have you been able to answer yes to any of these items? If so, then it is time to begin!