Is business coaching more valuable than a business degree or cheap online programmes and courses?
Short answer: Yes
The Problems
Most business owners enter their professional careers not understanding how to start, run and grow a business. And it’s no-ones fault. We were taught, trained and learned to be good at doing what we do, and not the other stuff that goes with the selling and marketing what they do. At times, this makes business owners feel lost, or worse, like a fraud pretending to know what they’re doing.
It’s hard to be successful without a clear understanding of how business works. That’s where an experienced business coach can be crucial for any professional or business owner who wants to take their career to the next level.
I know that running a business is more than just a good idea made profitable – it’s a system of unspoken rules, rarely taught by Business Studies, MBA courses or online programmes. If you are attempting to profitably grow your business or career, you need elite business knowledge – knowledge that creates real tangible value.
Even if you had the time, access, or money to attend any of these business programmes, you would still be missing the practical knowledge that propels the best and brightest forward, along with he accountability to get things done properly and in a timely way.
I realised quite quickly that owning and running my own business was often a very lonely place. And keeping on top of what I needed to do for my customers and clients was difficult enough without the pressure of having to look at what everyone else was doing or at what I could be doing better and smarter. I realised that in the business world, coaching is becoming a necessity not only for your business growth and success, but also for your business to continue to be sustainable and viable. So, I’ve been there. Done that. Got The T-Shirt. Succeeded. Crashed and burned. Got up again. And did what needed to be done to get where I wanted to be. (perhaps they’ll write that on my headstone when I’m gone?!)
The Business Coaching Solution
Back in 2015 I became a full-time, self employed business coach. I’d done 20 years in corporate businesses, working my way up from part-time fruit and veg assistant, to store manager, to trouble shooter, to trouble shooting bank manager, back to retail trouble shooter, to junior director level. I made a lot of people money and a few quid myself. Then I walked away. Started, ran and sold my own business. Throughout those 25 years I developed three talents.
– Diagnose what was wrong and why it was wrong in a business and how to fix it.
– Recognise talent and leadership and how to make it better, which made the business better and gave those individuals opportunities they never thought possible.
– To listen, analyse and implement things from other genuinely successful people and aim to deliver better results than they achieved.
I then studied, watched, learned and implemented the things that business coaching is really about which helping business owners, directors, managers and it’s employees make the most and grow these 6 areas that form every successful business:
6 Characteristics of a Successful Business
- Leadership and Management
- Overheads, Costs, Productivity and Execution
- Sales
- Marketing
- Products and Services
- Cash Flow and Controls
How We Work Together as Client and Coach
I become your silent business partner for anyone who feels lost, overwhelmed or frustrated by the modern business climate, and we implement what the most successful business leaders have known for years through the simple goals, processes and focus that takes businesses to their next level.
As business owners and leaders read more and more of best-selling books, go on webinars, courses, programmes and workshops, they realise that knowledge alone won’t help them build the business of their dreams. Because the reality takes that knowledge, needs clearly defined actions and some honest accountability to get there faster and without wasting resources, time and money in the process.
Not only this, but I can give clients a true picture as to how well their business is doing and then customise my coaching approach and the things we work on, to deliver the best possible results just for you.
In my experience of coaching and talking with hundreds of CEO’s, Directors, entrepreneurs and business owners, is that they find there are three things often missing in most coaching relationships. These are:
- 1. An overall metaphor allowing coaches and clients to share an understanding of how their business works
- 2. A step-by-step, easy to follow process that coaches can take clients through that produces results they can see
- 3. Genuine, tangible results with honest feedback and accountability.
These limitations can make business coaching and any success a frustrating process. So, everything I do is centred around those core missing themes plus one other. You.
Every business, its owner, what it does, how it does it and what it wants to achieve, is unique. So every experience on your success journey is your experience and not a copy and paste version of a product cast in stone.
Below are just some of the next steps you can take to move you forward and help you and your businesses succeed and get the business your hard work deserves.
