Why Should You Hire a Business Coach
The amount of risk, abundance of potential pitfalls, and varying degrees of personal inexperience create an intimidating landscape for those brave enough to start their own business. Start-up costs are typically substantial, and the prospect of losing money will constantly loom over every business owner, especially in their company’s early stages. Inexperienced business owners, no matter how well prepared, will run into problems and pitfalls for which they have failed to plan appropriately. Suffice it to say, no amount or detailed preparation, market research, or foresight can substitute for business experience.
Hiring a business coach can be immeasurably beneficial to anyone who is in the process of starting their own business, whether its their first or 50th. The involvement of a third party in your business planning and growth phases ensures that all possible obstacles and scenarios will be considered.
Two heads are better than one, as the saying goes, all the more so when one of those heads has extensive experience in business development and consultation. Here are several primary advantages to hiring a business coach:
- Goal Setting — Your business goals, especially when starting up a new company, can be too specific or too vague. A professional assessment of your objectives may help to redefine them in a more realistic way. Some of your goals might require adjustment to include a new approach or additional demographic of potential clients and customers. The goals you set will guide your every move, so a detailed, implementable set of goals is invaluable to your business strategy.
- Strategy — Once you set clearly defined and attainable goals, a realistic strategy must be devised to reach them. A professional business coach is prepared and able to explore all possible avenues and make recommendations on potentially profitable and constructive methods of increasing your company’s stability and growth.
- Growth — When the business has gained a certain degree of stability, a business coach can begin to lay out a variety of recommended growth options. Expanding your business to a new area or demographic can be intimidating, as can adding new products, services, and/or employees. Your business coach’s job is to challenge you to improve continually toward your ultimate goals.
- Marketing — Growth is nearly impossible without carefully planned and implemented marketing strategies. The vast ocean of marketing opportunities is difficult to navigate without professional assistance. Print ads, TV and radio commercials, directory listings, billboards, Internet, call centers … the list of potential marketing directions you can take with your business is endless. Your business coach will provide insight into the pros and cons of various advertising and marketing methods, as well as social media and networking approaches, which are quickly becoming every business’s primary marketing focus.
- Social Media — Marketing strategies are incomplete without serious attention being paid to social networking options. Local Internet directory listings on such sites as Yelp and Google+ are immeasurably valuable and necessary for the success of most businesses. Facebook business pages, LinkedIn profiles, Twitter accounts, and even Tumblr and Pinterest exhibitions are capable of reaching millions of potential customers and clients. Business coaches are well versed in social media and can even help you to develop a separate social media team dedicated to this one important aspect of your business.
Business coaches typically offer two primary approaches to coaching. They are:
- Curriculum Coaching — The curriculum approach to coaching is more of a one-size-fits-all style. This can be beneficial for those who are on a budget or have no need for individualized, hands-on coaching. Curriculum coaching can be delivered in the form of videos, lectures, books, etc.
- Situational Coaching — The situational approach provides a more on-on-one coaching experience. Your company’s specific needs and goals are analyzed and an individualized strategy or series of implementable stages are devised accordingly. Having a third party present at all of your company’s business development stages can provide much-needed insight which may otherwise have remained unconsidered or prematurely rejected.
The highly competitive nature of business, especially among startup companies, is too great to not take advantage of every possible asset available to you. Hiring a professional, experienced business coach can mean the difference between success and failure. Business coaches will help you to set realistic goals, devise strategies, market your business across all media, including social networks, and plan growth strategies for the future. Consider hiring a business coach, whether you’re in the initial phases of business development or planning on expanding your already-successful business into new markets.
