Small business coaching is hot. A few years ago the only coaches anyone talked about were sports coaches. But today, PriceWaterhouseCoopers estimates that there are 30,000 business and life coaches worldwide.
Thousands of small business owners and managers turn to coaches every day to improve their personal skills and business results. You can, too. But first you have to determine if you’re ready for coaching. Then you have to select the right coach.Are you Ready?
Rosa started her business out of her home. She made money, but not as much as she felt she should. She was frustrated that she couldn’t find time for her family. That’s when a friend suggested that a small business coach would help.
That’s a typical situation. Most small businesses owners don’t start out using a coach. They usually come to coaching when they’ve had some success and when they know they could have more. They usually come to coaching when they’re ready to listen and when they need a little knowledge and a little nudge to do the right things.
The best coaching in the world won’t help you if you’re not ready to be helped. So before you go hunting for a good small business coach, answer the following questions.
Are you ready to listen to the things you need to hear? A good coach will ask you about things you haven’t thought of and push you to think outside the box. That’s often scary.
A good coach may also tell you to change the way you do some things. That’s hard for many small business owners because it means admitting that you’ve made some bad decisions and choices.
Are you ready to take a hard look at your business? Even the best coach can’t help you if your business can’t deliver quality to enough people at the right price. Sometimes a business simply can’t succeed because the market is too small or too hard to reach.
Are you ready to pay the price? Coaching does not come without a price. You will pay a price in both money and time. You may even realize that you need to invest in new things for your business.
Coaching is not a magic bean. You have to work at success every day. I tell my clients that “success is based on persistency and consistency, not magic.”
You’re ready for coaching if you see coaching as an investment in yourself and your success. Your next challenge is to find the right coach for you.Choosing the Coach for You
Great coaches, like great chefs and great football players, are rare. And, sometimes, even a great coach is not the right coach for you. Here are some ways to evaluate coaches.
Look for a coach who’s run a small business. Before I started coaching I built two successful small businesses. I’ve really “been there and done that” so I know what my clients are going through.
I also use coaches myself. The ones that work best for me have small business experience. Small businesses are different from big businesses and you need a coach who understands the special challenges.
Look for a coach who’s been doing it for a while. My job as a coach is to help you know what to do, but it’s also to help you do what you know. It takes time to learn to coach well.
Look for a coach who won’t nickel and dime you to death. It seems to me that there are two kinds of coaches when it comes to billing. There are coaches who charge you by the minute, hour or session. And there are coaches who are always accessible or available for short conversations between sessions, if needed without piling on extra charges. I find the latter works better for my clients.
Look for a coach that you’re comfortable with. Successful outcomes demand a productive relationship between you and your coach. It won’t work if you feel talked down to or belittled or if you feel like your coach doesn’t care about you. If you feel any of those things, look for a different coach.
Look for a coach who’s picky. The best coaches are selective about the kind of clients they work with. We expect a lot of our clients and we limit the number of clients we work with so we can concentrate on helping each one succeed.
After some soul searching and some research Rosa started working with a small business coach. It wasn’t always easy, but together they found ways to help Rosa’s business grow and help her reap the benefits of success. They took her business and life to a whole new level.
It can happen for you, too. If you’re ready, if you’re willing to embrace change and if you’re willing to pay the price, a small business coach can help you become an amazing success story. Wordpress Autoblogging Plugin

Start a small business today and US Small Business Administration (SBA) statistics say that the odds are your business will fail before four years have passed. Thousands more limp along not making much money and dumping stress on the owner.

Why does that happen? Tom and his business are a good example.

Tom liked being a carpenter and he figured that he could make more money working for himself. So he started a carpentry business.

Tom didn’t have any problem with the carpentry part of the business. He got along well with people, so that was never a problem. Where Tom got in trouble was with all the things he didn’t know.

According to Hector Barreto, former Administrator of the SBA, that’s where lots of small business owners get in trouble. And there’s a lot to know.

Tom got a lot of it right. He had an accountant and so he got help with tax questions. And he had an attorney to ask about legal issues, but he kept discovering things he needed to know.

“I found there were dozens of things I’d never learned how to do, like write a formal proposal. And there seemed to be a lot to think about to build the business and make payroll. It’s a good thing I like sports, or I might never have found the answer for me.”

Tom was reading about Michael Jordan and came across the fact that Jordan used a personal coach to help improve his performance. Then, just a couple of days later he was watching golf on television.

“I love watching Tiger Woods,” Tom remembers. “He’s probably the best golfer ever, but that day wasn’t one of his good ones. His swing was off and he was pretty far back in the pack.

At the end of the match, an interviewer asked Tiger what he was going to do about his poor play and Tiger said he was going to get together with his coach the next day.” Tom shakes his head. “That’s when it hit me. If great athletes like Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods used a coach to improve their performance, maybe that would work for me and my business.”

Tom was in luck. A decade or so ago, no one knew what a business coach was, but now businesses of all sizes use them to help individuals improve performance.

Business coaching is not exactly the same as sports coaching. I describe it as a co-active relationship between a coach and a client. When I work with a business owner like Tom, both of us need to work at making him successful.

My clients are usually pretty good at whatever it was that convinced them to start their small business. My job is to use my experience starting and developing successful businesses, my training that led to my certification as a coach, and the developed intuition from years of coaching to help them improve results. I help them develop what I call the “persistency and consistency” that will make them successful.

Obviously, my clients want to improve their financial results. But I often help improve other things, too.

Small business owners often feel isolated. At work, they’re either the boss or they work alone. When they get home, their spouse may not want to hear about business problems. That may be why so many businesspeople who use coaches really like the experience.

In 2006, the Ivey Business Journal published a study of what businesspeople liked about coaching that they received. The researcher asked them what the benefits of coaching were. Here’s what the businesspeople said, along with some of my own comments.

- They got continuous one-on-one attention. In my own case my clients are my number one priority. I’m available to them all the time, not just during scheduled sessions.

- Dialogue with the coach helped expand their thinking. I’m not just a coach. I’m an experienced and successful small business owner. I can share my experience and the experience of my other clients.

- The coach helped them increase self-awareness, including knowledge of blind spots. This is following Hector Barreto’s advice to find out what you don’t know. I act as a mirror to show you what you are inside both personally and professionally.

- The coach was an accountability partner. When I work with a client we set goals for what the client will accomplish. Part of what I do is follow up to make sure he or she does what was promised.

- The coach was a source of “just-in-time learning.” Usually, when a client calls me between sessions it’s because they need to know something specific right away. If I can’t answer their question off the top of my head, I can almost always help them find an answer.

Those are the things the study listed, but they missed something important. A good coach is also a motivator. I encourage you to stretch and be more than you are at present. I strive to help you realize the untapped potential that we all have inside.

There’s no way for you to know in advance everything that you need to grow a successful business. But there’s no reason that should hold you back. With a good small business coach, you can be one of those few small businesses that succeed. David Mason is President of Mason Performance Development Inc., a performance coach, marketing strategist, and Business Coach. He is the author of the international best seller, Marketing Your Small Business for Big Profits. Find out more about David and how he can improve your results at http://www.yourbigprofits.com/
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