What does a business coach do?

A business coach helps business owners, like you, start and grow their businesses. They are just like a sports coach – they will assess where you are now, work with you to understand where you want to be and develop a plan for reaching your goals. Then they will work with you to achieve your goals using tools, resources, and their own experience to help you achieve them. If you experience any challenges or problems in your business, your business coach will help you come up with a solution and/or refer you to other professionals who will be able to help you.

A good business coach will also cheer you on and celebrate your successes with you.

How do I know if I need a business coach?

If you need help starting or growing your business, or if you feel stuck in your business, then you probably need a business coach. If you’re feeling stuck, a good exercise to do is to write down all the areas you’re feeling stuck in. If one area, in particular, stands out, then you might need to hire an expert in that area, for example, a marketing coach, or someone to help you with sales. If you can’t pinpoint where you are stuck or if you are stuck in multiple areas, then a business coach is the way to go. A general feeling of stuckness indicates a lack of clarity and purpose and a business coach is the perfect person to help you bust through that.

How long should I work with a business coach?

That is completely up to you. And to some extent up to your coach. You might want to hire a coach for a one-off session to help solve a particular problem, or you might want to work with them on an ongoing basis. Some coaches might have programs and packages of different durations, so you might end up working with them for 3, 6, or 12 months. I know many business owners who work with their coaches on an ongoing basis to make sure their businesses keep evolving and growing as their market does.

Will my coach follow a specific program?

Some coaches do follow a specific program or process in their coaching, especially if they’re affiliated with a particular training program or organisation, or they may have one they developed themselves. Other coaches, like me, are more intuitive and tailor the process to each individual depending on their business needs, their personality, and their skills. Some people love following a blueprint, while others prefer a more free-flowing adaptable process. Ask your potential coach about how they prefer to coach when you first meet with them.

How often will I meet with my coach?

That depends on your coaching program and on your needs. You might meet with your coach weekly, fortnightly or monthly. You might also have access to your coach by phone or email in between your coaching sessions. If you’re not sure, just ask.

Is business coaching expensive?

Business coaches have spent a lot of time learning and working in their businesses. They have gained a lot of expertise and knowledge, both through formal training and on-the-job experience. They are highly trained individuals with an exclusive skill set.

Not everyone can be a coach. Just because someone is good at business, doesn’t mean that they can help others run theirs.

You are paying for this expertise and the fact that you are getting your coach’s attention one-on-one. Some coaches offer group programs and if you want to save some money, this may be a better option for you, but you won’t get the same individualised attention and content as you would in one-on-one coaching.

Business coaches who are just starting out in their own practice may offer lower rates than other more established coaches. They are just as skilled, but might not have the social proof that their more established colleagues do and so might be more affordable in the early days of their practice. You might not see as many testimonials on their websites or Facebook pages, but that doesn’t mean that they are not just as qualified as the others. Look out for these new coaches, they are excellent value for money, but always check what business experience they’ve had.

Can my coach fire me?

Surprisingly, yes. You should always check your coach’s Terms of Service which you will usually find on their website. If you can’t, then ask for them. If you breach the Terms of Service, which will be different for each coach, then the coach has the right to end your relationship. Sometimes you may find that there is a personality clash between you and your coach and that, too, can lead them to end your relationship.

Now that you know more about working with a business coach, hopefully, you will hire one and see for yourself how much help they can be in starting and growing your business.

As a business coach, it’s my job to give my clients a (gentle) kick up the arse on a regular basis to make sure they’re taking action and doing the thing. After all, goals aren’t going to achieve themselves, if all we do is just talk about how awesome things are going to be One Day. Meeting with me once a month, or once a fortnight keeps my clients on the straight and narrow and reminds them that they agreed to do stuff before our next meeting.

But who coaches the coach? Who keeps them accountable?

Well, sadly, most of the time it’s nobody and this coach hasn’t been very good at kicking themselves where the sun don’t shine. When I worked in an Accountability Pod run by Rachel Allan with fellow business owners, I was getting heaps done from meeting to meeting and felt like I was actually getting somewhere, but doing things on my own, just doesn’t cut it for this coach. So this year, I once again joined Rachel in her Accountability Circle and then her Marketing Mastermind. Since then, I’ve been super productive and have really upped my marketing game. If you want some of what’s in Rachel’s brain, I highly recommend her brand new book, Authentic, Dynamic, Savvy: modern marketing for business success.

How not to plan

Even when I drew up a business plan a couple of years ago, which included marketing strategies, I was so pleased with my one-page creation that I rested on my laurels, looked at it from time to time and did nothing. Because the crucial thing, my friend, is actual action. Not plans to act, not an intention to act, but actual action that is diarised in your calendar, tasks assigned to the hour and some kind of accountability tracking.

While I had planned to write one blog post a month, I never sat down to brainstorm blog post topics, let alone put aside time to write them. Instead, I waited for the mood to strike when I “felt like writing”, which was hardly ever. And yet, in my day job, as a digital marketer, I’ve been able to write three blog posts in a day, because I had three blog topics assigned to me and someone who would know whether I’d done them. The writing itself is actually the easiest part.

So what am I going to do differently from now on and what you can do too?

How to get things done

1. First, redo that business plan. If you’d like to use my one-page template, you can get it by filling out the form below and my magic elves will send it to you.

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2.  Ask around your business network to see if anyone is interested in being your accountability buddy and wants to meet regularly so you check in on each other’s progress.

3.  Consider hiring a business coach to keep you accountable.

4.  Use a tool like Trello to keep track of all your projects and tasks. If there are more people in your business than just you, assign each task to the relevant person and give it a due date. Or outsource it! Asana is another great tool for project management, especially for teams.

5.  Create a separate Trello board for Marketing and assign the activities from your Business Plan to the right people. Transfer the information from each card to your calendar as an event, with times and due dates for each.

6.  Create a social media posting calendar. I recently downloaded a free one from Rachel Miller as part of one her programs, but there are loads of free ones around, just Google “social media content calendar” and you will get heaps of free ideas of what to post on social media throughout the year. Adapt it to your business, schedule your posts in Facebook Business Manager maybe once a week or once a month, and then make sure you check in daily to monitor activity.  Do the same for other social media.

7. Join my Accountability Circle – this monthly online check-in will give you access to me plus up to 5 other business owners who also want to get more done. Each person will get 30 minutes in the Hot Seat each month to review their month in business, brainstorm any ideas and challenges and plan their next 30 days in the context of their overall business plan. You will learn new tools and strategies for problem-solving, planning and taking action so that you don’t get hijacked by the shiny object syndrome.

Daily Operations

One thing I didn’t include in my Business Plan Template is ongoing activities such as actually creating and delivering your products and services, but that is kind of obvious and should be part of your weekly planning anyway. If you don’t already include these things in your weekly schedule, then you should, so you’re never caught unawares with not enough product in your warehouse or a grumpy client with a missed deadline.

Scheduling projects and tasks in my calendar is a skill I learnt in my public sector days when time was at a  premium, clients were many and it was really hard to keep track of things with simple lists and staff meetings. Using an advanced project management tool with Gantt charts and bar charts may be something you might need to consider for more complex projects. For example, Trello has a Gantt chart add on if you need one. It also integrates with Toggl.com which is a time tracking tool, excellent for figuring out how much time you spend on each task or client.

So far, this year has been super productive for me, except for writing blog posts. As a blogger, that is indeed a curious thing, because I always have so much to say. Making what I have to say relevant to you, a business owner, and your goals is, however, another story. The current political environment here in Australia and overseas leaves me with a lot to say indeed, but whether or not this is the right place to say it, I am not altogether certain.

I hope you are able to implement some of the “getting things done” strategies I included above. If you do, I would love to hear from you in the comments below, or send me an email via the contact page.