Whether you are a sole proprietor, a partnership, or a family business, you probably didn’t start out with expertise on every aspect of running your business. You learned the ropes over time. Now that your business is successful, it may be time to scale up. But what’s the smartest way to handle that, especially if timing is important? It turns out hiring a business coach may hold the key.
Aspects of Hiring a Business Coach
Faced with the term “business coaching,” the most sophisticated business owner is apt to raise eyebrows. Since you may be encountering the notion for the first time, following are aspects of how helpful business coaching can be.
- Regardless of the size and type of business you own and the phase that your business is in, the right coach is one who has been there and done that. So look for a coach who has the scars and learned the lessons.
- It’s more important for the coach to understand the business fundamentals—the financials and strategic planning in particular—than it is for the coach to understand your product or service in detail. After all, you are the product or service expert. The business coach, on the other hand, may be able to offer suggestions, books, examples, and other tools to shore up your business’s efficiencies, financial planning, cash management, and growth planning.
- Focusing on the present—attention to customers—is different from focusing on the future—how to scale up successfully. Having an experienced set of eyes on the details as your business grows will help ensure that nothing falls through the cracks.
- If you are a sole proprietor, you make large and small decisions daily. Haven’t there been moments in which you thought, I’d really like to bounce this off someone who knows before I decide?
- If you are in a partnership or family-owned and operated business, the business coach can be the one to ask the uncomfortable question or point out the awkward inefficiency. The coach also might be the one to pave the way for improved—or more frequent—communication among stakeholders.
Those are a just a few of the forms coaching can take in a business setting. What’s important is that the business coaching is tailored to your specific needs, and that the coach and you establish a comfortable rhythm of exchange during sessions.
But does it work?
According to the International Coach Federation, coaching can improve business performance by 61 percent and work performance by 70 percent, leading to better decision-making, goal attainment, and satisfaction. Whether your business is at a critical turning point or whether it simply is time to scale up, consulting with a business coach may help ensure the most efficient and successful transition to the next phase of your business.
Remember, running a business successfully does not need to be complicated. Keep it simple!
For more interesting topics to help you successfully manage the challenges of growing your business profitably, please search our blog at our website www.portalcfo.com.
Manny Skevofilax is a consultant and speaker that helps his clients successfully navigate the challenges of growing their businesses profitably. Since 2003, Manny helps businesses enhance their results by using his experience in strategic planning, financial statement analysis, operations, organizational development, and team-building. His consulting firm, PORTAL CFO Consulting, Inc., has attracted clients from diverse industries in the United States and abroad.
Manny can be reached at 410-808-3441 or via email at manny@portalcfo.com.