What is a Business Coach?
Author: Rupert Turton
A Consultant comes in and does the work for you! I did it for years, leading a team of the companies, employees and outside staff to achieve an objective. The problem is that the management team don’t learn the skills to do it themselves.
For longer term growth in an organisation a Mentor is probably a better option. Someone who has typically done a similar role for another company, and then works with the business owner to give him the benefit of his experience to reach the objective as efficiently as possible.
However, most Business Owners know their business, their trade and their industry. What they need is to develop themselves to achieve the next level. This is what a Coach helps with!
Coaches help you perform far better than you will achieve on your own
Jamie Vardy was a very talented player when he joined the Sheffield Wednesday development squad, but it is the work he does with the Coaches (yes, more than one!) that make him the great player he is at Leicester City Football Club.
Brendan Rodgers does not spend millions on world class coaches like Kolo Toure and Chris Davies without seeing a significant return on the investment. He needs them to ensure his great player are always at their best and so Leicester City performs.
I know what you are thinking “I’m doing OK, I’ve been in business for 20 years” but ask yourself where could you be? What opportunities have you missed or could not take advantage of? Where would you be if you had a Coach?
I remember watching an interview with England Rugby’s Eddie Jones where he was talking about his half time team talk. I was expecting it to be on similar lines to Alex Fergusons famous hair dryer but no! Eddie made a particularly good point, the England players come motivated and wanting to do their absolute best, what he must do is work with them to understand what they need to do better!
A Coach allows you to be the best you can be!
So, what do I do as a Business Coach? In short, I work with the Business Owner so you can become the best you can be.
As a Business Owner you understand your company, industry, and customers. My job is to get you to question what you are doing and look for areas you could do better. Inevitably this will involve a bit of mentoring to provide you with tools and techniques that you have not used before, but primarily to hold you accountable and someone to discuss the business with.
A Business Coach works with you to identify where your business is weak and then improve it. This is not a random conversation, but a proven System designed to address every area of your business, which ActionCOACH call the 6-Steps.
Every Business Owner needs a Business Coach?
We all could perform better than we are, however, it does depend where we start as to what level of coaching we require.
If you are you a start-up you will probably need more practical help around the
business basics, such as getting financial and delivery control in place and help with marketing and sales.
For a more established business, you may have reached a plateau where you are not sure what you need to do next, in which case coaching will be more about working with you to re-define the direction of the business. Where are your next growth opportunities, reviewing the systems and process to make you more efficient and how to get the most out of your team though leadership and development. Complete a full diagnostic to identify the areas for improvement.
Alternatively, you may be ready to leave the business either looking to retire and sell up or set up to provide you with a passive income during retirement. In which case coaching would be more focussed on working out how you structure the business to function without you and get the best sale price.
The reality is that Coaching at any level will require looking at all areas of your business, but the emphasis will vary.
And yes, I do have a coach! Two in fact!
Let’s have a chat…….
If you’d like to understand more about how Business Coaching can help you and your business please get in contact at rupertturton@actioncoach.com or call me on 01572 497 030.
Alternatively have a look around our website to get a better idea of what we do!
