Selecting the Right Business Coach

By Alexi Boyd |

Small Biz Matters – a half hour program each week where you can work ON your business rather than IN it.
Small Business Bookkeeping Tips
with Alexi Boyd from Boyd Office Management Services
Date: September 2014

We’re very excited to be welcoming this week a professional who is extremely experienced: Cheryl Alderman, Business Coach and Director of Be Ultimate. She’s kindly joined us to help small businesses with Selecting the Right Business Coach, something which Cheryl, being a very experienced business coach herself, is of course an expert!

Welcome Cheryl and thanks for being on the show! Can you first tell us a little about yourself and your background in business?

Firstly, let’s just make it clear how we are approaching this segment. We’ve broken it into three parts: The first is why businesses should consider engaging with a Business Coach, the next What are the top 7 mistakes businesses make, and lastly the different types of business coaches and how to choose the right one.

 

Part 1 – Why is a Business Coach beneficial to small businesses?

  • Many small businesses are passionate and driven but lack the business acumen & experience. The essentials skills which include marketing, strategy, business development etc
  • They have an emotional attitude towards their business and need to have a getting back on track attitude when their business is growing fast and they’re losing control of finances, client relationships and their long term vision.
  • Small businesses who have an easier time at those aspects sometimes tend to be those with corporate or business experience. The corporate mindset has prepared them for planning, strategy and goal-setting and possibly financial awareness around controlling their budgets and they can therefore apply that mindset to their businesses.
  • A good business coach with a corporate/business background of their own fills in those gaps and can also educate the business owner – you are essentially outsourcing those skills and finding direction.
  • A good business coach will assess your situation professionally. Often it takes an outsider to see where you’re succeeding and where you’re floundering. It is usually those good coaches which suggest where you should outsource but also reassure you as to where you are achieving good things.
  • As an outsider looking in, businesses coaches can also assess how you are perceived by others and that can include the digital platform as well as professionally

 

Part 2 – What are the top 7 mistakes small businesses make?

  1. Super Hero Syndrome – wearing every hat
  2. Undercharging – undercharging = undervalued by your clients
  3. Inappropriate advice – taking the wrong advice from the wrong professionals
  4. Confusing business with personal
  5. Invisibility
  6. Drifting without direction
  7. Every client is my client

 

Part 3 – The different types of business coaches and how to choose the right one ?

  • What are your strengths as s business coach, Cheryl?

 Can you explain the benefits of having a Business Coach with NLP, Behavioural Profiling and Mindset training as a business coach, as opposed to a business coach with only a financial background?

  • I think its fair to say a good business coach should have some business experience, for the reasons we outlined earlier.
  • What is the difference between a coach and a mentor?
  • Good questions to ask when engaging with a Business Coach
    • Do you, or have you run your own business/es?
    • Do you conduct group trainings/presentations, and if so, what are your audience groups?
    • Do you have your own mentor/coach?
    • Can I contact any of your existing clients or previous clients for referrals?
  • By the way listeners, did you know only 10% of coaches succeed themselves as a fulltime business long term. ?
  • When is the best time to start seeing a business coach?
    • Obviously the best time is when you’re starting, but the reality for most start ups is you don’t have the finances to be able to afford a business coach. BUT you can engage with mentors.
    •  
    • Often businesses engage with a coach when they’re starting to lose control – cash flow is an issue, they are behind with their BAS or tax obligations, they’re having issues with staff, they have so many clients they don’t have time to work ON their business and spend all their time working IN it.
    • The businesses who tend to engage with a business at the right time are often professionals who are using their redundancy payouts to fund a small business idea.
  • A good business coach may also reject you!
    • They may reject you as a client, or suggest you action certain points before they’re willing to take you on
    • You have to be ready to instigate their advice
    • You have to WANT to learn
    • You have to understand the importance of working ON your business and not just IN it
    • They will help you look at your business from an overall perspective; you still have to run it yourself….

As always, if you’ve only just tuned in you can listen again or in touch via the Breakfast Boys Facebook page or my website – Boyd Office Management Services or with any questions, email me at alexi@boydofficemanagement.com.au