Many business owners are not sure what the difference is between business coaching and mentoring. Both services offer guidance, but there are many differences that will help you determine how to invest your money wisely. In this article, we’ll cover the differences between both services and explain why it’s important to choose one over the other for your company.
1) Business Coaching:
Business coaches focus on getting tangible agreed results. Usually, you will set KPIs and targets, and together you will develop a plan. The coach provides accountability as well as ongoing support throughout the process with regular coaching sessions, events, and tools to help you succeed.
2) Mentoring:
Mentors provide general wisdom about running a business and support you on a more as-needed basis. Mentoring is more about developing your business wisdom and developing you as an entrepreneur rather than providing hands-on advice, usually with no set schedule for regular meetings.
Business Coaching vs Mentoring:
One of the main differences between business coaching and mentoring is that a coach will have you work on specific tasks to achieve predetermined objectives within a specified time frame while a mentor will be there to support you and offer advice based on their past experience.
A mentor has usually always has built their own business and they have experienced the ups and downs that you are likely to be going through.
A coach, on the other hand, may have never built their own business and won’t understand the day-to-day pressures of running a business as well as a mentor does.
Business coaching is best when you’re looking for someone to help guide your progress, especially if you don’t know what direction or steps to take. A business coach will be there to help you develop a plan and reach your business goals.
Mentoring is best when you’re looking for someone to help support you, especially if you have an idea of what direction and steps to take but are not sure how to implement them into a cohesive plan. A mentor will be there with helpful advice on the day-to-day operations of running a business as well as with your own self-development.
In some cases, it may be best to have both.
What do you need? A business coach or a mentor?
Choosing what is right for you can be difficult. Here are a few things to consider…
- What do you know about business coaching vs mentoring?
- What goals are you looking to achieve by using this type of service?
- What is your budget?
- Do you have a plan?
Know that there are pros and cons to both, but they may not be the same for every person.
– A business coach might help you to develop strategies, set goals, and manage your time more effectively. A business coach will charge a set monthly retainer.
– Mentoring can help with professional development by providing new insights based on experience that are often hard to find in books or online resources. It is about being a sounding board for ideas and offering guidance. A mentor may not charge you at all.
In closing
– Mentoring can offer guidance and feedback from a more experienced perspective and may take some of the stress off you to think about how to get from where you are now to where you want to go while business coaching will give you more of a structures plan.
– Coaching might be better for developing strategies, setting goals, and managing your time more effectively.
