I’ve been in the business coaching industry for over a decade now, and I can tell you that I’ve seen a huge amount of changes. In fact, all you’ve got to do is go to your local networking event or Google or do a search on LinkedIn or anything like that – in fact, if you do the search on LinkedIn for business coaching, you’ll find there’s over 40,000 in Australia alone. There’s over a million in the world who call themselves business coaches. So it’s starting to get really difficult for someone like yourself who’s just decided, ‘You know what, I’m going to get myself a business coach.’ It’s difficult for you to decide how to pick the right coach for me.
You’ve now landed on this video because you’ve started to do a little bit of research about what is the right way to pick a coach, and I’m going to help you do that today. That’s my goal. In the last decade, the good news is that I am seeing a lot of successful entrepreneurs, a lot of successful people, when you hear them talk about their success, they are saying, ‘thank you,’ to their business coach. They’re attributing their success to the fact that they have been coached toward their goals and getting the results that they’re getting.
Why you really need a business coach:
You’re probably here because you are looking for a coach because you’ve realised that it’s not that you don’t know what to do, no one’s going to say, ‘Hey, it’s not what you don’t know’ surely there’s stuff you’ve still got to learn. There’s no doubt about that. But surely some of the basic fundamentals you know you’re not doing, and you need someone to kick your butt and get that stuff done. So that’s why you need a business coach.
Anyone can call themselves a business coach:
Well it is a minefield out there, and unfortunately, it’s an unregulated industry, and every Tom, Dick or Harry can call themselves a business coach and it seems that that is what’s happening. Now there’s a lot of good coaches out there, but there’s also a lot of bad coaches out there as well. And, like I said, I’ve been in this industry over a decade, and I can tell you that very, very few coaches are more than just an individual working out of a home office or a serviced office. They don’t have any real structure or process behind them. I think it’s really important if you’re going to get into a coaching relationship with a coach, that they have more than just coaching with you, that they’re able to offer training as well. And I think that’s vitally important.
Are you in the right frame of mind?
I think though what’s more about your coach when selecting your coach is making sure you’re in the right head-space up here. A business coach is not a magic pill. They don’t have magic wands, and they’re not going to fix your business in three months. So don’t even ask, ‘What results can I expect in three months?’ because really the three months you’re going to spend together is like foreplay. You’re going to be working to just get to know each other. And by the time the three months is up, you’ll at least have a good idea of how you’ll interact. You’ll definitely have a plan in place and a way to go.
It’s a Marathon:
Business coaching really is a long-term strategy for your business. We’ve had clients who have been with us a year, we have clients who have been with us for seven years. The reality is don’t expect the result fast, expect that it’s going to be a long-term relationship. If you walk into your coaching business relationship with that expectation, then you’re not going to get disappointed in two weeks, three weeks, four weeks when it’s not paying for itself. It’s very, very frustrating sometimes, and I liken it to an Olympic athlete… The Olympic athlete, you see them, they run the race, they get the gold medal. I can tell you it wasn’t three months of training and preparation. It was years and years and years and years. Yet people think they can get a business coach and within three months make their business a success. It doesn’t work that way.
It’s not about personality
Now when making sure you get the right coach, I think the main piece of advice I can give you is, it’s not about personality. You don’t have to be friendly with each other. You don’t even have to like each other, really. I guess that’s a bit harsh, you do have to like each other, but not in a friendly way, right? If you want friends, go to the pub and shout ‘schooners.’ You’ll get plenty of friends. A business coach is there to hold you accountable. It’s like an unreasonable buddy. You want somebody who you can confide in. You want somebody you can trust with what’s going on, that you can talk to no matter what. You want a coach to be somebody that you know is going to be honest with you. It’s no good having someone that is lying to you to keep you happy.
You want a business coach that is tough.
If you’re in the first stages of selecting a business coach, and they’re bending over backwards being too nice trying to say ‘yes’ to everything that you ask, then it’s not what you want. Although that’s typically how people like to be sold to or think they like to be sold to. If your coach is not being honest with you even before you start paying them, forget it. They’re going to be so worried about whether or not you’re going to pay them. They’re not going to be honest with you. You need someone that’s going to be brutally honest with you from the get go. Put all your pride away and get over that stuff. Be honest with each other and get on with it.
Now pick a great business coach
Hopefully that’s helped you. It’s great news that you’re looking for a business coach. I think it’s fantastic news. I hope you find the coach that’s right for you. Now having said that, if you’d like to see what my team can do for you, I’ve got a team business coaches and we offer a complimentary 90 minute business coaching session to help you see if you are at the right stage to take something like this on.
You can also learn about all of our programs here.
About the Author
Ben Fewtrell is a sought-after Business Coach, Keynote Speaker and trainer who has featured in Virgin’s Inflight Magazine and Entertainment Portal, SKY Business and “Secrets of Top Business Builders Exposed”. He is also the host of the popular Business Brain Food Podcast where he interviews leading experts on anything and everything business.