Things you need to know before hiring a business coach!

In this article I will try to answer all your questions about hiring a business coach:

Who needs one and how coaching differs from other forms of business support like mentoring, consulting and training.

You’ll also find tips for entrepreneurs who are on the lookout for finding the right business coach for their specific needs. 

In one of my previous blogs I wrote about taking advice for your online business. This blog started a conversation. I noticed how difficult it is to choose the right support when you are bombarded with information from every corner.

This article aims to help you find the right level of support for you and your business.

The difference between business coaching ,mentoring and consulting

Although terms like coach, trainer consultant and mentor are often used interchangeably,they are actually very different. 

A business mentor is someone who has achieved a certain level of success in their business which you aspire to.

They can show you how they created their version of success and what steps they took to get there.

They will give you advice and share their knowledge and experience with you.

A mentor often has a directive style of giving advice.They tell you what to do and share their opinion and advice. 

A mentor tells you what to do, A coach helps you find it out for yourself

The idea of someone taking you along a proven and tested process can sound exciting! It looks like the ultimate recipe for success.

But it does not always work out in this way.

Also your mentor’s version of success may not necessarily be right for you.

There is no guarantee in the world of business

Some mentors explain this in their disclaimer ,and some prefer to make this less clear by promising guaranteed 6 figure and 7 figure business results.

The best way to find out if their method works for you or not is to learn about the strategies they teach before signing up with them.

Then try to visualise if those strategies align with your core values and lifestyle.

For example I don’t like cold messaging. Any marketing method that includes randomly cold messaging people is a no go for me and I won’t care if it has made some people millions.

So if that is a method that a mentor is teaching, I probably won’t consider working with them.

The only person who can create these results is you!

Do not invest in a business coaching program just because the provider says they guarantee results: They might be great coaches with great results, but your results ultimately depend on your product or service and how it’s perceived by your customers.

There is no guarantee a method that has worked for thousands of entrepreneurs, or methods that has made your mentor successful works for you. Everyone has their own unique life context.

What to expect from a business mentor

You need to keep an open mind and be flexible to adjust the mentor’s solution to your specific lifestyle and goals.

It’s useful to see if your life and business context has similarities with that of your mentors.

If you have an e-commerce business and your business mentor’s background is only in service business, then you need to be aware that some of their methods and strategies may not work for your context. 

Professional business mentors often clearly mention who they can help most, and in what capacity.

They also clearly mention who can not benefit from their program.

For example when I launched my first live online program,I joined a group mentoring program run by Sigrun.

I was a big fan of her authentic style and her vision.I have been following her for a few years.I would have loved to work with her much earlier, when I was running my online store and fashion brand.

But she was always very clear that her program is not designed for entrepreneurs who run product based businesses. She specifically teaches the process of creating and launching a course or educational group program.

When I finally had a service to sell(business coaching, mentoring and my courses) I could not wait to join her program and I am so glad I did.

What does a business consultant do? 

This relationship is very much like business mentoring, however a consultant often has some form of training or academic background in the area you ask their support for. Business consultants get hired for their expertise in a field and can help you develop strategies and design processes that help your business grow.

The term business consultant is often used in B2B contexts for more matured businesses : A consultancy company offers their solution to another company.

It also refers to business experts with focus on strategic solutions, improvements and business results. 

A consultant can introduce you to tools, models, best practices and tried and tested methods in the industry. For example I offer consultancy services to online store owners in the field of fashion and lifestyle and help them create the right growth strategies.

A Business consultant cares about your business problems, not your soul’s desire

In other words consultants solve business problems while business coaches support humans who run businesses.

But they can’t decide what feels right or aligned with your soul or true desire. They are often not involved with your personal wishes. They come up with a great solution and you have to make it work!

That’s why business consultancy works so well for larger or established businesses.

It’s your job to make sure their solution fits well with the rest of your life and business and that they clearly understand your needs and context. It’s your job to communicate your wishes clearly to them. 

If you don’t exactly know what you really want or what kind of business is right for you I recommend you hire a business coach or even a life coach first.

What does a business coach exactly do?

A business coach does not necessarily have to be an expert in the business.

Although I personally prefer to hire someone who also has the experience and knowledge!

Energy and embodiment of what they coach matters!I personally prefer a coach who can also function as a mentor or advisor if I occasionally need knowledge instead of coaching.

A business coach, especially if they have been trained according to the competencies and standards of ICF, International Coaching Federation will help you get more insights from yourselves and see your context from a different perspective. 

They help you :

• See your business from a different angle (let’s call it the bird’s eye view!)
• Identify both bottlenecks and growth potentials and create a way of making your business work for you
• Create a plan that gets to your goals.

Business coaching is not only about business

It’s actually about the person who is running the business as a whole. Because no one else is going to grow that business other than you. And the business will only grow as much you grow.

It’s about you and how you lead yourself and influence others around you.

A coach can help you find potential where you can’t see.

With support of a coach you can develop a growth mindset and come over your unconscious limiting beliefs and fears. 

And the last but not the least, a business coach can help you see new opportunities for your business.

“Coaching is partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximise their personal and professional potential“

–Becoming a Coach: The essential ICF guide by Tracy Sinclair & Jonathan Passmore  

What does a coaching conversation look like?

A coaching conversation is 

• Non-directional:The coach does not tell you what you should or must or could do! But knows how to ask powerful questions and make observations so that you can find those answers for yourself.
• Client focused:The focus is always on what the client wants.However it doesn’t mean the client is not being challenged or they are just having a cheerful conversation 😉 
• A coaching conversation is often thought-provoking.There is work involved in all of that and the client needs to be ready to work to get to WANT!
• Forward thinking:Unlike therapy discussions,coaching is focused on the future: how to move forward, how to get to certain goals and how to create better ways of being and doing things. 

And if you want to experience a coaching conversation and see if that’s something for you have a look here or book a call with me.

Coaching can not replace therapy

Coaching in its common form cannot address deep rooted traumas and mental health issues.The focus of coaching is often  “what works” and the healthy aspects of your mental and physical state.

Coaching is about focusing on future and moving forward using what you have.

Not all business coaches work in the same way: There are so many different niches in business coaching. 

Depending on the background, skills and experience of a coach they might focus more on an expert area. 

Examples of different types of business coaches:

• Business and leadership coach: works with startups, small businesses or corporate CEOs who want to lead themselves, their teams and businesses better and improve their performance
• Career coach: Supports people who want to explore their next career move within the corporate world.
• Business & strategy coach: Helps business owners create long term strategy for their business with clarity and confidence
• Business coach for entrepreneurs:Mostly work with founders and self employed people who run their own businesses
• Business and marketing coach: Has a similar approach to strategy coaching with more attention to marketing strategies and tactics
• Ecommerce coach(often blended with mentoring and training): Focuses on online product based business, digital marketing & e-commerce growth 
• Time management and productivity coach: Some coaches bring these topics to leadership coaching, some prefer to dedicate more focus on these topics for stressed out- burnt out entrepreneurs, employees or anyone who struggles with lack of focus and distraction.
• Life and business coach,Purpose and vision coach: Often addressed by life coaches , wellness or holistic coaches. Intended for clients who have no clarity over their life purpose and cannot decide how to move forward
• Business and mindset coach: Intended for business owners who believe their way of thinking, fears and mindset blocks keep them stuck
• Spiritual business coach: Brings spiritual practices and laws of universe into coaching. Suitable for clients who believe in these rules.
• Executive coaching : Intended for high level managers and executives in larger organisations 

Coaching is about transformation

What all these coaches have in common is that they all intend to guide you through a transformational process. They help you see potentials you have never seen, question your patterns, habits and unconscious ways of doing things.

They help you see yourself from a different angle. And they can only help you if you want all of these to happen. 

It’s up to you to choose a coach with expertise that resonates with you personally.

What  is your true desire and what excites you most?

Is spirituality something that can trigger a massive shift in you? Then maybe choose a coach that is focused on spirituality.

Or do you believe in the power of mind and want to start working on your thinking?

Or maybe like me you are excited about strategy, purpose and the big picture in a scientific evidence based way?

Can other experts do the job of a business coach for you?

Short answer is NO! 

When you hire experts in social media management, branding or other areas they might also give you tips and advice about other areas of business.They have worked with other business owners and have an idea of what has worked or not worked for others. It’s down to you, your intuition, experience and knowledge to judge if these tips are right fit for you or not.

A business coach,mentor or consultant does not give you tips and suggestions : they either guide you through the process of finding the right solution or show you a solution that is likely to work in your situation.They don’t give you random advice.

A business coach can help you think clearly and come up with vision, purpose and strategic goals broken into shorter term action plans. 

They help you understand your needs, strengths and bottlenecks. 

Experts can only help you with their specific area of work, but may not be able to have a holistic view on you and your business.

Once you have a clear picture of what’s going on for you,and what needs to be done for your business, you can decide what kind of experts to hire or what kinds of systems to invest in. 

Humans are often rather emotional than logical

What I hear from clients often goes like this:

Their entrepreneurial journey start with excitement: launch the website first and before even knowing where the business is going.Then they pay large sums of money to an ad agency who can help them run Facebook and Google ads.

They pay for web design thinking a beautiful page will bring all the customers.

The entrepreneur of the story then invest in social media managers with the hope of growing their audience on Instagram.They assume the expert can do some kind of magic and replicate the results they created for their other(successful)clients. 

All of these happens while the business is missing foundations.

The product is not fully tested.It’s not even clear if there is a market for it, and it’s not clear who exactly the customer is and how to reach them.

Without business foundations your can’t grow sustainably

After a few months of try and error when the money is almost finished and the desired results are not happening, fear kicks in! 

The entrepreneur of the story feels stuck and suddenly sees the need for having clarity and a practical long term strategy. Then they start looking for a business coach, advisor or mentor.

It’s important to hire experts for our business but it’s not right to expect them to create magic and resolve all your problems.

An expert knows their job but they are reliant on you to use their support properly.

If you don’t know what direction should the business go or what strategic topics to priorities, then your virtual assistance( VA) or your social media manager or ad manager won’t know that either.

It’s also up to you how to judge their advice outside their scope of service.

Never underestimate the business basics

No amount of expert talent in social media, digital marketing and web design can help you if your deep routed issues are not addressed and your business is not created on solid foundations (tested product, understanding the customer and a clear strategy). 

When it comes to hiring support make sure you clearly understand their role, know how to measure their results and are able to explain your vision clearly to them. Don’t expect them to figure everything out themselves. 

Also make sure you are not hiring them because of pressure, fear of missing out and shiny object temptations!

How to find the best business coach?

Spoiler alert: there is no such thing as the best business coach! 

Having a celebrity status ( which often indicates they are great at doing what they do) does not always mean they are right for you.

But there are coaches that are right for you and fit well with your context. All that matters is that they can help you with what you really need and you feel safe to receive their help.

If you don’t like and trust your business coach, you probably won’t be able to get ideal results from that relationship. Even if that coach is popular,has helped others create great results.

Rapport and trust is the basis for a coaching relationship.So the first question to ask yourself is: 

Do I like them? 

Can I trust them?

Also you might want to read this article : Client questions: How to get the best return on investment from business coaching services

Where I am based (Switzerland) personal relationships and referrals play an important role in choosing the right expert, mentor, coach or partner for our businesses. 

I have often hired people who were referred to me by someone.

Many of my clients work with me because someone who knew about my work recommended me to them.

Go local think global! Even when you hire a coach

I have worked with a range of wonderful clients from Switzerland,Canada,UK and different countries across Europe online. But for practical reasons it is much easier to work with clients who share the same time zone with me!

Do you prefer to work with someone based in your country or are you open to coaches from other regions?

By working with a coach you are often joining their tribe and network: that is why it’s helpful to have some similarities with their audience.

If building local relationships and accessing detailed knowledge about the local market matters to you ,and you prefer to work with someone who can also answer your questions about regional topics, you might want to consider working with someone locally.

This is not a must though!

Ask for recommendations from your network

So start with your network, ask other fellow business owners : Have they been able to transform themselves and their businesses through working with a coach or mentor? 

Ask them about their experience.

How does a coach’s previous experience and educational background relate to your context? Have they worked with other clients before and are there any testimonials on their website?

Can you track those testimonials to real people?

Do you identify as their audience?

Some coaches specifically work with executives and leaders in the corporate world, some (like me!) work with entrepreneurs with smaller businesses. 

There are also coaches who work with people who don’t have a business idea and want to make a career change but are not sure about their next step. 

Which group do you belong to?

Check their core values

Do you share the same values with your chosen business coach?

Or you are not so sure if you feel comfortable with their vibe? 

How about their audience and existing clientele ? Would you feel comfortable to be part of that tribe? Do you share the same values

Are they certified or accredited by a credible organisation such as ICF?

Does this matter to you? Coaches that are members of ICF (like myself!) need to go through 125 hours of training via an accredited coaching school, 10 hours of mentoring and at least 100 hours of coaching after the start of their official training. 

Consider a certified business coach

This rigorous process is in place to make sure certified coaches fully integrate the highest standards in the coaching industry.

Maximize Your Success: 2 Reasons to Work with a Certified Business Coach

Coaches who are certified by ICF often follow a specific method of coaching that is non-directive, collaborative and client centered. They have learned how to ask powerful questions and make observations to find opportunities and blindsides in clients. 

They are also obliged to follow ethical practices such as confidentiality agreements and client’s data security.They have to be committed to invest in their education and development as a coach. 

Coaching is perfect for people who want to get to know themselves better. But coaching (as biased as I am about it!) is not the solution to all problems. 

Would you go to a doctor who doesn’t have a proper degree?

As Julie Starr, the writer of “The Coaching Manual” says, you can’t coach knowledge and facts: sometimes you need information and clear directions when you start in a new field. In this case you might want to consider a mentor who is experienced in the area you need help for. 

A mentor does not necessarily need to be certified, they just need to have enough evidence of experience and achievement.Tony Robbins who is one the most popular life coaches in the world is not certified! 

I have personally worked with a number of coaches and mentors and I have found it ideal when my mentor was also qualified to coach me in certain situations. 

While you can get some clarity and breakthrough in a one-off session, it’s always more useful to hire a coach or mentor on a long term basis. 

The coaching relationship is often between 6 weeks to a year or longer. It’s not helpful to spend this amount of time with someone whom you don’t enjoy meeting. You might even resist their support in a subconscious way and the resentment might make you feel you have wasted your time and money. 

That’s why liking your mentor matters!

Always book a discovery call :Have a chat with them before making any decision!

What happens in a discovery call?

A discovery call is a safe place for you to check the vibe of your selected business coach, to see if you like them and if you can see yourself working with them.

These calls are expected to be free as you are just getting to know someone.

In the call ask about their experience, their style of work, other clients and how specifically they can help you with. It’s best if you have already tried some of their free materials ( freebies) so  you have an idea about their style of work. 

Are you afraid of sales conversations?

Some entrepreneurs have had a bad experience with sales calls: they were pushed into buying services they didn’t want. They avoid discovery calls because they fear a similar situation. 

A professional coach will never push you in buying a service you don’t want: There is no convincing or pushing.

A discovery call or a “right fit call” will make it clear for both you and the coach if this relationship can help create transformational results or not.

You can also ask them about their different programs and services and see which one suits you best: 

A group program?

 One-on-one private coaching and mentoring? 

Or maybe an on demand course that you can watch at your own pace. 

Ask yourself these questions and bring them to the discovery session:

• What fits your life situation, level of experience and learning style best?

• The container creates the best result for you? 

• The kind of transformational results would you like to get in your business?

• The specific area of your business that you need help with?Maybe you are great at marketing but you struggle with finance? Or you are great with leading people but it’s hard for you to develop a long term strategy, bring these thoughts to the discovery session!

What might the business coach ask you in a discovery call?

In my discovery calls I often ask people in advance about the main issue they want help with, and if I can create a massive difference in that area for them.

For example I am most useful when I work with business owners who already have some form of business foundation in place and their business is ideally in the field of e-commerce. 

This way I can also bring all my past experiences in the field of supply chain management and ecommerce in the program and help them develop a strategy that works best for them. 

I use my coaching skills to support my clients with developing a growth mindset and leadership skills.

Leadership is not only about leading big teams

it’s about leading yourself, creating more self awareness about your values, needs , strengths and beliefs.The more you understand yourself the better you can manage relationships and expectations around yourself.

I love working with ambitious female entrepreneurs who care about their business career.

Working with a client who is ready to do the work and take action and experiment, who is excited about their business and career, is the most rewarding experience.

But then I am not so comfortable working with teenagers and children.I am not familiar with safeguarding rules or all the psychology that goes into the communication dynamics with a young adult. S

So if a talented young teen with a great entrepreneurial idea comes to me, I will refer them to one of my trusted coach friends. 

Business coaching for women:does gender even matter?

Not really! 

However the most important aspect of a constructive coaching relationship is trust or rapport. 

Some people feel more comfortable sharing their issues with someone from their gender and some need the total opposite. And for many, gender does not play a role. 

Life as a woman business owner comes with its own specific challenges! 

Our relationships and commitments towards our families, society expectations and biases often create unique business needs. 

One reason many female entrepreneurs chose a female business coach is simply because they feel their context is better understood by another woman.

Why get a business coach when I can learn everything from books and courses?

Hiring a business coach does not mean you stop reading books: If you want to be a successful business owner, truly in charge of your life and business, your personal development journey should never stop: Reading books, getting trained and learning has to be an inseparable part of your life. 

Coaching is not about knowledge, it’s about understanding yourself and looking within rather than outside!

Sometimes you have all the knowledge and experience in a field but you still need extra support and a different perspective in making high stake decisions. 

This is why experienced, talented and successful managers hire leadership coaches. 

No amount of knowledge and experience can help you see your own blindspots.We all need that external point of view to see the world from a different angle.

Getting support from a coach or mentor is not a sign of weakness! 

Being able to get help in any form is an indication of your leadership skills. 

Working with a coach or mentor shows you want to tap into a higher level of intelligence because you are on a mission. 

Because you want to create impact in this world.

When is the best time to hire a business coach?

If you ask me now I would say as early as possible. 

But I didn’t always think like this! 

I waited so long before hiring my first consultant/coach.

Sometimes you just need to make the mistakes and learn things by doing. It has its own price though!

When I started my ecommerce business, I wanted to experiment. I was not convinced I should invest in a business coach.I kept telling myself:

“You have all the experience and education to do this.Why pay someone else? You can do this yourself”.

While I did some smart things on my own 😉 my progress was very slow. Experimenting costs time and money. What I was doing was pretty much like gambling. 

And gambling can become very expensive, addictive and dangerous!

Another way of asking this question is “When is the right time to address health issues?” early on when they can be treated in a week or much later when they have destroyed your life quality?( sorry for being blunt!)

Imagine you have a health issue.

Would you gamble with the health of your business?

You have symptoms that are starting to affect your life, make you feel uncomfortable and are not going away. You can choose to see a doctor or medical specialist to investigate the issue and give you a solution. 

Or you can try different home remedies, Google your problem, try herbal teas and detoxes. Maybe you are lucky and your problem is not serious, so you just lose time. But what if you have a deep underlying condition?

The price you pay for not dealing with the root cause of symptoms might even cost you your life.

Your business problems are the same: some are deep rooted issues with fatal consequences and some will just pass. 

The symptoms show themselves in the form of lack of sales, lack of growth, shortage of cash or drama!

How to get the best out of my time and investment with a business coach?

So you took the leap!You invested in a business coach that shares your values and is qualified to help you get the results you want. How can you make sure this relationship is leading to your ideal results?

“The client has 3 main responsibilities: #1: Intend to be impacted. They have to be open and willing, #2: Stay in the conversation. They have to be present, #3: Stay in the game. Bring full commitment to the process.”- Executing coach ,Michael Niel

Show up with a learning mindset: Bring your full self to the session and prepare your questions before each session.

Be present.

Stay excited and committed to your success.

If you feel the coaching relationship is not leading to results, bring your concerns to the session.

Talk to your coach about your progress. 

Show up on time for your coaching calls and create time in your schedule to implement your learnings. Keep a journal for noting your reflections, learnings and questions.

Business and strategy coach for female entrepreneurs in e-commerce

How do I help my clients create successful businesses?

I am a business & strategy coach with an Msc in supply chain management & over 15 years of experience in the industry.( you can learn more about my qualifications here)

I love to work with women! maybe because the challenges of a female entrepreneur resonate with me. I know how it feels to be in their shoes!

My special areas of expertise are business strategy,e-commerce and product logistics.And of course I am a trained business coach.

I started my coaching journey by getting certified as an NLP coach.

I was fascinated with the power of mind. Simple shifts in the way we experience the world can create transformations. Although I don’t call myself an NLP coach any more, I bring elements of that into my coaching.

Leadership coaching is often misunderstood

When I was in search of a leadership coach for myself, I noticed how “leadership” is less known among small business owners. It has even become a term that intimidates a lot of small businesses and new entrepreneurs.

Most of the leadership coaching available in the market is targeted towards corporate executives of and startups with bigger teams and larger investments behind. 

Small business owners need to develop their leadership skills too!

This is something I am excited about and want to bring into my coaching.

I use a blend of coaching and mentoring to support my clients:

A)Mentoring and training to create a business strategy, roadmap and business foundation. 

B) leadership coaching methods help the clients shift their mindset & implement their favoured changes.

My clients find the coaching method very helpful in the process of developing their mission, vision, values, ideal customer profile and brand strategy. 

We often start with understanding and auditing the client’s business:I call it the mapping session. 

In this session we find their biggest blocks and bottlenecks.

We first create their desired goals and create the process to get to those goals.

It’s almost like a reverse engineering process.

We create systems and strategies that lead the clients to their ideal outcome. 

I say we because it’s a partnership:

I guide the clients in this process but I don’t do the work for them! They do 😉

How do you know if one-on-one coaching is suitable for you?

One-on-one business coaching may not be right for you if You:

• Are not sure if this business is worth investing in for any reason
• Prefer to explore the market and industry yourself and learn more about what’s going on in your own way
• Believe you need more knowledge and experience to make any decision.
• Want to experiment and you are willing to invest time and money into trying things your own way.
• Can’t get excited by the idea of involving someone else in your business.
• Don’t have the budget and you don’t feel ready to raise funds for this investment. 
• Are not convinced investing in coaching is worth it.
• You simply don’t feel ready for this, it just does not feel right!

All of these reasons are valid and it’s absolutely fine if you feel this way.

Private business coaching and mentoring on one-on-basis might be right for you if you:

• Have tried every course and group mentoring program and you still feel stuck. 
• Keep purchasing discounted courses that come your way and wonder maybe something there might help you.
• Keep downloading every freebie and you have lost track. 
• Are not clear about what matters to you
• When it comes to purpose, values and ideal customer you feel lost or you know something but you can’t put it to word 
• Don’t have a clear strategy : you just try everything that “feels right” to you and call it intuition.
• Feel burnt out and you are always busy but your hard work does not translate into results.
• Are convinced this investment is worth it, you are aware of the costs and impacts of not making this investment. 
• Don’t have time and you are aware of the value of time.
• You know you can’t waste years experimenting.You have achieved some results on your own or through other methods of support and you are ready to uplevel.

The quickest way for you to get things done and create results is private one-on-one support.

More blog posts about business coaching

Maximize Your Success: 2 Reasons to Work with a Certified Business Coach

Client questions: How to get the best return on investment from business coaching services

What you need to know about Neuroscience, success and leadership

3 Ways a business & mindset coach can speed up your professional growth

How can transformational coaching help entrepreneurs achieve their goals?

If you read this far then I guess you are interested in learning more!

Do you want to learn more about overcoming mindset blocks and fears?

Tap into your hidden leadership superpowers and grow your business exponentially?

Transition from a job or business that does not fulfil you to something that is more aligned with your talents?

Feel free to book a discovery session with me to see how I can help you. 

I can’t wait to chat with you!