It is not uncommon for Founders and CEOs of mid-sized established businesses to feel ‘stuck’ as they try to scale their business. They may be facing challenges as a result of economic conditions, or they may have people, operational or profitability issues.
In this blog, we discuss how investing in a business coach can help business leaders and owners plan for the future of their business by making sure they have the right strategies and tools in place to grow and scale.
What is Business Coaching?
Business coaching is becoming more and more popular as an effective way to help many businesses grow, regardless of their industry. It is a tailor-made approach that helps businesses and CEOs identify their strengths and weaknesses, set goals for the business, develop strategies to achieve those goals, and take action to execute consistently on those strategies. Coaches dive deep into the business they are assisting, to create a customized plan of action based on the client’s individual needs – no two businesses are the same.
Managing your business can become quite overwhelming without a solid strategy in place that is aligned with your business goals and aspirations.
During coaching sessions, business leaders learn to direct their focus toward bigger picture thinking instead of a tactical approach of focusing on their immediate operational problems. Seeing outside yourself and your business is not always easy, but with a business coach by your side, new perspectives are a guarantee.
Choosing the right business coach to address the problems pertaining to you is of utmost importance and something that should not be taken lightly. Each business is different, and each coach offers a specific set of skills, expertise, and experience.
Why Do You Need a Business Coach?
Having a business coach can assist you in sustainably growing your revenue while providing clarity on what it is you need to take your business to the next level and scale it effectively.
Problems that many business leaders face include:
- Working long hours without seeing a financial return
- Being too involved in day-to-day operations
- Worrying the business won’t run smoothly without them actively involved in a hands-on way
- Lacking the correct guidance on how to achieve the results you want
- Worrying about the company culture and wanting to transform it into a high-performance one
The Benefits of Business Coaching Include:
A clear focus on goals
Businesses need clearly defined goals to achieve success. Those running a business can often get ahead of themselves and envision too many goals with little focus on the key drivers for success. The aim is to simplify the strategy and tackle it one bite at a time. A business coach can help you set meaningful goals and provide objective feedback on whether you are progressing towards achieving these goals.
Creative thinking
It can be hard to develop new ideas and make decisions when running a business alone. A business coach will challenge you to think differently and develop innovative solutions and strategies to problems. A business coach will also help you rally your leadership team around you and give the team the skills to develop even more innovative solutions, by harnessing the diversity of thinking of different minds and overcoming individual biases.
Strategic planning
While it is important to stay agile by adapting plans as necessary, it is also essential to have a long-term success plan based on the implementation of a strategy.
To develop a winning strategy for your business, you need a structured framework to organize your thinking, to give each leader in your team a common language to talk about strategy, and to provide a common point of reference that you can turn to for making some of the difficult but pivotal decisions you’ll need to make on your growth journey.
Increased productivity and efficiency
Coaches help businesses shift their focus from operational tasks to strategic execution. A clear strategic execution plan, well communicated through the organization, helps direct all the energy, minds, and resources of the business to pull the business forward in the same direction.
Everyone knows where the business is going and acts every day to drive the business forward in the right direction with increasing momentum. It’s the difference between having a team of horses all pulling in different directions, vs a team of horses all pulling in the same direction. Imagine the difference in momentum generated by these two teams of horses!
Improved communication and coordination
Business coaches help companies build better relationships and communication with their employees, customers, suppliers, and other key stakeholders. Clear strategic direction, clear execution plans, and rhythms for execution create a framework for clear communication.
Business coaches help develop the leadership capabilities of the leadership team, helping them communicate and coordinate more effectively.
What You Should Expect from a Business Coaching Experience
Coaching programs require regular contact with their selected coach/es to check in on progress and assist with setbacks. A business coaching program typically starts out as a 12month engagement, although shorter programs are also available, as well as long-term – this is based on the business needs and often businesses continue to make use of their coach long after the initial contracting period. There is no limit on how long a business coach should be involved in a business and its progress, as a business constantly faces new challenges not seen before as the business moves through different stages of growth and maturity, and there are always new results to be achieved. It is best to consider your coach as a ‘partner’ to you and your business as opposed to a temporary, outsourced ‘consultant’.
A Trusted Collaboration
Building a successful business takes more than just hard work and determination – it takes the right collaboration, skillset, and support systems. Business coaching provides the guidance needed to manage and grow businesses effectively and sustainably. It is a trusted collaboration between the business owner and their coach who helps them identify, assess and address critical areas of growth for their business.
A New Perspective and Courage from Your Coach
Business owners who receive coaching may be more curious and courageous than those who do not. This is because coaches challenge their clients to look at their business differently, and from a perspective that may have not been thought of before, often leading to helpful and breakthrough changes.
Conclusion
Business coaching helps Founders and CEOs identify the skills they need to successfully run their businesses, set realistic goals, develop systems that work for them, and connect with resources and people who can help them grow their businesses. Business coaches also provide individualized feedback and encouragement to achieve desired outcomes.
If you’re looking for a roadmap that will help you achieve your business goals, then you’re in the right place. GROW Business Coaching has a team of coaching specialists that have worked across multiple industries and helped hundreds of businesses achieve sustainable results and get ahead in today’s competitive market.
Take a look at our GROW coaches and contact us today to find a coach best suited to your needs!
