I was speaking with a business the other day when they told me that they were in desperate need of help with their business but didn’t know where to turn or what to do. They were struggling with multiple issues within their company that could have been prevented if they had taken action earlier.
Businesses are a bit like people. Little issues can become big problems if they are not addressed. Add to this the fact that it is often easier to manage a smaller issue.
I see many businesses struggle because they are not able to identify and address major problems or obstacles early enough.
This is where a good business coach comes into play. Bill Gates has Warren Buffet as his long-term business adviser, mentor and friend. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg had the late Steve Jobs. Most of the big name and rapid growth technology founders and CEOs have business coaches and mentors to guide them through the world of business.
“A business adviser, coach or mentor is like a sporting team’s coach. A good coach does not dictate each player’s every move. Instead, he or she coaches, guides and encourages the players to liberate their strengths and function as a team…. The coach gives them a compelling cause to accomplish missions… A business coach helps you improve your own strategic competence and trains you to be the coach of the business you own or manage. ”
When it comes to choosing your coach here are the first 5 steps to getting you started:
Acknowledge – Acknowledge that you have one or more problems, issues or challenges in your business. These are things that will be inhibiting performance, growth, profit or new opportunities.
Accept – Accept that the power of two or more minds, beats the power of one every time. Regardless of the problem, issue or challenge at hand.
Adventure – Adventure outside your comfort zone and invite an experienced and independent expert into your business, even just for an initial assessment of the situation. My advice would be to talk to 2 or 3 and see who you are most comfortable with.
Accept – If you proceed beyond this point, jointly develop a working mandate and guidelines to engagement. Experienced business coaches will work with you on this and will generally submit a proposal for the relationship. In addition to the scope of effort, roles, responsibilities, deliverables and timelines, will describe the commercial relationship.
Accelerate – You are now in a partnership and you are not on your own. From this point on you and your business coach work closely together, and you should observe significant progress and emotional relief, in just weeks or months.
Many business owners are faced with challenges and problems that they cannot resolve themselves.
If we talk about business health, growth and profit, then early, independent advice backed with experience can resolve these issues. By addressing issues before they get out of control, you will optimise business growth opportunities and ease financial and personal pressures on owners and managers.
Maurie Hill helps business owners succeed so that their businesses evolve, grow and profit. To find out if and how he can help you, register your interest at businessgp.com/register-interest/, call 0419 700 427 or email [email protected]