How to find a business coach to help you achieve your goals

The days of wondering if you should hire a coach for your small business are over. According to research studies curated by the International Coaching Academy, 86% of companies who’ve hired coaches said they’ve made their investment back. Professional coaching has also shown to improve time management by 57-percent, work performance by 70-percent and business management by 61-percent.

We know that successful business owners seek out support from trusted advisors who can help them achieve their goals. The question is, how do you find a coach who’s a good fit for you?

The catalyst for seeking out a business coach is usually a feeling of dissatisfaction or frustration with your business. It might be that you are working longer hours than you really want to. It might be that you feel unable to delegate things to your team because they regularly let you down with things. It might be that you feel you have reached a plateau and feel unable to get past your current stage of turnover or profit level. Whatever the reason, here are our top 10 tips on finding a business coach that suits you.

Understand the purpose – what are you looking for from a business coach? Someone to bounce ideas around with? Someone to challenge you? An ear to call upon for support and advice on how to grow, improve or change things in your business? Someone to help you create a high performing team? Get clear on what you want from hiring a coach before you make the first move.
Get clear on what success looks like – what is it you want to achieve in working with a business coach? A good way of doing this is to map out what you want to be different in your business after 3 months, 6 months, a year down the line.
Assess the chemistry – before committing to working with a coach make sure you have had chance to make an assessment as to whether you are compatible with one another. Will you feel comfortable enough to discuss your vulnerabilities with this person? A great coach/client relationship is built upon trust.
Be prepared to share more than just your business – coaching looks at your business in the context of your whole life. A good coach will explore where your business, and your role within it, might be out of alignment with your natural talents, core values and vision for your life.
Be open to challenge – whilst you want a coach who is on your side, you also want to establish the boundaries with them so that they can help you to uncover some of the ways in which you are getting in your own way or holding back your team. A good coach will help you to push beyond your current comfort zone and will recognise your excuses – even if you are unaware of them.
Make space and time – there is no point investing in a business coach if you don’t have the time to implement any of the ideas and actions you develop through working with them.
Seek out diversity – keep in mind that your coach does not need to be an expert in your field of business and there are often benefits to finding a coach who doesn’t know your industry inside out. A coach is there to help you expand your thinking, so it is good to seek out someone with a diversity of experience.
Establish how they operate up-front –having clear expectations between client and coach is crucial to the success of your relationship. How frequently will you meet your coach? How long will the sessions last? Are the sessions held in-person, via video call, phone or a mixture? Can you contact them in between sessions – if so via what communication channel (email, what’s app, etc)? How and when will you review the coaching relationship – is it for a set number of months to begin with, followed by a review?
Hire someone with a growth mindset – remember that famous quote – if you think you can or can’t, you’re right. Make sure your coach is someone who is themselves someone with a growth mindset and can help you to see the positives and opportunities in challenging situations.
Be prepared for the long haul – change doesn’t happen overnight so plan on at least a 6-month / year long relationship with your coach. Once you’ve achieved your initial goals, it’s wise to continue coaching.

If you are a business owner, we believe you are the expert in your business. You are in that unique position of being responsible both for the vision of where you want to go, as well as the everyday execution to get you there. Hiring a DICE business coach helps you to step back and assess where you are professionally and personally.

We start with an in-depth look at your goals and vision. We shine a light on what you are doing now and what is working well and what isn’t working for you. We then work with you to create a plan for what you want to achieve – turning vision into action.

To find out more about our coaching services, drop us a line: hello@dicebusiness.co.uk