Growing a business is an exciting endeavour. During the early stages of growth, the thrill of your million-dollar idea carries you along to seek every opportunity but sooner, rather than later, every entrepreneur will need advice from an expert.

Never underestimate the power of someone else’s knowledge, they’ve been there and done it and made every mistake, so you don’t have to!

Investing in a business coaching program and spending some time with a business coach is a savvy move for any business founder. Here's why:

1) It will build your commercial confidence

Passion and dedication will get you far in business, but total confidence and courage in the face of tough business decisions, will take you further.

Lots of small business owners are entrepreneurs first and business managers second, which means that when it comes to growing your company, you’re usually doing everything for the first time.

Business coaching can encourage you to face the challenges head on. A good business coach will support you in making those tough decisions and you can accelerate your own learning from their insight and past experience.

2) Helping you see the bigger picture

When you create a business, you’re naturally close to it, and if it is your first business, you’re not always familiar with the bigger picture. A business coach will naturally lift you up and out of the daily "weeds" of operational tasks and help you think strategically.

They will challenge you to carefully consider the business you are creating, how you are positioned in the market and quickly identify opportunities which you might be missing out on.

3) Asking the right questions

The process of business coaching can often help you identity and pursue areas of business growth that you might not think of, if you were left to your own devices. By asking the right questions, and digging into the detail, they can help you avoid strategic mistakes and pivot you towards a better and more profitable direction.

Because business coaches work with hundred of clients, they have seen so many different businesses and KNOW what makes them flourish.

A great business coach will often ask critical questions and provide a challenge and review environment which will create a fresh perspective on priorities for growth and the very best use of your limited resources.

You’re likely to come away with new ideas, a firmer grasp on your goals and potential sales channels to explore that you didn’t know were available to you.

4) Identifying risks you can't or won't see

I believe that the best way to approach business is with total positivity, but I also know that you don’t want your empire to fall down over something silly that was overlooked. We all have to do our "black hat" thinking and evaluate the risks. That's what professional business leaders do. 

It’s likely that you have, naturally, come across a few problems in the business yourself which you’d like to solve. However, with a lack of deep experience coupled with you constantly spinning many plates, it's highly likely that you won't see or understand all the business risks coming your way.

Business coaches have a much deeper experience and skill set to draw upon. They will know most of your business risks before you will.

Through your business coaching program, your coach can help summarise and prioritise the areas of your business that you need to work on, so you go away with a manageable list and a plan to secure your business from potential commercial threats and profit pitfalls.

5) Thinking like a CEO

Business founders are usually technically gifted or passionate about their product first rather than formally trained in leadership and the executing role of CEO.  This means there are lots of things you don’t yet know about managing and scaling up a team, leading your business and making CEO level decisions across profit and cashflow.

Lots of product based businesses who start out on a growth path quickly run into employee retention problems too - which are easily avoided if the CEO had the right leadership skills set, prior to scaling up.

From slim resource budgets to not knowing how to identify and feed team motivation, small business owners can stumble without deep leadership skills. And, since firing and rehiring is extremely costly to a business, never-mind getting a major supplier or contracting decision wrong - having access to this more senior CEO thinking is well worth the price tag of a business coach.

Make It Happen In Your Business

A business coach wants you to succeed, and there are many areas of your business which will need to be fine-tuned in order to achieve the greatness you deserve. To find out about one-on-one business coaching with Emma, please schedule a call. 

Next Steps:

• Consider if you would benefit from talking to someone independent about the growth plans for your business.
• Ask yourself if you are truly holding yourself to account for the actions you have on your To-Do list and whether a program of business coaching would help keep you on track. 
• Would knowing that you have to check-in with a business coach each month help propel you forward and get more stuff done?