As I continue the theme, Spring Yourself Forward, I am going to talk about something that some people have varying opinions on: hiring a Business Coach for your Entrepreneurial business. I will share my experiences, as I had have a business coach since March of 2015. I have switched coaches since then, but I want to tell you the benefits of having a coach by your side and the progress I have made thus far by working with coaches. My current business coach is Jane Powers, she’s a speaker and business coach. She works with Sheryl Wolowyk as well, so I basically have two business coaches for the price of one.
Today I want to share with you several reasons why I chose to have a coach by my side during my entrepreneurial journey. I believe this will help convince you that you might want to invest into a coach. Here’s my little two cents worth about investment: when you invest into yourself (by hiring a coach), you’re investing in your future and your business. When you do this, you can propel yourself and your business faster. I have heard people say, “Why hire a coach when I can just read books?” I’m going to say this: Does the book tell you, “Hey you, go out and do X, Y, and Z?” Does the book support you when you’re feeling like a failure? Is the book there for you when you’re wondering where the next step should be? No. Business coaches are suppose to be there to help guide you and lead you when there’s a million shining objects around.
Okay, let me get off my hobby horse and get to the good stuff! Let me tell you three benefits from working with a coach.
A Coach can help push you to do the uncomfortable. When I met Jane, I was at a crossing road and when I talked to her, she told me, “We’re working together!” I was like “Okay!” So that’s how it happened. I’ve been working with Jane since February of this year and I can tell you one thing: with Jane and Sheryl by my side, I feel like I can accomplish anything and everything with them. Jane and Sheryl both are all about action (I LOVE action!) and when they give me a challenge, I follow through with it. I told Jane from the beginning, “I’ll do the work if you tell me what to do.” She has and both has challenged me to work on myself and areas of my business that are not there yet.
Yes, the challenge can be uncomfortable, but they not only acknowledge this, but tell us how much they hate doing some things that they know will grow their business (such as doing sale calls). It’s doing the uncomfortable that separates you from the hobbiest. Trust me on that one!
Here’s another thing: a good coach will push you to do things you might be afraid to DEATH of doing, but you do it anyways. Jane encouraged me to start applying for speaking gigs. Now it looks like I’ll be speaking at the Social Media Interactive conference in Dayton, Ohio on October 4! I am SCARED! I am asking myself, “Can I do this????” I know Jane and Sheryl are both here to support me and guide me and that makes me feel so much better!
A Coach will help define my business. I have learned with Jane and Sheryl that although my business model over all may never change, I will always be changing and my message may change as well. That’s 100% okay. Both Jane and Sheryl understand that as you grow, what you offer may change. I have been able to define my business even more in just the short 2 1/2 months I’ve been working with them. I have been able to hone in to who I want to serve, how I want to serve them, and what I can offer my clients to best serve them using my genius.
Because I am getting clearer and clearer on my business, this has given me a boost of confidence and a good dose of fear! I know I can overcome this because I have two authentic and awesome coaches behind me that I know I would NOT be where I am today without them.
A Coach will be there to encourage you and lift you up. Another beautiful thing about both Jane and Sheryl is that I emailed Jane confessing how I was under so much “imposter syndrom” pressure. I felt like a fake and I was just down. Jane emails me back and tells me that this is normal, that everyone goes through this at times. She mentioned all the work I was doing and told me she was proud of me.
Once I found out I was going to be a speaker at the conference in Dayton, I texted Jane the news and then went, “Help!”
These women are ALWAYS telling me how far along I am coming, how great I am doing, and how much growth they see in me. They give out so much encouragement and they are both understanding in what we (as clients) are going through. They literally speak our language and I think that is why I am so in love with both of them!
Do you have a support team backing you up? Do you keep asking yourself questions with no answers in sight? Then you might want to consider hiring a business coach to help you gain clarity, focus, and a path. I highly recommend searching around for a business coach that understands your needs and where you want to go. I highly suggest interviewing some of the coaches clients to see if they have made progress in the way you want to make progress. Make sure you clique with your coach as this will make a big difference in the way you communicate to him/her. One more suggestion is to look over their program and make sure you get the one on one you desire. There’s nothing like not getting the one on one coaching that you need when you need it.
I hope this has inspired you to consider hiring a business coach for you. I know I will not be where I am today if it wasn’t for the leadership and direction that I have had with my coaches. You can check out Jane to see if she’s a good fit for you at her website.
So what are you next moves for your business? Do you have a business coach? If not, then what’s stopping you from hiring one (you cannot use money as an excuse!)?
