If you’re looking to grow your small business, it’s time to hire a business coach. This is the second of three guides to help you discover if business coaching is right for you.
At first, the idea of working with someone else might sound strange, but it’s something you should seriously consider as hiring a business coach will help your small business succeed in today’s competitive marketplace.
This guide will help you figure out if business coaching is the right move for you and how to go about finding the right person to work with.
1. Write out your vision for yourself—what do you see for yourself six months to two years from now? What does success look like to you? How will you know when you've achieved it?
2. Define your purpose: what would make working on your business exciting, fulfilling and fun for you?
3. Create a list of priorities that defines which elements are most important in helping fulfil both your vision and purpose (for example, money might not be top of mind but creative control or impact could be high on your list).
4. Consider how much time and energy you can devote to growing your business over a certain period of time (the next 90 days, a year, five years?). Determine how often and in what capacity you’ll work with a coach (weekly one-on-one meetings or monthly check-ins via phone/Skype/video conferencing).
5. Brainstorm specific strategies to achieve goals such as bringing on new team members, releasing a new product line or making more speaking appearances.
6. Build in accountability measures—if someone else is going to hold you accountable for achieving your goals then you need to hold them accountable as well!
7. Be sure you're clear about what services and results should be delivered by your coach so there's no confusion about his/her responsibilities and deliverables.
Follow my blog for parts one and three of my guides or take a browse round my site here to find out more about working with me.