How To Find The Right Business Coach (Proven Strategies)
The Strategic Coach Team
If you ever feel “stuck” in your business or feel like you need to make a change, working with a business coach might be the logical next step in realizing your entrepreneurial vision. Entrepreneurs need to keep progressing forward, and the right coach is bound to keep you in motion.
But nowadays, there are many different types of business coaches. Finding the right coach for your business can be challenging.
Some business coaches focus on helping entrepreneurs find and clarify their vision while others show you how to avoid mistakes and improve the operations of your business. Some prioritize lifestyle goals while others help you generate more revenue for your business.
As you begin your search for a business coach, it’s important to understand what type of coaches are out there and what you’re ultimately looking for. Finding the right business coach should always start with you and your goals. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how experienced or successful they are—if they aren’t the right fit for you, you’ll never get the results you’re looking for.
With that in mind, here are 10 questions that will help you learn how to find the right business coach.
1. Am I coachable?
Business coaches provide guidance, advice, and the tools to make positive change. They’ll show you the steps, but you’re the one who ultimately has to take them. Before you look into finding the right business coach, you need to get honest and ask yourself: Am I coachable?
You must be open to your business coach’s suggestions if you want to get value out of the relationship. If you know deep down that you won’t put their advice to use, hiring a business coach might be a waste of money and time.
2. What results do I want?
The key to understanding how to find the right business coach is to get specific on the exact results you’re looking for. You need to find someone who can show you how to achieve the results you want—but you’ll never find that person if you can’t articulate the results yourself!
The more clarity you can get on your desired results, the easier it will be to find the right business coach. Looking at your goals from a S.M.A.R.T. standpoint (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Timely/Tangible) should be one of the first steps you take.
3. How committed am I to achieving the result?
Being an entrepreneur involves a lot of hard work, and that doesn’t stop when you hire a business coach. In fact, you could argue that it requires even more work. A business coach is going to push you to change habits, develop new skills, clean up messes, and make tough decisions. That’s on top of everything else you’re already doing in your business.
If you aren’t ready to commit some extra time and effort to achieve the results you’re looking for, it might not be the right time to hire a business coach.
4. What kind of coach do I need?
Over the past few decades, coaching has exploded in the entrepreneurial space. There are coaches for every specific niche and every aspect of business, so finding the right one for your specific needs is crucial.
Try to get clear on what exactly you need help with, and be as specific as possible! Do you need an accountability coach to help get things done? Do you need someone with expertise in your specific industry? Do you want someone who can show you how to think more strategically about the direction of your business? Do you want to learn how to be a better marketer? Maybe you want someone to help you build your ideal lifestyle.
Whatever you need, there is a business coach out there for you. Having a sense of what you’re looking for will help you narrow down the field and find the right one from the beginning.
5. What’s their track record?
Anyone can build a fancy website and call themselves a business coach these days, and many organizations are “certifying” coaches as well. All of these things can be faked, but there is one thing that can’t: results.
When you’re looking for the right business coach, it’s important to prioritize results. What kind of results have they achieved for their clients? Do they have testimonials? If possible, try to speak with their clients to get a firsthand account.
6. Does the coach walk the talk?
It doesn’t make sense to take business advice from a coach who hasn’t achieved the results they claim they’ll be able to generate for you.
The key to finding the right business coach is to find someone who has actually become a successful entrepreneur themselves. That means they’ve likely experienced what you’re experiencing and can share their wisdom. They can show you how to bypass the obstacles and mistakes they faced when they were in your shoes.
7. What’s their methodology, and what will work best for me?
Coaching processes are almost as numerous as coaches themselves. Some work with you in your office while others may require you to get out of the office and away from your day-to-day distractions.
Finding a business coach who has the right process for you is crucial. Before you make a decision, get clear on the process each coach uses and which will be the best fit for you. If you don’t like the process, you’ll never get the full value out of your coaching experience.
8. Am I lonely at the top?
Many entrepreneurs feel they lack a true peer group. They have a hard time talking to those around them and feel as if no one really “gets” what they’re going through or can offer them legitimate advice.
If this sounds familiar, group coaching may be right for you. In group coaching sessions, you get the benefit of the coach’s wisdom, plus the wisdom and experience of all the other entrepreneurs in the room. But there’s a catch—you must be prepared to share your experiences with the group. If you’d prefer not to share or if you don’t feel that others’ experiences will benefit you, one-on-one coaching may be the right fit.
9. Is this the type of person I could respect and take advice from?
We’ve talked about the value of testimonials, results, and working with a coach who has walked the walk. But none of that matters if you don’t actually respect the individual. Coaches are people too, and that means they have different personalities, values, and communication styles.
If you don’t jive with your coach, are you really going to take their advice? Finding the right person is just as important as finding the right coach.
10. How much am I willing to invest in coaching?
You are the engine that powers your business forward. How much are you willing to invest in that engine?
Deciding how much you’re willing to invest in coaching can be a tricky calculation, and it’s important to focus on more than just your available funds. What is the value of achieving the results you’re looking for? And what is the cost if you don’t achieve the results you’re looking for?
Good coaching will pay for itself multiple times over. The key is understanding how to find the right business coach for your specific situation and level of investment.
Up for a chat?
We recognize that Strategic Coach is not necessarily the right fit for every entrepreneur. That’s why we start each new relationship with a Discovery Call to see if joining Strategic Coach makes sense.
In this Discovery Call, one of our Membership Advisors will go through the D.O.S. framework, which stands for Dangers, Opportunities, and Strengths. This can help you gain clarity on what you ultimately want for your life and business, as well as how you’ll get there.
Even if you have no idea what you’re looking for going into this call, you’ll leave with a clear vision of where you want your business and life to be in the next three years. Nearly every Discovery Call we have with entrepreneurs results in some sort of breakthrough.
And the best part? Even if Strategic Coach is not the right fit, the insights from this 30-minute conversation will leave you fully equipped to find the right business coach for you.
So … what do you have to lose?
Schedule a Discovery Call with one of our Membership Advisors today.
