Why I Hired a Business Coach (and if you are a solopreneur, why you should too)
Business coaches, life coaches, therapists – the lines all tend to blur of who can help you with what. But that’s the point – that you recognize you need help and talking to your cat just isn’t cutting it.
Being in the cable industry, I’ve spoken to a few coaches over the years who work for large networks like Discovery. They’ve developed a great business of coaching women leaders achieve more/do more/be more, which is great if you are an aspiring cable executive. I would spend an hour with them on the phone getting to know them know, them knowing me more – and then the bomb would drop: the staggering fees and commitment. Something along the lines of $1500 for three months of coaching. Ouch.
Harrison the kitty is here to help you
So I dropped the idea as not affordable. Until I went to the un-conference at CoCo in Minneapolis and a fellow solopreneur said he has a business coach who has helped him not only focus his business, but gain clients.
Whoa! She helped him gain clients? What? How? And more importantly – how expensive is this?
And that’s where I met Beth Wellesley of Promoting Brilliance based in Minneapolis.
My first visit with her was learning more about me, my business, my wishes and dreams etc. She gave me homework and left me with some very interesting thoughts to process in the near future – like how I view my identity as a solopreneur, and what my life (and my husband’s) would be like if I failed.
Right – have you considered picturing your life if you failed? Probably not because its scary. But the whole point of the exercise is to get you to see that you’ll be alright if you failed. You will be alive, healthy, and still have at least one income – so that’s something. And you can try again. That’s the beauty of America – we get to fail and try again many times.
I hired a business coach – and a female one at that – to be my cheerleader and my unbiased eye on my world. And yes, she’s well connected across many industries in the Twin Cities market.
So why should you hire a business coach?
1. You get to write it off on your taxes
2. Talking to your friends/family about your business sometimes isn’t the best. They are well-meaning, but many simply don’t understand your situation or what it means to be in business for yourself.
3. Networking – Coaches know many executives across numerous industries. If they know you well, they may just help you find more work.
4. Guidance/Direction – if you are struggling with next steps or weighing the pros and cons of something, a coach can give you an unfettered view into the issue. And you may discover the “real” issue behind all of your issues.
5. Why not give yourself every available option to succeed?
Good thoughts. I have often wondered how different my entrepreneurial efforts would be if I have a board of directors or something pushing and making me just figure things out.
I often feel I am stuck in analysis paralysis, where instead of just “doing”, I spend all of my time “deciding”.
I also love the part about being OK with failing, that makes me feel a lot better.
I am curious, does she have some sort of “process” that she takes you through?
Thanks for the comment, Josh.
The process doesn’t seem to be too defined. Although she has given me homework that she probably gives everyone. Other than that, its a lot of scribbling on paper and asking probing questions. Some of the questions are uncomfortable – like you don’t want to be asked. You just want to scream “I’M WORKING ON IT!” yet, that’s probably the area that most need definition.
I actually asked my hubby about failing. He was fine with it. He understood. We’d be down to one income. So what? I can always pick up a PT job at Starbucks until I land on my feet. You’ll be okay. You’ll figure it out. Smart people always do and we are smart people.
Michelle, I always enjoy your insight. I also LOVE your blog’s redesign, except for the small grey letters I need to type into this comment box. Gives an old guy like me more of a challenge to see if the words all get typed correctly with no spelling errors! Ha!
Actually, I think the notion of a personal coach is a wonderful idea. I say if you can afford one…by all means go do it. I suspect the money spent will pay huge dividends down the road. You sometimes have to give it time and plenty of effort to see the results.
Two things that I have done previously with a business your readers might find helpful.
The first was much like Josh said…establish a board of directors. I’m not talking a board with any legal authority over the business, rather just an advisory board. Pick an attorney, an accountant, a marketing person, maybe a couple of self-made business folks who have succeeded. The mix has to reflect what you are looking for in seeking advice from the board. Now, you say…but I don’t have any money to pay them. No problem! Everyone likes to eat. What you do is always meet over lunch maybe two or three times a year (scheduled way in advance). Each person serves for two years and you can stagger the appointments. You ask these people to treat your business like they are on an actual board of directors. You make a presentation during lunch (guess what…you don’t get to eat) and they fire questions and suggestions at you. Best of all, when they give you direction now you have someone to answer to BEFORE the next board meeting. They get a free meal, get to meet some new friends, and get satisfaction out of helping a small business owner succeed in his/her entrepreneurial endeavor. As the business owner, you get a wealth of knowledge way beyond the expense of buying lunch for these professionals a couple times a year.
The other option is similar, but formatted differently. You pick someone you admire. You could be a stranger to them, but maybe they are well known to you. You tell them how you admire ______, _______ & _______ about them and would like to buy them lunch someday just to learn more about how they are so great. You’d be surprised at how many folks are flattered by this invitation and will gladly spend an hour with you to learn and grow. Pick folks who would also have connections for you as after the meeting if you can name drop this person’s connection it will greatly enhance your credibility. Try to do this perhaps once per month.
So, these are some other things you can do if hiring a personal coach is not quite right for you. But kudos to Michelle for being proactive and looking to improve. Without risk there is usually no reward and at times the hardest part of doing anything is simply taking that first step.
Thanks Jim for the kudos on my blog design. That’s a shout out to Sue B Media designs who helped me pick a theme and install it. Now its up to me to maintain it and keep it sharp!
And you and Josh are now on my Board of Directors 🙂
A good business coach will help you brainstorm for ideas for needed changes and help you plan how to make the change. This will also give you ideas on how you can measure and monitor the effectiveness of any changes put in place.