Top 5 Ways Your Business Coach is Screwing You
Business coaches are all over the place. The word coach is vague and tough to define. Basically if you meet with a person on a routine basis and they give you some advice you like and take that happens to grow your business, you just met with a business coach.
Let’s look at some of the ways that business coaches commonly screw their clients so that you can avoid these expensive mistakes.
- Business coaches that do not own businesses outside of their coaching practice are likely lacking experience. Much like starting a business with a professor of business at a university, the knowledge may be there. However, real world experience and insight will be lacking.
- Business coaches that want payment without a guarantee of success. One of the reasons business coaching (or life, wellness, health, fitness, etc. coaching) has become so popular is that it is a low barrier to entry and you can make some good money. As with most businesses, you need to be able to justify your value if you are to survive. A money back guarantee is a must have for a business coach.
- Scheduled times to meet set months in advance. Business moves fast, most of the time. Other times you are doing everything you can to get ready for your vacation. Typical coaches get you scheduled on their calendar on a routine basis. Often that meeting has little to accomplish since so many other things are happening outside of your business, though still in your life. That meeting will still cost you a lot of money and time. Get the meetings set as you progress with your coach to make sure each meeting is necessary and valuable.
- Some business coaches will tell you that without a business coach you will fail. You will likely succeed even without a business coach. A business coach has the task of keeping you on task and accountable. If you know what to do with your business and you actually do all of those things a business coach will be little help. Though not knowing what you do not know may hurt you in this area. A business coach is recommended.
- Business coaches that allow you to slack while still accepting you as a client. Often you as a business owner will get stuck in the hustle and bustle of the daily tasks. Putting out fires in your business and not working on the assigned tasks that your business coach recommended. If your coach takes your money and time and you do little of the tasks, your business coach is taking advantage of your slacking ways. The coach has a duty to get you to take the necessary actions or cut you off as a client.
Not all is lost. Many business coaches are great at what they do, have high ethical standards and are truly only happy when they see their clients succeed. Your job as a client is simply to make sure the business coach you hired can do more than what you expect of them. That includes keeping your best interests above their own when coaching you.
James Kademan is a Business Coach for Draw In Customers Business Coaching in Madison, Wisconsin. When he isn’t individually coaching awesome business owners he is busy speaking to groups of business owners to help them achieve success in business and beyond. He also happens to own Calls On Call, a dedicated receptionist service for small business. He blogs successfully to the world at www.drawincustomers.com. If you are considering hiring a business coach, take a moment to call James at (608)210-2221. Smile, you finally found your business coach.
