The simple answer to this question is effecting change, but what does change look like in real terms?
Effective change depends on the business owner and what they want to achieve by working with a business coach. In my experience, clients want to work with a business coach to help them with one of the following challenges:
- Finding a path forward
- Overcoming real or imagined obstacles
- Levelling up their business
- Upgrading their clients
- Making the unprofitable profitable
- Improving work/life balance
- Accountability
- Focus
- Vision
Most commonly, a client will approach me because they feel stuck in some way and unable to move forward. Other clients reach out because they want to take their business to the next level and are unsure how to do that, or they want to upgrade their clients or work with a silent business partner who can hold them accountable, help them create focus and define a vision.
Finding a path forward
If you want to grow your business or even exit it, you need a plan and a roadmap to get you to your destination. Over the years, I have worked with various business owners from different industries and sizes of business, from solopreneurs to people running a team of employees. The steps a business owner needs to take to achieve their goals will vary and that’s where working with a business coach helps by providing clarity and action points that serve as milestones on the journey to where you want to get to.
Overcoming real or imagined obstacles
New clients often feel they can’t move forward because of certain false and self-limiting beliefs. I help my clients by unpicking what can often seem like a spaghetti of confusion, then I throw it up in the air, let the pieces settle and then re-arrange them more strategically, removing the bits that don’t work or are holding my client back in some way, and then we work together to create a perfectly ordered plate of spaghetti.
My training and background in counselling complement my lifelong experience of running businesses and business coaching and help me provide a non-judgemental, empathetic approach to my client’s problems and gently challenge false and self-limiting beliefs by asking questions such as “What would it be like if that wasn’t true?”.
Most people are used to their peers, family and others in their contact sphere either agreeing with or repudiating their beliefs. This non-confrontational approach allows my clients the space and comfort to take a step back, challenge their own beliefs and imagine a world in which their self-limiting belief wasn’t true.
My clients find this very empowering and often come to their next meeting saying how our previous discussions have provided them with food for thought and will comment, “I’ve been thinking about what you said”. The value of this approach lies in the fact that by removing perceived barriers that their mind had put up, they are able to think clearly and consider options that they would previously have ruled out.
The power of storytelling in business coaching
I also help my clients overcome false beliefs when they say something like, “I can’t do that because…” by sharing a story from my own experience or someone else’s, whether sharing mistakes and successes or explaining how I dealt with specific situations.
Many business problems that crop up are common to lots of business and retelling the story of how another business owner resolved a similar issue can be of great assistance.
In my business coaching, I find storytelling a powerful tool for explaining why a different approach is needed. I never tell my clients what they should or shouldn’t do, but I help them to see why they might need to stop doing something that isn’t working or try a different approach by sharing stories about my experience and those of my clients over the years.
For example, if a business is looking for more leads it may need to improve its website and hire someone who can optimise it for Google using SEO tools. I can explain why this is a good idea by telling a story of how doing this helped me to grow my business and attract the type of clients I want to work with and am best suited to.
Levelling up your business
Taking your business to the next level is not an easy or insignificant thing to do and requires planning, focus and a clear vision broken down into goals, which will be achieved by completing the action points I set at the end of every client meeting.
As a member of BNI (Business Networking International), a global network of business owners of many professions, I have access to trusted partners that I can refer you to according to your needs.
Being connected to vetted people whom you can trust to provide a high-quality service is of enormous value. We’ve all heard stories of cowboy builders and unreliable service providers offering poor-quality work, so having a personal recommendation can make all the difference to the future success of your business.
Referrals could be to a copywriter, digital marketer, chartered accountant, solicitor, HR company, graphic designer or a tradesman who has helped others in similar positions.
Upgrading clients
Some business owners find they are working at the wrong end of the market and need to upgrade their clients in order to grow their business. A business coach can help with this by advising strategies for attracting a different type of clientele, from editing your website and messaging on social media to attending events where the clients you want to attract will be present.
This shift in focus to serving clients of larger companies or in a different sector or industry can make a positive difference to your revenue and free you up to work fewer hours or days and have a better work/life balance.
Making the unprofitable profitable
Some business owners have a potentially profitable business, but they either not marketing it correctly or maybe they need to tweak the product or service to make it more profitable. This is one area where working with a business coach can make a significant change to the fortunes of the business and bring greater peace of mind and success to the business owner.
Improving work/life balance
If you are the sole decision-maker in your business, the chances are you are carrying a huge burden of responsibility alone, especially if you also have staff to support.
Working with a business coach can help you make more strategic decisions faster than you would be able to on your own.
A business coach can also nurture you as you develop as a businessperson and guide you, which will leave you with a sense of overall well-being that will translate into feeling more relaxed outside of work and able to enjoy life more.
Accountability, focus and vision
Being held accountable is very important for growth. Just the fact that a business coaching meeting is coming up is a form of accountability. It helps you ramp up and improve your business skills, offer new and different ways of dealing with business situations, and define a clear focus and vision to move you forward and evolve your business.
No business can evolve with a clear vision and focus on where you want to get to. Working with a business coach will help you look at your business from a different perspective and work out what you want to change in your business and how you will implement those changes.
I hope this blog has helped you to understand what a business coach can do for you and your business. If you would like to find out more book a free discovery call here and find out how I can help you elevate your business.
About the author
Jason Cornes is a seasoned entrepreneur with a track record of building successful businesses over nearly four decades. He has never worked for anyone else and has navigated the challenges of running a business in various economic conditions. Drawing from his extensive business expertise, Jason now shares his insights with clients to help them avoid common mistakes and succeed in their ventures.
With a Diploma in Management Studies, a Master’s in Business Administration, and five years studying counselling and psychotherapy, Jason possesses a rare blend of analytical and people skills. He is an expert in active listening and empathy, and his experience overcoming obstacles on his entrepreneurial journey makes him uniquely qualified to guide other business owners.
Jason specialises in coaching sole decision-makers who run small businesses in any industry, from self-employed professionals to Directors of Limited Companies, whether or not they have employees. His clients include architects, accountants, web designers, solicitors, doctors, IT professionals, teachers, trainers, and consultants. Jason has been a full-time business coach since 2017, helping entrepreneurs succeed and thrive.
“You have helped me understand all the crucial elements of business, identify my company’s strengths and weaknesses, and helped me take ownership of each stage of the journey. If there are any other ambitious business owners who want clarity, accountability, and expertise in working out how to grow and expand their business, I would highly recommend Jason Cornes.”
Robert Mould, RJM Digital
Click here to read what Jason’s other clients say about working with him: testimonials
