How to Choose the Business Coach That's Right for You

Ask a handful of successful business owners what the secret is to their success and you’re likely to get many different answers. But I’ll be that the one that comes up the most often is, “I hired a business coach.”

Working with a business coach can be life-changing. But finding the one that gets you the results you’re looking for can be a challenge. After all, there’s as many different coaching styles as there are waves in the ocean. In other words, a lot.

With the coaching industry being non-regulated, each coach can offer whatever services they want and call it "coaching." Even as a coach myself, it’s a challenge to talk to other coaches as they often have a different coaching style than I do. Often their style is almost completely opposite of mine, making it a challenge for consumers like you to make an educated decision about coaching.

If you’re planning to start working with a business coach, first decide what “role” you want your coach to play.

Consultant

If you're looking for someone to assess you and your business and then offer you their professional expert advice, you're likely looking for someone whose style is closer to consulting.

Mentor

If you'd rather work with someone who has longevity in your industry who can guide you through their knowledge and wisdom, you're likely to enjoy working with someone in more of a mentor style.

Therapist

If you're looking for someone to relieve something like stress, anxiety, fear, etc., then likely more of a therapy approach would be a good fit.

Coach

But, if you're looking for someone to guide you using a range of communication skills (such as targeted restatements, listening, questioning, clarifying etc.) to help you shift your perspectives, resulting in discovering different approaches to achieve your goals, a more "traditional" coach would probably be a good fit.

I would say the next two top things to consider when choosing a coach are:

1. The amount of time you have for coaching. Often coaches will have you work on activities in-between sessions. Some of these activities can take you 30-min while others may be as much as 3-4 hours a week.
2. The amount you can afford to pay a coach while still having the finances to implement the ideas and solutions you come up with. No sense in hiring a coach, and gaining great ideas only to have to wait to implement them because you spent all your funds on your coach.

Wishing you great success in finding out if coaching is right for you and finding your perfect fit coach.