How do you find the right business coach for you? 

As every business coach works differently and offers different business coaching services it can be difficult to choose the one that is right for you and your business type. Without a shadow of a doubt, the right business coach can help you not only create tangible results in your business but also it can transform your personal life.  Here’s my advice on how to verify and find the right business coach that will help you get the results you want. 

01. IDENTIFY YOUR BUSINESS STAGE

Every business stage requires a different level of business coaching.  As every business coach works with different stage businesses, it's important for you to know where you are. 
Here are five business stages:

Development stage
When you start turning your business idea into a strategic business plan. 

Start-up stage
When you test your business plan in the real world with real clients and get real feedback. Revenue may not be consistent yet, or you just break even. You may be hiring employees, or continuing to work solo.

Growth stage
When your business plan is paying off. You have an established customer base, business operations and your revenue is increasing. 

Expansion stage
When you are looking at how to increase your revenue and create new opportunities to expand your business. 

Maturity stage
When you have created a perfect environment for success through careful planning, forecasting, and people management.  

02. GET SPECIFIC ABOUT THE RESULTS YOU WANT TO CREATE WITH BUSINESS COACHING

Once you identified where you are in your business, now it’s time to ask yourself what specific results you want to achieve by working with a business coach.
Here are a few examples:

• Clarify business idea(s) and start a business
• Get the step-by-step guide on how to set up an online business
• Create a marketing strategy to get new clients 
• Improve personal and/or team’s performance
• Gain clarity on your business vision and goals and how to move forward
• Establish business processes and operations to optimize business performance
• Setting boundaries and creating work/life balance
• Improve leadership and communication skills
• Set and track goals by creating key performance metrics (KPIs) 
• Create a strategic business strategy that is aligned with your personal life goals
• Get external, objective, and constructive perspective on your business situation
• Help you find solutions to the problems quickly and effectively

Knowing what you want to achieve by working with a business coach, will you help to narrow down your filter and find the right business coach for you.

03. FIND A BUSINESS COACH 

Start looking for the right business coach that uses proven best-practice systems, strategies, and action steps that will actually grow a business. And if you are in the business development stage, or a start-up stage, I would suggest finding a coach within your country, as the coach will be familiar with the legalities of starting a business.  

1. Turn to your peers and friends who run businesses for recommendations
   Only ask those people who have created great results in their business and with whom you share similar core values. 
2. Google it! 
   Scan through the websites, their social media accounts and shortlist 5 business coaches.
3. Book a consultation with each business coach, ideally all in the same week.  This way you'll have a better perspective about each coach. 

04. TREAT THE CONSULTATION AS AN INTERVIEW

 Most business coaches offer a free consultation, so they can identify the client's needs and see how they can help them. This is the perfect opportunity for you to ask questions and get a feel of how he or she operates. Here are some questions you should ask:

• What business expertise do you have?
• Have you run a business before? 
• What type of businesses do you work with? 
• How will you help me get the results?
• Should we decide to work together, what will that look like?
• What’s included in your services?
• What’s not included in your services?
• What to expect from working with you?
• Why did you become a business coach?
• Can you provide 3 references I can call?

05. ASK FOR REFERENCES (& CALL THEM)

If you think you want to hire the coach, ask for at least 3 references you can call. This can be very helpful if you found the coach online (not through recommendation). Most people are honest, and they will happily share their feedback. Here are the key questions you should ask: Are you still working with this coach? Is there any hesitation you have why you would not recommend this coach? What results have you created by working with this coach?

06. NOTICE HOW YOU FEEL AFTER THE CONSULTATION

A good indicator that the coach is right for you, is if he or she asked you a lot of very specific questions about your business and these questions helped you understand what your challenges are right now. Also, the coach should be able to identify what needs to be addressed to get the results you are looking for and set out a brief action plan (yes, during the consultation!). 

If after the initial call you feel clear on what the coach is offering (and what they are not offering), you are in good hands. And if after the call you feel a little bit confused, or something just doesn't feel right, this could be a red flag. As well as, if the references had some hesitations recommending the coach. 

THE BIG PICTURE

Whether your business is facing challenges, or you want to reach new business goals, a business coach can help you define and clarify the next steps to move forward. A great business coach will help you reach your potential as a business owner and leader, and provide you with effective and tangible tools to create results in your business.  Like I always say, if you want to grow on a professional level, you first must grow on a personal level. 

With love,
Inga