Should I Hire a Business Coach?
Nishit Gururani
Brand Strategist for Architects, Designers & Luxury Design Brands | Digital Marketing & AI Enthusiast | Founder @onedigital - Leading Full-Service Agency | Self-Taught Creative Visualizer
This article is definitely going to be controversial and shall answer questions like
To set the preset right, the article is about Business Coaches and not Life Coaches. Most promoters tend to confuse the two and in my opinion, are mutually exclusive; A Business Coach should work more like a business partner or advisor while a Life Coach should work more like your psychologist helping you understand and achieve your personal goals. Life Coaches will help you find balance in your life with personal success rather than helping you find a way to achieve professional success with KPIs driven by organizational growth, profits, and revenue, which are done by the Business Coach. Or is it?
A question that puzzled me. How could a business coach with no entreprenial exprience (other than his coaching) can tell legacy business how to do business
When I was first introduced to Business Coaching (apart from our childhood Shiv Khera Book), I was in awe of the business idea (well you get paid to give GYAAN, why not!) but as personal feedback, to my friend, I had this question WHY? Why would you need a business coach? So, he like most patrons believe (yes he still believes it!) - A qualified business coach will?motivate you to do more, which means you'll accelerate faster to reach your short- and long-term business goals. So here is the WHY!
Humour can be a surprisingly powerful intervention and source of learning
After meeting many clients who advocated their business coaches and marketed them to me, I was surprised that they actually had a community. I remember being in Raipur, and how a big builder was elated to be part of the Rahul Jain community, who apparently changed his life. So I deduced, that Most candidates to market Business Coaching were second & third-generation family businesses whose promoters struggle with operational problems. Operational issues in business are problems that can create waste and affect profitability. Further, they can drain company resources, impact operational performance, and hinder growth.?
Typically, such issues fall under the following categories: (No I don't have an acronym for these)
So now given that operations play a major role in increasing the value of your company and helping you earn a profit, these issues must be tackled sooner rather than later. Otherwise, you’ll never reach the level of success you deserve.?Worse, you could end up having to shut down the business your family had worked so hard to build.??
Success of any business is held by strings of operational competency. And every business strives to improve, even the best.
Now, this of course is a problem to be solved, and everyone knows about it. But I personally feel there is a phycological reason for it too. The unsaid nepotism in traditional businesses may seem normal, but the later generations always seek validation from their founders or predecessors it not the society itself. Today most MDs and Senior Directors averagely work till their mid-70s and later generations only get the company control by their mid-50s. Thus in their 30s and 40s, all they have to do is to follow standard age-old SOPs, which makes their life a routine affair and nothing like the bootstrap start-up tales their fathers told them. Many try different ventures, which fail due to complacency, access to funding, or family business problems.
Most young family-business promoters shy form taking risks, dont. The unsaid financial backing and upbringing in business environement helps you make better instictive descisons
Business Coaches come here to rescue. In this situation of dissatisfaction and crisis, they are like Genie straight out of the bottle.
A good problem-solving strategy may look like this…
Step 1: Identify the problem.?First things first, you’ll need to be aware that there is a problem and identify what kind of problem it is.?Well since most family businesses has similar problems the audience relates to them and is elated to finally find someone who understands their problem. Most sessions have all generations in the coaching session, thus addressing the elephant in the room.
Step 2: Determine all contributing factors.?Find out when, where, and how it occurred. Talk to those involved to see how often the problem arises.??Imagine this to be like outsourcing introspection.
Step 5: Brainstorm possible solutions.?Discuss ways the problem could be better addressed or even avoided.??To addresses masses, you shall be conditioned to common-sense solutions, which is usually taking a step back or having a different perspective on the problem.
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Step 6: Create an action plan.?Once you’ve settled on a solution, develop an action plan for members of your team to follow.?A google sheet with scripted pivot tables to formalize your paper-led operations can excite you and make you jump on your seat. I mean why could spend on UI-friendly cloud tools when you can get a GOOGLE SHEET!
Step 7: Audit the results. This is new to you! Motivated to bring the change. And that is the REAL result, isn't it?
So what's the business coaching advantage: When someone is holding you accountable to complete certain tasks within a specified time frame you'll be much more likely to follow through, and since most promoters have no bosses, this works well. They find their GURU.
So is business coaching successful then? Well, this is quite a subjective answer, though I have answered it mathematically - via Probability. Which school produces most IITans. DPS, well why? With the number, of students and franchises all over India, it is highly probable that for every college that you go to, you shall find one DPSite, even in the IITs. Though there will be many who don't study with fancy schools but still crack the JEE. So I think you got the analogy.
So should I not take business coaching? Well, you should, but with a pinch of salt. If you think you are not motivated enough and lack vision and mission, business coaching will definitely give you a spark to do more and make you more competitive. The ecosystem is driven by high adrenaline rush speakers who throttle your soul and leave you with uncomfortable questions. But, you should keep in mind that they are here to make money and are trying to make you understand the standard SOPs and problems. They are not going to handhold you and make your business grow.
The whole article might sound sarcastic and negative on business coaching, but it's not. I want to present a skeptical and realistic view of business coaching. If you are that entrepreneur who will flare of sales, Business Coaching sessions could be a good platform to create a new network of clients and facilitate referrals. So if you are smart anything can be business networking, be it Guruji Following, Sanjeev Jain Business Coaching, or BNI.
Further, Business coaches can teach employees skills and techniques to increase retention and give constructive criticism on inadequate training procedures. They can also help minimize office politics by getting everyone focused on the same goal.
Another good learning from leading business coaches is Personal Branding, Religion Marketing, and Word-of-Mouth Marketing. Imagine creating a network of clients who promote your products and services. That is definitely cool!
Do also a consider a Life Coach, to first define your real reasons to consider business coaching and your personal goals too
In conclusion, if you are planning to hire a personal business coach or be part of business coaching, first ask yourself why and what you are expecting from your coach, and set realistic KPIs. Do try a few sessions with different coaches, to understand whom your thoughts align with.
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Additional Reading
Do I Need a Life Coach Or A Professional Coach?
Well, if you are unable to decide whether you need a life coach or a business coach, then look at the scenarios with which you are fighting these days. Are you doing business or doing nothing at all in your life? If you are a business person but you are unable to bring business success, then you need a business coach. On the other hand, if you are a person who couldn't decide what you are doing with life and whether the overall layout of your life in next year, then life coach is the most probably your requirement.
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Nishit Gururani | www.onedigital.co.in
I am fortunate enough to have worked with over 100 clients across industries of all sizes. My inquisitiveness has given me an opportunity to understand businesses better both financially and psychologically. I am on an interesting learning curve of my life, and rather than sharing my experiences at 70, I would like to share them now.