Starting up a business - The Do’s and the Don’ts (Part 3)

Last week’s article on starting up a business was all about growth and planning, so here is the third and final part of Stating up a Business - the dos and don’ts (part 3)

Coaching & Media Platforms: hope you enjoy!

Coaching:

Do we really need a coach in our business or personal life? And if so what makes them so good that they think they can coach me, right? 

“Coaching is about unlocking a person’s potential to maximise their performance, it's helping them to learn rather than teaching them”

This is how most people think about the coaching world, well in business anyway, but when it comes to high-performance coaching in sport, well that’s a different story!

Business & Performance Coaching: For many decades, top performers in sport and the creative arts have used the services of a coach to help them achieve at the very highest level.

By comparison, the world of business has been slow to recognise coaching’s enormous value, although economic uncertainty and complexity have increasingly propelled it to the forefront of today’s business needs.

Business Owners or Business Professionals often face such pressing demands that they fail to find or make the time to discuss the challenges or concerns they have.

As a result, high-flyer's in businesses are increasingly appointing coaches to help them tackle complex problems, develop capabilities, face specific challenges, or help develop the business or team performance.

Coaching describes a series of confidential one-to-one conversations with a trusted advisor. 1-2-1 coaching offers a personalised approach to meeting today’s challenges while making time to prepare for tomorrows. Business Owners often want to review sensitive issues, such as procrastination, accountability, business growth, or the effectiveness and efficiency of their performance.

Freed from the constraints imposed by internal agendas, 1-2-1 coaching helps facilitate new insights and perspectives and a wholly unbiased view, enabling business owners to bring greater self-awareness, confidence, business growth, clarity, improved planning and balance to their decision-making. 

"Coaching isn't therapy. It's product development, with you or your business as the product."

The Dos: 

Do your research, choosing the right coach is fundamental to having the desired outcome. You need to be able to trust the coach, almost look up to them, ensure they have the credibility in the area you are looking to enhance or develop.

A sports professional would not hire a mindset coach to increase their skill levels, they would hire a coach who holds experience or credibility in this area. But the same person would probably hire a mindset coach to work on their motivation and self-belief in certain areas.

A business professional would not hire a mindset coach to work on their fitness levels in the gym, but would probably hire them to help with difficult business decisions, accountability or leadership development in those specific areas.

If you don’t do the research, don’t expect the results, too many people will take your money and run.

Do set out your expectations at the very start of the relationship and ensure you are measuring against those results through the process. Do make sure you have everything in writing highlighting those expectations from both sides that way you keep yourself covered.

Do the work, if you don’t keep up your side of the agreement and expectations don’t expect the results. 

“Hiring a business coach is NOT a sign of weakness or failure, it is a signal that you are ready for success. It’s helping you get where you need to go faster”

Don’ts: 

Don’t Expect miracles, a coach does not have a magic wand, coaching is about asking the difficult questions, taking you outside your comfort zone and pushing you into new ways of thinking.

Don’t expect the coach to do all the work for you. I have had clients who expected me to grow and develop their business for them, for me to do all the work, that’s not going to happen unless they want to hand over 50% of the profits. 

And don’t forget to do your homework and research your coach, make sure they have the credibility and the skillset that you require.

Eric Schmidt – formerly the CEO of Google – said that hiring a business coach was the best professional decision he ever made. He admits that it took some urging at first, as he was already a successful CEO of a rapidly-growing company.

Nevertheless, after being convinced by a Google board member, Schmidt decided to work with a business coach and was amazed by the results. In an interview with Fortune Magazine, Schmidt said, “everyone needs a coach”.

Other famous executives and entrepreneurs who have benefited from business coaching include Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Oprah Winfrey and countless others.

Suffice it to say that business coaching is a resource that some of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs still swear by to this day.

You don’t need to be a super-rich CEO to hire a coach, you just need the motivation to want to be successful to have more balance and make a better decision in life, sometimes just to have someone hold you accountable.

But always remember to ask the right question and set your expectation from the outset ensuring the coach or business coaching programme you chose is the right one for you.

Media Platforms:

This is a tricky subject and one that still raises the question daily. Social media nowadays is vital to business growth, yet the mass of society lack the skills to manage, perform and see tangible results and most of the time for those who have no clue of what they are doing, it’s a hit and miss game. Trust me, I am still in my early stages of learning about it and how it all works and still make mistakes. I have hired marketing coaches, social media experts (so-called) and everything in between.

A social media presence on its own will not necessarily mean anything for your business growth. You need to be present on your chosen platform or platforms, engage in the community, talk to the influencers, make your posts matter (add value, value, value)

It’s a good idea to get yourself noticed by providing useful tips or insights into a specific problem or challenge you know your target audience has. Being present and building up a following gets your brand recognised, and, with the right strategy and product to back you up, your social media presence should monetize.

Publish and promote your blog posts, get people to visit your website, have your calls to action prominently displayed, make sure people know who you are and what you can do for them.

You do need to commit to social media to see a long-term effect on your business. It’s not a once only done deal. Set aside some time every week to plan your posts and schedule time to get back to people and post new content. However, don’t feel guilty if you can’t commit now and again to posting your regular posts/blogs or articles. YOU ARE NOT A ROBOT. Sometimes circumstances will get on the way, so be aware and prepared for things to not always go to plan and BE KIND to yourself. 

The Dos:

Have an open mind and continue learning no matter how good you are. There is always something new to learn.

There is plenty of free information online to learn the basics of managing social media, however, it can be overwhelming, so if you don’t have the funds, set aside an hour every day to gain a new skill or improve your skills on social media and how it works. On the other hand, if you have the investment hire someone to teach you how it all works or attend few courses to have a better understanding, but always be prepared that not everyone who claims that they are a media expert is what they say they are.

“Without resilience and commitment, you are doomed to fail.”

Resilience is so important to your success, you need to be willing to try and keep trying until you get it right, be prepared for the no likes, no comments, or trolls, the disagreement, different opinions and the nasty comments. You are not and will not be everyone’s cup of tea, so don’t take any disagreement or difference of opinion personally, have the resilience to detach yourself from any negativity and always try to be authentic. That way people will get you.

The Don’ts:

If you don’t ask, you don’t get! Don’t be afraid to ask for advice or help, you will be amazed by how many people out there that are willing, would happily advise you or help you if you are not sure what to do. However, if something doesn’t feel right or is not aligned with what you believe don’t do it.

I always seek to ask someone with more experience than me - especially when there is something new that I don’t understand or have a basic knowledge of. I am always willing to try new things and listen to people with more knowledge than me, having said that, listening to others “the so-called experts” have cost me a loss of business on several occasions. The real mistake I made was going against my gut instinct. The desire to make things work and at pace overlapped with my logical instincts.

If the person or company you are seeking expert advice from or planning to hire don’t have more followers than you have or a top-quality social presence, 

DO NOT HIRE THEM.

Do more research, ask for recommendation or testimonials from others they have work with/for. It is a simple and basic equation, if they don’t have a presence on social media and hardly have any following how are they meant to grow your presence?

All of the above and previous articles are based on my own personal experiences, some people with have other ideas or experiences but one thing for sure, I really wish I had read articles like this when I first started out in business

Please like, share and comment if you have found this article helpful in any way

P.S You can find the first and second part of this article in the links below.

• https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/starting-up-business-dos-donts-james-fleming/
• https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/starting-up-business-dos-donts-part-2-james-fleming/

Interested to find out more about growing and developing you or you're business? Drop me a message and I will then happily arrange a FREE strategy call with you, after which we will decide together on the best course of action.

James Fleming

The Power Within Training & Development

[email protected]

07479010355