Are you an SME owner manager looking to progress from your current stage to the next level?
Business coaching that’s bespoke, modular and personal can help you meet your goals and transform your future vision into reality.
However, there are many myths associated with business coaching – we’ve dispelled four of them so they don’t catch you out.
MYTH 1: ‘It doesn’t work.’
Whether you want to increase your turnover, expand your workforce, find new markets or work less hours, business coaching can enable you to achieve these objectives, and more.
Contrary to popular belief, business coaching does work, but it needs to be the right type of business coaching, not coaching that offers a ‘one size fits all’ solution.
So while there may be broad commercial principles that can and should be applied to every business, the most effective form of business coaching is when it’s tailored to fit the individual characteristics of your business and your personal objectives.
Successful business development doesn’t just stop there. After agreeing the area(s) you would like to concentrate on, your business coach should also work with you to:
- Identify the tools and strategies that will be of most benefit to you
- Modify the tools and strategies to fit your requirements and objectives
The end result: You get business development solutions that work specifically for your business and tangible results.
MYTH 2: ‘It’s consulting.’
Business coaching isn’t consulting! In fact, it couldn’t be any further from consulting in which you pay for external suppliers/partners to carry out a particular piece of work that’s often influenced by their own ideas and perspective. Then once the project is finished, they leave and you have to hope that what they did continues to work when they’re not around.
Like a sports coach, an SME business coach helps you focus on what you want for your business and the specific actions that are required to achieve it. They’ll then provide the support and accountability that’s needed to complete all of those actions. This process means that not only do you get things done more quickly, but all of the key learnings and knowledge transfers to you and your business, which will continue to add value long after they’ve gone.
They’ll also work with you to develop you to your highest potential, as well as concentrate on developing your business in particular areas. For example, two of the common areas we work on with clients at Next Level are:
- Their sales processes.
- Their recruitment processes.
- Creating a ‘how to’ manual for their business.
MYTH 3: ‘It’s not for me. I know my business best.’
The power of business coaching shouldn’t be underestimated. Its use is reportedly widespread among UK businesses, with a survey by the University of Bristol revealing that nine in ten respondents (88%) now use some form of coaching within their organisation.
Every great performer or elite sports star is surrounded by a team of coaches and advisors and there’s no reason why SME business owners shouldn’t take the same approach.
Yes, SME business owners might believe that they know their business best, and quite rightly so, but it’s an extremely limiting view. A business coach will provide you with an unbiased external perspective of your business and challenge what has become accepted as ‘the norm’.
They’ll also bring broader commercial experience gained from working with many businesses that can be used to benefit yours. Working with a business coach is an invaluable long-term investment in the future of your company that enables you to look at your business objectively. Not only does it enable you to develop and achieve realistic goals and strategies, it can also deliver organisation-wide improvements in areas you may have overlooked.
Most importantly, it provides you with the insight and knowledge you require to make the process yours and enables you to continue applying it to your business for years to come.
MYTH 4: ‘It’s only for failing businesses.’
This statement couldn’t be any further from the truth.
Legendary CEO, Sir Richard Branson, has always had a coach and when asked about it he reportedly said: ‘I can’t do it all on my own.’ While Eric Schmidt the CEO of Google from 2001 to 2011, who’s currently ranked as the 100th richest man in the world, once said that hiring a coach was his best business decision.
Many businesses tend to naturally hit a ceiling because continuing to do the same thing they’ve always done can only get them so far. While it may be tempting to continue to carry on in the same direction, it can actually prevent businesses from achieving further growth.
Most people are afraid to change how they do things in their business. They’re grown accustomed to how things are and don’t believe change will help their business grow. However, the successful people are very often those who have the foresight to recognise when things aren’t working and aren’t afraid to stop what they’re doing and make the necessary changes.
Got any questions or want to discuss your business coaching requirements with us? Contact us on 0113 394 4559 or enquiries@nextlevelbd.co.uk.
Alternatively, if you’d like to find out where you need to focus on in order to develop your business, take our free business health check, which takes literally two minutes to complete.