Being an entrepreneur is tough. In fact, nobody chooses to be an entrepreneur because it’s easy! Most people choose it as they are looking for a job with more freedom to do what they wish, they want to build up a business from scratch, or they have a brand new idea to share with the world. Whatever your reasoning, it’s certainly an exciting career path to choose. Having said that, not everybody makes a success of it. Around 60% of businesses fail in the first three years. This is a worrying statistic for any entrepreneur. How can you ensure that your business isn’t one of the unlucky majority? Creating a successful business takes lots of hard work and dedication. Successful entrepreneurs credit their achievements to all sorts of things, including:

  • Prioritising being highly organised
  • Facing their fears and taking risks
  • Using a clear strategy (and not being afraid to adapt it where needed!
  • Confidence and being willing to talk to people anywhere and everywhere to expand their network of useful contacts
  • Being patient but also taking the opportunities offered to them
  • Utilising the support of a business coach

It is this last bullet point that we’ll be talking about in this blog post. Business coaching for entrepreneurs is vital for a number of reasons. In fact, it can help you with all of the former bullet points and more. Entrepreneurs of all kinds can benefit from a business coach. Whether you’re just starting out with your first venture, or you’re a seasoned entrepreneur with multiple companies under your belt, coaching services are sure to have some major advantages for you. Have you hit a wall in your organisation and are worried about the repercussions? Or, perhaps you are in the very first stages of a new venture and want to make sure you do it properly. No matter your strategy or situation, this article should help you to decide whether a business coach is the right decision for you.

What exactly is a business coach?

Before we start talking about why business coaching for entrepreneurs is so vital, it’s probably a good idea to talk about the definition of a business coach. The short answer is that it differs for everyone! Different people need different things out of their business coaching experience, so there is no one true definition of what a business coach actually is. However, in essence, most business coaching is about working to help a business reach specific goals, grow, and make more money as a result. It’s good for both business owners who are stuck in a rut, and those for whom things are going well. Different coaches specialise in different things. So, it’s about finding a coach that you can work well with and will help you reach your goals, whatever these may be.

So, why is business coaching for entrepreneurs so vital?

It will free up more of your time

hobbies used in free time when using Business Coaching for Entrepreneurs

As this post has already mentioned, lots of people make the jump and decide to become entrepreneurs as they are looking for greater freedom out of their careers. However, despite their best intentions, often owning your own business can become all-consuming and takes up more time than a regular nine to five ever would! This is where a coach can certainly help. They will work with you to assess what time you have available and what you’re currently spending it on to come up with a strategy to make the best use of your time going forward. Doing this will help you to cut out the activities that aren’t serving you the best, and free up more time to spend on the things that really matter to you.

Coaching gives your goals clarity

Being an entrepreneur often means wearing many different hats in order to get everything done. While this can be exhilarating, it can also mean that you get caught up in the day-to-day running of your business, struggling to see the bigger picture as a result. Business coaching for entrepreneurs can help you to take a step back and come up with both long and short term strategies to reach your overall goals. When running any business, it’s vital to have clear goals in place so that you can measure your progress and give yourself something to work towards. A coach will help you in defining what these goals are, and coming up with a plan for how you are going to achieve them.

Increase your profits

Who doesn’t want to make more money? Of course, you are probably passionate about your business for other reasons too, such as the great products or services you have to offer or the problems that you solve for your customers. But, at the end of the day, being an entrepreneur is about making money! Business coaching for entrepreneurs can help you to do just that. Your coach will take a look at your finances and methods to see where you’re going wrong and what strategies you could employ to either save on your expenses or increase your sales. From focusing on your most profitable services to creating new opportunities for revenue generation, sometimes all it takes is a fresh perspective to identify the best ways to increase your profits.

Increase your confidence

Being an entrepreneur can feel daunting, especially if you are new to it. Often, new entrepreneurs lack self-confidence. They feel as though they are not qualified enough to run their business, and doubt their abilities. Working with a coach can help you to manage these feelings and turn them into something positive. Furthermore, generally working on your business and seeing it thrive and grow will increase your confidence. After all, it’s empowering to see something that you have set up and built yourself do well! Don’t think that coaching is all to do with the business. It also helps the business owner to develop themselves, so that they can be a better business person and ensure more long-term success for their company.

Help prevent feeling overwhelmed

As an entrepreneur, it’s all too easy to become overwhelmed quickly. After all, you have a lot of responsibilities on your plate to ensure the smooth running of your business. This can lead to feeling trapped, which is the opposite of what entrepreneurs who chose this lifestyle for the freedom it offers want. The knock-on effects of these feelings can have big repercussions, from procrastination to wanting to throw in the towel completely. A business coach will equip you with the skills and methods you need to overcome these challenges and give yourself space to breathe when things get tough. Entrepreneurs who are clearly focused on their goals and resist the urge to procrastinate are far less likely to feel overwhelmed, and their businesses are more likely to succeed as a result.

More accountability

colleagues discussing how business coaching for entrepreneurs helps accountability

One of the things that many entrepreneurs struggle with, that ultimately leads to the failure of their operations, is a lack of accountability. Working for yourself is not always easy. If you’re on your own, you have nobody holding you accountable and making sure that you’re delivering on what you said you would do, in the same way that you would have in a ‘regular’ job. That is, until you hire a business coach! Your coach will always be on hand to ensure that you’re doing what you’re supposed to in order to ensure the success of your business. This will help you to stay focused, even in the face of unforeseen challenges. Over a longer period of time working with a coach, an entrepreneur should become more confident in their abilities to overcome these challenges and stay on track by themselves. You should see hiring a coach as a long term investment that will continue to pay off throughout the lifetime of your business. It’s true that it’s not always a quick-fix solution, but the skills and knowledge it gives you should have permanent benefits for you and your business!

Final thoughts on business coaching for entrepreneurs

As this article has hopefully shown you, entrepreneurs can benefit from business coaching in so many ways! Whether you’re looking to up your profits, free some more time, or generally stop feeling overwhelmed, coaching can help you to do all of this and more. Of course, finding the right coach is also very important. You want to work with somebody that you get along with, whose methods work well for you, and is flexible to your requirements. But, once you have this ideal partnership in place, you should soon start to see for yourself how many advantages business coaching for entrepreneurs can have!

Are you looking to grow your business with a coach who genuinely cares about seeing their clients thrive? If so, I would love to hear from you! I know that ultimately, business owners are looking to make more money, and I will help you do this (and achieve any other goals you may have!) with my proven strategies. Sound good? Why not get in touch with me on graham@grahamgarman.com to find out more today?