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Why is Business Coaching Important?


A recent report by Keap and Emergent Research found that about 94% (almost all ) of small business owners surveyed identify specific financial goals for their business and yet only 65% are confident they will achieve them.
This leaves 29% of small business owners, (one in four) who have set specific financial goals for their business, bit are not confident that they will achieve those goals.  This is where coaches come in.
Entrepreneurs and small business owners look towards a business coach to help solve specific tasks and objectives. But the moment they consider the coach’s fee, their reaction generally, is to save that cost, and solve the problem on their own.

But don’t worry about how you can’t afford to hire a business coach because the truth is, you can’t afford not to hire a business coach. 

Specific ways in which a Business Coach can help your business
Entrepreneurs usually start a business with a great business idea. As a new business owners, they are stuck with being a ‘generalist’. This may work for a while. But as the business grows, new problems and challenges come up, some of which may be too complex for a relatively inexperienced business owner to handle. The choice is to continue to find ‘fire fighting’ solutions, or to get help.

Strategy & Plans
A business coach is a great ‘sounding board’. He will challenge the business owner’s strategy and the underlying assumptions, and stretch the business goals. A business owner may have tall expectations from his business, but to rebound his strategy off someone who has immense experience and who will point towards the pit falls, and areas that need to be strengthened, is invaluable.



Business Management
As the business grows, so will the role of a business owner, who will be expected to demonstrate greater management capacity. They can seek help of a Business Coach to navigate difficult business problems and decisions. Coaches will also help set systems and processes in place – in fact a foundation, early on, to be able to handle some of the big, inevitable, management storms that are bound to hit, as the business goes along.

Business Growth (Taking the business to the next level)
Once the business is up and running, it is critical to keep in sight, the direction in which it is headed. A business coach will help focus on those areas of business that need nurturing in order that business growth is in line with the plan.
One critical role that a coach will play is related to accountability. It’s easy for a business owner to let him off the hook. A coach serves as an accountability partner and the business owner realizes that he is accountable to someone, for performance.
As the business grows, the business owner runs out of time to ‘learn while doing’. Also the margin of error for learning from his mistakes is now very narrow. At this stage, the business owner provides expert guidance and advise on how to tackle complex problems and solve them quickly.    

Summary
It’s important for the business owner to realize that the business environment will change and grow in complexity, at a rapid pace. Furthermore, as the business moves through stages of growth, the challenges will keep changing. New challenges will require changes in the manner in which the business is managed.
If you want to stay competitive in the midst of growth and change, don’t be afraid to get help.


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