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Looking For A Perth Business Coach? Chances are that if you have come to my website your business is not delivering the sort of results you want. Or, maybe you feel the full potential in your business is not being realised? You’ve probably visited several websites for business coaches and consultants in an almost futile attempt to discover who would best be able to help you. It’s pretty difficult right? They all sound the same. Promises of massively increasing your profits or enabling you to enjoy more time off from your business. So how can you possibly choose which business coach will really help you? … before I answer that question I am going to answer another question you probably have. That is, Can A Business Coach Really Help My Business?… In answering this, I have a confession to make. I have had 2 coaching clients go ‘bust’. At the time I was pretty devastated as I really treat my client’s businesses as though they are my own. How come I was unable to help my client’s save their businesses? Well in part it was due to my client’s particular circumstances. But, I should also take some responsibility in that it could have been due to my coaching abilities and skills at the time… As a coach I am always learning and growing and every year of coaching experience better equips me to help my clients. Perhaps at this stage you’re thinking that doesn’t sound too encouraging and that I’m crazy admitting this. I have deliberately shared this because I want you to be realistic in your expectations of what a business coach can do for you and your business. At the other extreme I have worked with several businesses where coaching has made a massive difference to the business and the business owner’s life, such as Steve from Scafwest, who had a reasonable business before we met. However the results had stagnated for the previous 5 years and he described his typical day as chaotic and stressful. Working together we more than doubled Scafwest’s profits within 12 months and reduced Steve’s working hours from 60 to 40 per week. In the 2nd year we doubled his profits again and hired a General Manager and Operations Manager, so that Steve could focus on what he enjoyed and did best. These were pretty amazing results after 5 years of stagnation, so business coaching can make a massive difference (see my testimonials page for other amazing results). Well that was Steve, but can a business coach really help your business? … the answer is PROBABLY. Success depends upon many factors, such as the type of business and industry you’re in, the economy, the strength of your balance sheet, your competitors … most of these factors you have little or no control over. But what about those factors that you do control? This includes your business knowledge and acumen, your ability to ask yourself strategic questions, the way you lead and motivate your team, and your commitment and self discipline to working “on” your business rather than “in” your business. Then there’s your willingness to take ownership and responsibility for the results you have achieved so far and and your openness to making the necessary changes. A good business coach can definitely help you with these. But these factors all have one thing in common… and that’s YOU. And therein lies the main frustration and challenge for every business coach. We can coach you to do the stuff you need to do to be more successful -- but we can’t make you do it. As a coach I see it as my responsibility to help my clients discover what will motivate them to do what they need to do. As yet, I haven’t discovered some magic formula that works for every client. As a business coach I can help you achieve better results in your business and certainly better results than you are going to achieve on your own. However, your ultimate success will largely depend upon YOU and the commitment and work you are willing to put in. If that scares you then don’t take on a business coach because you will be wasting your time and money. Just one word of caution though – settling for mediocrity is no less easier than going for success. By the way, of those two client’s that went bust, Darryl & Rebecca, I have since employed Rebecca as the General Manager of one of the businesses I recently took some equity in. And Darryl, who I recently shared a beer with, admitted that we would have saved his business if we had of commenced the coaching 8-10 months earlier. He is now enjoying working as a Salesman for a public listed company. Perhaps it reinforces one of my favourite quotes from Eckart Tolle “Failure lies concealed in every success and success in every failure” Hopefully you’re satisfied with my response as to whether a business coach can help your business. I apologise for not being able to give a more definitive answer than “Probably”, however, there are no guarantees in business. So let’s assume if you got this far, that you are convinced a business coach can help you and that you have the necessary commitment to make the coaching a success. In which case you’re probably faced with the difficult decision of how to choose the best business coach for your business. So here’s my advice as to what I think are the most important considerations when choosing a coach… 1. You can’t beat experience – It doesn’t matter what a coach’s past experience, courses attended or qualifications are, you just can’t beat hands on experience coaching - real live business owners. Despite having what I considered to be substantial business experience and career success prior to being a coach, I was in for a pretty “steep learning curve” when it came to the challenges of coaching business owners, where you had to deliver results quickly or you were often out of a job. I consider my first 3 years my apprenticeship years. I’m amazed that I survived and almost embarrassed when I compare my knowledge and skill levels now with what they were back then. In the ActionCOACH community I have seen roughly only 1 out of 3 coaches survive beyond 5 years. Of the 16 coaches I originally attended training with in 2001 there are now only 3 that are still coaching today. So my advice to business owners is that you should only choose a business coach with an absolute minimum of 5 years experience … and I mean purely coaching experience, where they have lived or died from their coaching practice and it is not offered as an add on to other services such as accounting or financial planning. 2. Look At Their Client Retention Rates – in other words on average, for how long does the coach work with his clients. A good coach will have a number of clients that they have worked with for 1, 2, 3 or more years. Surely this has to be the most compelling evidence of how good a coach is – so simply ask the prospective coach for a list of their current clients and how long they have been working with each client. 3. Ask For Testimonials – After awhile most testimonials start to sound the same, however I believe the number of testimonials a coach can provide is probably a good indication of their ability. A word of caution, cited statistics or results should be taken with a “pinch of salt” as the numbers can be easily fudged to appear more favourable. For example “Our business has increased profits by 1100% in the first 7 months” sounds fantastic, but it’s not if your previous profit was $100, nor does it tell you what it is being compared to… the previous 7 months… the corresponding 7 months from last year… I think you get my point. One of the difficulties for coaches is that we cannot usually quote direct dollar figure due to client confidentiality. 4. Is The Coach Part Of A Coaching Team – Now this might seem like a strange one, however working alongside fellow coaches has been critical for my learning and development. As an ActionCOACH I am a franchisee. Some people ask me whether I would have been better off just going it alone and forgoing having to pay franchise fees. My response is “Definitely Not”! I am absolutely certain that I would not have survived as a business coach without the support and cross learning I received from my fellow ActionCOACHes . Furthermore, I am a better coach as a result. 5. Ask The Coach For His Opinion – ask the prospective coach what they believe are the keys to having a successful business. If their response resonates with you then you are probably going to respect your coach’s views and want to implement the strategies they suggest. So there you have it. If you have made it this far may I compliment you on your persistence. I hope I have helped arm you with some useful information on whether a business coach can help your business and how to choose the best coach for you. Of course, I hope you will choose me as one of your prospective coaches, but if not may I wish you future success in your business. If you are ready to discover the hidden profit potential in your business and how you could be enjoying amazing results, then contact David today for a FREE, Complimentary Business Coaching Session! Either email David at davidbush@actioncoach.com or call him now on 08 9243 0506 to book your FREE, No Obligations, Complimentary Business Coaching Session.
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