Business Coaches

[Eieio]

Has anyone ever though of Hiring a business coach to help them with certain aspects of their company?

If you did hire a coach what would you want them to do for you?

What is that area(s) that totally drive you insane, that you would like to see improved?

What is that area/task that your awful at that needs improvement?

[Carport King]

I have used a life coach for the past 5 years and mainly just to keep my mind clear and not let what going on in the world [economy] clog up my thoughts.

Because I am a news junkie, I have taught myself to skim the news and pull out what effects me and the people around me. I don't get caught up in all the news hype.

For example I knew they would seize Colonial Bank last night at 6:01 last night. This is larger bank in our area and I was talking yesterday to one of there employees at a condominium CAI event yesterday and I ask her if she was prepared to have her bank taken over tonight.

If you could have seen her face and she denied it to the fullest. She spent 30 minutes explaining to me what good shape her bank was in.

I wonder how she is feeling now?

I also get a 1 hour massage weekly because I believe it helps me stay on top of my game.

I believe in business and life coaches but like everything else you need to find the right coach.

Oh, plus I have a local mastermind group I started. We have 8 in our group of all types of local businesses[sorry no whiners] and we meet once a week for 1 hour.

Now we all talk throughout the week and help out on all kinds of issues as they arise because I believe you need to deal with things quickly.

My favorite phrase is "Lets Deal With it And Move On"

Once you find the right coach you will never go without one again.

[fez-head]

Shelly had a life coach through Primeco for a couple of years until her coach quit and thy tried to give her a new one. It straightened her out pretty well and made her much more logical. She was pretty hard to live with before that :surrender:

Stay away from Primeco - they took several thousand out of our checking account without permission and without warning sending us into overdraft on the business account..... we are still fighting them and the bank over it. :thumbsdown:

[Jamey01]

Thank for sharing the information. A business coach can help a business owner or manager to make significant advances in their business in a relatively short period of time.

[randyaustin]

After about 5 years in business I hired a coached who helped me realize I was completely undercharging my customers. He also helped me organize and prioritize business issues and together we developed several systems, policies and procedures. It was expensive as hell, but without it, I think we may have gone under.
Choose wisely, there are a lot of scammers out there

[Breyerconstruct]

Several folks fill this roll for me, and I still have a few gaps to fill.

I've got a great wife. She doesn't completely understand me or my business drive... but she tries to be supportive.

My father is a fellow business owner, and we can often relate & support each other.

I've also had a part-time CFO that has worked with us on a monthly basis for the last 15 months or so. This has been one of the best business decisions we've made. With his assistance we have developed a substantially better understanding of the business numbers and developed better processes & reporting to track, manage, and improve our business. Note- he does not do this for us, but helps us (me) to understand the details & then to develop the correct response. This means it's not us learning someone's system... but rather we are developing our own pattern for success.

Lastly, I enjoy my time networking on this site & a few other fine sites... I can usually find a few fellow builders/owners who I can relate to & provide me with some of the "life coach" benefits.

To be honest, I do have a few areas I'm looking to improve:

I don't have a local "mastermind" or equivalent group.
I don't have any local business owners that I can connect with.
I don't know anyone in our church who has the same business understanding that I do.


Great topic! It made me a bit introspective...
~Matt

[Breyerconstruct]

PS: when I say "connect with" for local business owners- I mean as we can often connect here on the boards- I know a lot of builders/remodelers (I'm 2nd VP with our local HBA, and Pres of the PA NADRA chapter)... but most folks don't share my passion for the business- they may enjoy the work, but not the business end of the stick. (And some are too old & fartsy to want to develop that relationship).

~Matt

[Breyerconstruct]

After about 5 years in business I hired a coached who helped me realize I was completely undercharging my customers. He also helped me organize and prioritize business issues and together we developed several systems, policies and procedures. It was expensive as hell, but without it, I think we may have gone under.
Choose wisely, there are a lot of scammers out there

Randy,
We chatted with some folks @ IBE about coaching. Talk about expensive! They're not the biggest, but the price tag for year 1 was around $30-40k- and that's without a clearly defined list of processes & results! (Basically, sign here, don't worry about the cost, and stage 1 will be great).

The sting of hiring the wrong company or adviser far outpaces the initial cost of getting the right person/people!!

~Matt

[cbscreative]

I've not used a coach either, but with my work I deal with business owners almost exclusively. I learn a lot from them. Like Matt said, I find the forums very helpful too, especially a small biz forum that I admin for. We do have some business coaches on that forum too, so it's like getting free samples.

[PA Woodbutcher]

.. but most folks don't share my passion for the business- they may enjoy the work, but not the business end of the stick. (And some are too old & fartsy to want to develop that relationship).

~Matt

Thats me except I'm not old a fartsy. :laugh3:

I hate the business end of it. I hate doing estimates, I hate giving the customers the price (although it always feels good when I sell a project even when I'm not the cheapest). and I hate giving them a final bill.

A business coach may be what I need for the new year. May do some poking around.

[Jamey01]

There are many new trends entering the business world. One of the most hyped among these is the business Coach. Suddenly every business enterprise worth its name seems to have a business coach. A business coach guides the owner of the business to improve the business. Let me try to make it simpler by comparing a business coach to any other coach - say, sports coach.

[OGStilts]

Anyone got any updates on their experiences with Business coaches?

I think a few of you are using Tim and I talked to John Stahl a while ago, has anyone worked with him?

[fez-head]

I still like my coach. He gives me hope, direction and a plan right now when I need it most.

[JamesDibben]

I've used 'consultants' in the past and just got taken to the cleaners. IPA anyone?

Anyway, I've found 'coaches' to be much more affordable and more up on the current technology. I still think many of them promise too much and charge too much.

Any coach that tells you he can help you with all areas of your business probably won't be able to help in any.

[nEighter]

There is a guy that was in my residential wiring class who does business coaching. He is a super nice guy, knows SO MUCH.. it is crazy. Told him that once the season gets running I wanted him to come along with me on some customer appointments and help me out a bit, or help me figure out how I can close more and how to position myself better to make more sales and handle the workflow after that through his experienced eyes.