Business coaching has gained massive popularity over the past few years. According to Brand Minds, the global coaching industry shot up to $15 billion in 2019.
This figure stood at $2.356 in 2015 and has been increasing at an annual rate of 5.6% ever since. With all the benefits coaching can offer to SMEs and large corporations, these huge turnovers don’t come as a shock to many.
A business coach is perhaps the greatest resource any business can have, especially if you get your hands on the right one. However, business coaching doesn’t work for everyone. Sometimes, having a coach may really add value to your business. Some even slow you down altogether. Here’s how to tell if business coaching is working for you.
Results
The idea of hiring a business mentor is to help you have an outsider’s view of your company and the growth of your leadership. A good coach will, therefore, help you perceive progress along the way, regardless of how small it is. They will get you to spot and even verbalize success and moments of victory when they take place.
This is important because progress is really the whole point of hiring a coach. If your business and your leadership growth have greatly improved, it’s a good sign that coaching is definitely for you. Zero progress, on the other hand, indicates trouble and it might be time for you to move on without your coach.
When you feel less pressure and less noise
Noise and pressure are constants that come with running a business. It is the job of a business coach to help you at the very least to reduce these or get rid of them completely. If coaching seems to add to the pile rather than subtract from it, then what’s the point? Granted, you need to put in the work and keep your motivation up during and after coaching but if you are feeling too overwhelmed and scattered, you are better off without it. Else, if you feel the burden lifted off, it means things are working.
When your definition of success matches that of your coach
All business owners want to increase their profit margins, become better leaders, grow their teams, and generally have a better quality of life. The difference comes in the strategy used to attain this high level of success.
There are those who believe in working really hard (logging more hours, responding to more phone calls, putting more effort looking for clients). These are the people who don’t mind going to the office on a Sunday afternoon or working while on vacation.
Then there are those who believe that success doesn’t come by logging more hours but rather creating value for their company. This type will focus more on activities that add value to them and then get to the low-value stuff like answering emails and phone calls. Both of these work, obviously. The key indicator that business coaching is a perfect fit for you is if your ideas of achieving success match those of your coach.
When you can be honest with your coach
Honesty is a huge driving force for the success of business coaching. This is one of the unique selling points of Maui Mastermind business coaching. They are always honest about their clients’ progress during the coaching sessions. Similarly, they expect their clients to share their day-to-day experience with the coaching program without holding anything back.
If honest communication lines are broken, you will get minimal or zero results from coaching. Ask yourself if you can be completely honest with your coach about the state of your financials and business or not. Also, find out if they can reciprocate the same during the coaching.
You know coaching is working if the answers to your questions are both positive. If you feel the need to hide a few things from your coach, you are not a suitable candidate for coaching.
When your relationship with your coach is valuable
The goal of coaching is to get guidance on what to do to take your business to the top. A good coach will get you there but coaching is not meant to last forever. Even if you are playing by the rules, you will reach a place where you will outgrow the relationships.
If the sessions start getting bland, it could be an indicator that the coaching relationship is dying a natural death. Sometimes, growth takes place faster than you had anticipated and that’s perfectly okay. Don’t be afraid to stop the services of a business coach when you feel like they are no longer satisfactory.
Business coaching has the potential to increase your profit margin by up to 46% according to Street Directory. This can literally get your business off the roof. Sadly, coaching can also be a total waste of time. Now you know how to tell one from the other.
