10 ways a Business Coach can help you through important business decisions
Running a business can be challenging at times. While you may be in business for yourself that doesn’t mean you have to do it alone.
The fact is all types of businesses can benefit from coaching.
According to the Australian Institute of Management, 70% of its members hire coaches. Similar to why athletes use coaches, businesses can benefit from coaching to hone their skills guide them through important decisions.
Whether you’re a freelancer, start-up company or established firm with dozens of employees, you can benefit from investing in a business coach.
Grow your business by investing in a coach
Building a successful company requires skills, knowledge and guidance from people both inside and outside the company.
A business coach can give advice to start-ups regarding investors, employees and regulations. If you’re an established company, a business coach can help manage client expectations, relationships with partners and strategies to keep your employees engaged.
Let’s look at how a business coach can help you.
10 ways a business coach can help guide you through important business decisions
-
Increase your productivity
Are you working long hours but you’re still not getting all your work completed? Professional coaching highlights areas of your business of latent productivity.
-
Increase your sales & profits
Coaches offer realistic expectations of your financial situation and strategies to implement for ongoing improvement.
-
Improve relationships with employees, clients & partners
Your company can’t function without employees, customers and partners. Ensure you’re looking after your greatest asset by improving communication and collaboration.
-
Reduce internal conflict
Your company might have some weaknesses that as an insider you can’t see. Reduce internal conflict by investing in a trained business coach.
-
Develop or improve business & marketing plans
Coaches can help you brainstorm business and marketing ideas to formalise into a professional plan for a blueprint for the future.
-
Team training & skill development
Keep your employees happy by investing in their growth and education. Coaches will look at options available to invest in the right development training.
-
Advice on where to best invest
Don’t waste money investing in the wrong type of marketing or growth strategies. Every business has different customers, therefore different channels to connect with them.
-
Encouragement & accountability
According to the Department of Education, Training & Employment, team building in an office helps to foster better and open communication between the employees and higher management.
-
Help focus on what you do best
A coach will help you focus on what you do best and invest in employees who can fill in the gaps. Most business owners go into business for themselves because they’re passionate and talented at one particular service or area of business. E.g. carpentry.
-
Offer an impartial voice
Coaches provide governance for businesses that need an outside view, an impartial voice and someone to provide direction.
A recent article in the Guardian suggests decision making and prioritisation processes are other areas where business coaching can help streamline operations. For example, learning the skills to deal with key decisions such as which target market to focus on or which investor to contact.
But probably one of the greatest advantages of using a coach is to guide your decisions when it comes to spending money.
Improve your business profit and efficiency
Cash flow is vital for every business, no matter what industry you’re in. For a healthy cash flow, there are strategies you can implement to improve profitability.
-
Set your budget.
Identify your spending budget so you can stay on track with your cash flow.
-
Track your spending.
If you don’t track what you’re spending, how can you know the state of your cash flow?
-
Use credit wisely.
Credit is a necessary part of business but you must you must understand the distinction between good and bad debt.
-
Educate yourself.
Even if you have an accountant, it’s important for you to understand the fundamentals of money and management of credits and debits.
-
Look ahead.
Always have a vision of the coming months and how your cash flow may be affected. For example, factoring in Christmas bonuses or employee pay increases.
A business coach will analyse your operating cash flow and help you keep track of money going in and out of your business.
Contact your local business coach to help you grow your business.