Why Investing In A Coach & Consultants Pay Off
More times than not entrepreneurs and small business owners have a great product or service but not enough of the guidance, knowledge or resources to get it off of the ground and to sustain the ability of its launch. Due to this, many startups and small businesses fail faster than the effort to get them going taken. So many things contribute to this and are rarely stressed to be as important as the operations which can be focused on after the business has launched. There are a few things that could help you with becoming better at sustaining your business once you get it off of the ground. It could help you with finding the funds and services needed for getting your business off the ground. However, there must be an understanding of why it’s worth your investment in the resources and services, even if you believe it’s not possible. Trust me, it will almost, always cost you more when you don’t have the proper guidance and tools at your disposal than if you do. I will list suggested services and resources that you may want to tap into to better your journey in pursuing your passion. It always seems as if it cost too much until it truly does cost too much.
The Blueprint (A Lean Canvas).
These nifty little one page sheets can help make your life so much easier when it comes to organizing your thoughts around your business idea. It is literally a written blueprint for your business development. It allows you to take the traditional business plan and shrink it down to a one-page summary that is detailed enough that an investor, financial institution or even a business mentor would understand your vision. Usually, you could find these wonderful sheets free or fairly inexpensive online. Finding them isn’t the problem, usually it’s understanding how to complete them. I’m providing you a link to a site that will allow you access to a lean canvas. (https://leanstack.com/leancanvas) Take the time to capture your thoughts and the details of your plan onto this form. After you have them all captured, be sure to ask your business coach/mentor to take a look over it and give any feedback that they believe would be of benefit and help you.
As you read further into this article, we will touch on the importance of utilizing a business and entrepreneurial coach as well as additional resources available out there for existing businesses and startups. You will see how those recommended resources all tie back into the lean canvas that we have recently discussed. Remember, do not allow yourself to be pulled into the mindset of “not being able to afford” because you believe there is a shortcut way to doing something.
Coach or Consultant?
A coach or a consultant can be a great tool for you while building out your business. Sometimes both are recommended and very well needed. There is a difference between a coach and a consultant, so let’s briefly talk about this before diving deeper into the roles of both a coach and a consultant. It simply comes down to asking the question of whether you want to partner with the client and guide them in executing their full potential or provide the professional advice and expertise for a subject matter. Coaching — according to the International Coach Federation coaching is defined as “partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential.” The coach is the subject matter expert at coaching, not necessarily the subject matter expert of the client’s coaching topic. Consulting — a consultant is an expert who is called on for professional or technical advice or opinions. They are relied on to understand the problem and present solutions. Consulting is unlike coaching because, with pure coaching, the answers come from the client.
Coaching Benefits.
To have a coach you will find yourself benefiting from a renewed sense of confidence, which can be the difference in the success of yourself and your business. If you think about how you feel when someone boosts your ego, you understand that you become a greater you. When you are in that mindset and feeling of greatness, there is nothing that anyone can do to make you feel as if you’re not able to accomplish what you have set out to accomplish. This energy, in turn, becomes part of the motivational energy that your team and staff around you receive. Now you have energized your business culture and that alone is valuable in its own right.
Another benefit of having a coach is that you learn how to work with a very diverse group of people. This is a great benefit in building and evolving your company and the teams within the business. A business coach will also allow you to better understand yourself when it comes to growing yourself as a leader and an individual. There is no greater feeling than knowing that you have invested in your self-growth while investing in the growth of the company. These are a couple of the many benefits of investing in a coach to help maximize the growth of yourself and your business. There are tons more benefits and once you find your coach and invest in the betterment of you, you’ll be able to take advantage of these many benefits.
Consulting Benefits.
So you may be asking yourself this very question, “if a coach can do this for me and help bring this greatness out of me, then why do I need a consultant?” Well, it’s simple, as a coach works to reveal, execute and hone the greatness in you, a consultant will immediately bring the skills, expertise, and knowledge to the table that you need. The consultant can provide instantaneous information and tools to help the business situation immediately. This is very important when it comes to a turnaround regarding potential issues that the business may be dealing with that it has struggled to find solutions for. There is nothing greater than having these outside pair of eyes.
A consultant also allows you to direct the saved up a time to other profitable aspects of the business. Usually, in business, leadership doesn’t like to commit to dedicating significant time and efforts to other aspects of the company because it becomes costly. However, a consultant has all of the time in the world to focus on those avenues and aspects and, in turn, can help make additional avenues and suggestions profitable for the business. It also allows the leadership to be able to focus on continued growth through proven efforts and abilities that may have been recommended by others on the leadership team or line staff. Never the less, having a consultant can help to minimize this cost.
The Conclusion.
At the end of the day, it should be considered to use the services of a business coach or consultant, if not both. This decision can make a major difference in the ease and fluidity of business functionality and improvement of systems, operations, and growth. A coach can help to bring the best you out and to the forefront of what you are building as well as what you are as an individual. A consultant is a great resource and guides for helping you get immediate information for the issues that a business may encounter as they look to grow or enhance themselves. In either case, the need for one or both is a certainty.
Please share if this article helps with clarity of the difference between a coach and a consultant. If you are interested in coaching or consulting services, I may be contacted via email at consoluver@gmail.com or directly on LinkedIn (Walter Matthews).
