Should you Hire a Business Coach?

Business coaching has become a trendy field over the past few decades, and is seemingly growing daily in every single segment of every industry. A coach can provide you with tools that will help you to build and develop your business, but there are plenty of so-called coaches out there that are just pushing tired frameworks and not actually providing real value to their clients.

First, it is important to differentiate what a coach does from what a consultant does. Most people think of the terms as interchangeable. They are, in fact, not.

The easiest way to differentiate a coach and a consultant is that a consultant gives you a fish, and a coach teaches you how to fish. I have taken on both coaching and consulting engagements with clients, though coaching is normally a much more rewarding experience both for my client and me.

For a consulting client, we will have a goal. Say to evaluate the client’s cocktail menu. I will start by ensuring that the client has specific recipes for all of the cocktails on their menu, cost those recipes in order to ensure proper pricing, look at their training materials and systems regarding that cocktail menu, and then make recommendations for improvement. At that point, I may leave the client with a nice report of my findings, or add to the scope of work to include updating, re-costing and pricing the menu, creating and conducting additional training for their team, an so on. It is a limited scope transaction agreement that will require additional agreements to increase scope.

Now, let’s say I had a coaching client with the same concern. First thing we would do is discuss the concepts behind a top shelf cocktail program, liquor selections, and how to cost and price cocktail menus. I would go through the same analytical process as in the consulting, but rather than writing a report, I would use it as an interactive teaching opportunity to guide my client through the process. Once we reached the end of the analysis, I would sit down with the client and review the findings, pointing out places where there was room for improvement. I would then assist the client, rather than doing it myself, to revamp the cocktail menu as needed based on our conversation regarding improvements. Finally, I would work with the client to develop an evergreen teaching program for their cocktail list that they could easily update and utilize in the future.

So, at the end of the day, consulting really is giving someone a fish, where coaching is teaching someone to fish. Coaching also tends to go beyond the basic of the tasks, and delves more deeply into topics like developing the right ownership mindset for success. Beyond the hard systems and strategies of management and into the soft tools and soft skill that differentiate the best from the average.

Now, you may still be thinking, but I know what I am doing I do not need a coach. You’re wrong. We all need coaches. Top performers in every industry, sport, or other activity all have coaches. Why? Because you need a trusted outside set of expert eyes. You need someone to call you on your BS. You need someone to hold you accountable and push you towards greater achievements. Without someone behind you, coaching you and pushing you to be better, you cannot achieve your peak potential.