With January around the corner, many business owners are gearing up to hire a business coach. It makes sense. After all, a business coach will help them achieve some of the goals they have in mind for the upcoming year.
The problem is there are a lot of business and marketing coaches out there. It’s as if the industry exploded in the past couple of years. This means you’ll have to do your due diligence in finding the right business coaching for you. Here are some ways to properly vet business coaches before you hire them.
What kind of business coach are they?
There’s no such thing as a one size fits all business coach. If someone tells you they can handle anything having to do with business, run the other way. The truth is coaches should have specific specialties.
Now that I do a lot of business coaching, I realize my clients and students come to me for one main reason: I’m really good at online marketing, branding and messaging. That is what they want to learn from me. If they want to learn about back end systems, Facebook ads or video they need to go to someone else.
What stage of business are you in?
A seasoned business owner is going to need different coaching than someone who is just starting their business. This is something I actually learned the hard way a few years ago. I made the mistake of thinking I could use the same coach as my business evolved, but that was not the case at all.
Which coach you decide to hire should match up with your current stage in business. For example, I hired a coach in 2017 who specialized in creating systems because that’s what I needed help with.
What are your goals?
Which coach you decide to hire may completely depend on your goals. For example, if you want a seven-figure business, it would be wise to hire a coach with a known track record for helping people get there.
Perhaps your goals aren’t even income related. Maybe one of your goals is to create a sales funnel but you’re lost on how to do it. Or, maybe you need help with improving backend operations. In each of these cases, you’ll need to hire someone who can help with the specific goal.
Does this coach offer a class you can try first?
Sometimes you don’t need the actual coach. Instead, it may suffice to take a class that they offer. This, of course, depends on you and your knowledge in a particular subject area.
For instance, I recently purchased a course on Facebook ads instead of hiring the coach who teaches it. The reason is because I’ve been testing Facebook ads all year and am quite familiar with the subject matter. I knew that if I had to the right guidance from a course that I would be able to get what I needed and figure the rest out myself.
Just note that sometimes this won’t work. Sometimes it will save you time (and money) to hire the coach for specialized guidance. That’s why you need to know what your goals are.
Final Thoughts
Hiring a business coach is definitely worth the investment. Just make sure you’re hiring the right one for your
