The Importance of Having a Coach – Pt. 1
In our never-ending quest to bring you quality content we’re going to begin doing some periodic interviews with small business experts. We will cover a variety of topics and it only seemed fitting to start by talking with my friend Alan Melton about the importance of working with a small business coach. I can tell you that the guidance, input, and accountability have been helpful for us as we’ve grown our business so I would begin by asking this simple question: if great business leaders and athletes all tend to work with a coach then why wouldn’t you have a coach who can help you build your business more efficiently, avoid some of the time-consuming and costly mistakes that we call make, and who can provide the accountability we all need to be our best?
I realize that we focus on business credit lines, small business loans, and unsecured business credit solutions here but there are many other important aspects of growing your business. Coaching is one of those essentials. I would agree that the wrong coach is bad for business but the right coach is very good for business so if you’re not working with a coach – and preferably one who is experienced or maybe even who focuses on working with small business owners – then you need to make it a top priority to find one. For those of you who are new in business or who are experiencing cash flow concerns then the costs of properly financing your coaching should be built right into your budget and business models. I would never be one to make a shameless plug but by using one of our Hawkeye Management unsecured business lines of credit you would pay less than $100/month for the costs of a coach for 6-12 months and then you would likely see at least a $10,000 increase in your bottom line, work fewer hours, and experience greater enjoyment running your business. How is that not a huge win?
Let’s see what Alan has to say.
Tom: What is the job of a business coach?
Alan: Business coaches do in business what sports coaches do in sports. A good business coach helps business owners to win in the game of business. Think about the job of a sports coach. First a coach finds out what the team owner wants. Then the coach evaluates their team members; sometimes they will recommend the replacement of a player. The coach will evaluate the opposing teams. The coach then develops a plan to win games. The coach will work with the owner and the team members on an ongoing basis to make sure all the important statistics are going in the right direction. Business coaches do all these things in the arena of business.
As coaches, we help business owners to identify and overcome obstacles to their performance. We identify and maximize the key strengths of the business owner and their business. In summary, we help business owners to make more and work less and to love their business. As a result of our work, the business owner really owns the business rather than being a slave to it. The team members work with the business owner to achieve his goals and are happier. Everybody is happier.
Tom: What is the difference between coaching a small business vs. a large corporation?
Alan: The main differences are that usually are relatively “flat;” they don’t normally have many layers of management, and they typically have few locations. Additionally the business owner usually owns the shares in the business, rather than having many shareholders. With our coaching work for small business owners we are able to quickly assess the situation and make immediate impact. Large corporate cultures are much more bureaucratic; they require a lot of time and energy to transform the business.
To use the sports team analogy, a large corporation would be like having multiple teams and multiple games that are being played simultaneously against multiple opponents. With small businesses, normally only one or a few games are being played simultaneously.
There are some similarities between large and small businesses if you start at the top. If the leader will learn and change then the rest of the organization will follow.
Tom: According to you, what are the 3 biggest challenges facing small business owners?
Alan:
- Sales growth. Virtually every small business needs to grow. With our changing world and difficult economy many have struggled to maintain sales levels.
- Profitability and cash flow. With falling sales, many small business owners have been forced to make less and work more. Many are struggling to make ends meet.
- Getting Financing. Most banks are sitting on their money rather than helping small business owners to start up, buy and grow. I’m happy to have Hawkeye Management as a resource for small businesses.
Tom: Why should a small business hire a coach?
Alan: A good business coach will change your life; a coach changed mine. I hired a business coach in 1990 and within a few months my pay had increased by 50% and my work hours had decreased by 40%. I liked my job much better, and our business profits grew by 200%. Our employees and customers were happier too.
We have clients today who have experienced even greater results than that. We recently are working with a second generation HVAC company with revenues of $1.2 million. Over the last decade the owner had been working 80 hours per week and was making $40,000 per year. He had a bad debt last year of $170,000 and he was seriously considering bankruptcy. He told me that the number one thing he wanted was a date with his wife and more time with his family. After working with him, his managers and his employees, we identified improvements in eight different areas that added at least $178,000 in annual profits. At first he thought our findings were too good to be true, but now he is a believer. In the past six months his profits improved by over $150,000, which is over $300,000 per year! We have also helped him to work 20 hours less per week and he has had several dates with his wife. His outlook has been transformed from despair to hope.
This example is not unusual; many of our clients experience similar results.
You can read more about Alan and his business coaching at http://www.smallbusinesscoach.org/
Stay tuned later this week for Part 2 of this interview.
