Small Business Coaching Introduction

How effective, and just as importantly, cost effective, can coaching for small businesses be?  Well, starting and running your own business can be immensely rewarding; for many people, there is no greater achievement than building a thriving, successful business from scratch, realising their dreams and standing or falling by their own efforts.  But make no mistake, it can also be tough, and sometimes lonely.

A large proportion of people starting their own businesses do so doing something they are already good at.  But suddenly they find that they must learn a whole host of new skills; accounting and financial control, people management, strategic planning, perhaps even IT, stock control and marketing.  And often they attempt to do this with little or no support and limited resources.

In such a situation, small business coaching is invaluable.

Coaching for small businesses offers the business owner a level of support, encouragement and motivation that cannot be found elsewhere.  As a process, small business coaching stimulates individuals to reach their full potential, and gives them the tools they need to create the business they have envisioned. 

Probably the most valuable asset that small business coaching can give a business owner is confidence; confidence to tackle burning issues, to face tough sales negotiations, to deal with sensitive staff issues, to confront the bank manager.

But coaching for small businesses also offers much more than this.  A recipient of small business coaching gets one-to-one help with any issue that they feel is preventing their business reaching its full potential.  Such issues could be related to the business owner him- or herself; for example time management, organisational skills or maintaining the work/life balance.  Alternatively, they could be issues related directly to the business, for example the need to produce a strategic plan or cash flow forecasts, people development or recruiting a first employee.  The practice of small business coaching facilitates these processes, empowering the entrepreneur to create the business he or she has always dreamed of.

A unique feature of coaching, for small businesses or individuals, is the way the process looks forward to goals and aspirations to be achieved.  Small business coaching is not therapy; it does not seek to “heal” or cover old ground, but to inspire and motivate entrepreneurs to remove the obstacles in their way and maximise their full potential.