Running a small business can be hard work; or rather, running a small business is very hard work. The list of tasks you’re responsible for seems endless and includes, but is far from limited to doing your day job, the accounts, day-to-day administration tasks, cleaning the office or your premises (be that your car or spare room) and providing canteen services (even if that means nipping to the kitchen for a cup of tea).
Me Time? You must be joking
Even with a small team you’ll find that running a business can be time consuming and finding time to be more productive and grow your business can be hard. Add to these demands important issues like ‘me time’ or ‘family time’ and you have a recipe for disaster! Some business owners turn to life coaches or business coaches to help unravel this complex web of competing demands and needs but how successful can working with a business coach be and what are the benefits?
The bigger picture
Business coaching has been around for many years and if popularity is anything to go by there must certainly be something to it. Professional Business coaching is actually something of a poor description as the techniques are very similar to life coaching; professional coaches use similar techniques. In both areas establishing goals is key to success. While we might regularly do this on a smaller level in business, many of us do not take into account the bigger picture, and we don’t always consider how other areas of our life and personality can impact on our working lives. It’s this aspect of setting goals in business and integrating them within wider goals in life that makes business coaching invaluable to many small (and larger) businesses.
Making time for growth
While many small business owners are motivated simply by the need to make an income, coaching can help you to identify goals and opportunities for growth. Business coaches are able to do this by utilizing a very old technique – simply providing a fresh pair of eyes. While engaged in the day to day running of any business it’s surprisingly easy to lose perspective or become blind to new ways of operating. This second pair of eyes is what many business owners can find invaluable – extra insight, or simple common sense approaches to working more efficiently. At the same time coaches can provide outside support and motivation – again something that can be very hard to find when you work alone. Business coaches take their basic model from sports coaches and operate in a very similar way. It’s a tried and tested method and can be invaluable whatever size of firm you run.
