Is NOW the right time to hire a business coach?

In current circumstances, when business is down and business owners are looking to trim expenses (a wise decisions and something I advise them to do: doing business in a crisis: 5 things to focus on now) – it might seem inappropriate to consider increasing expenditures by hiring a coach.

Or…as someone I spoke with recently put it:

“Business coaching is a luxury that most people can’t afford right now.”

When I heard that, it occurred to me that if that is how they are thinking about business coaching – I wonder how many other businesses owners might be thinking the same thing.

This would be a really good time to make the distinction between “expense” and “investment.”

Catered lunches, office supplies and carpet cleaning are expenses. They might be important, but they don’t provide a direct financial return.

It is an investment in your future, your business and your personal life.

If you invested $25k in coaching and that produced a 10x return to your bottom line or improvement in your life, would you make that investment? I bet you would…

I believe so strongly that coaching is an investment, that I offer my clients a guarantee. The guarantee is that after 17 weeks or 4 months you will agree that coaching has paid for itself, OR I will coach you for free until you say that it’s true. Better still, you even get to decide how to define success. Your call. Your scorecard, whatever matters to you will be how we judge if coaching was worth the investment.

(I’ve worked with close to 300 clients and not ONE of those people have ever asked me to make good on the guarantee. If you don’t want to take my word for it, I invite you to ask any one of them about their experience of our work together!)

Let me ask you to consider this question from another perspective:

How much is it costing you now to NOT have a coach?

Our current circumstances magnify 3 reasons for hiring a coach, now more than ever.

1. You Are Overwhelmed

The No. 1 sign that it’s time for a coach is when you hit that feeling of being overwhelmed. One of my clients described this as “feeling like you’re sinking instead of swimming.”

You are overwhelmed by feeling like there is too much to do and too little hours in the day. You are overwhelmed by not knowing how much profit you are making at the end of your month. And you are overwhelmed because you don’t feel like you have control of your business, your employees or your vendors.

2. You Need Advice, Guidance or a Confidant to Talk About Your Business With

Business owners often feel alone. Even in ordinary circumstance you may feel that there is no one who you can turn to for help, for perspective, to use as a sounding board.
Now, more than ever, you may really be feeling like you could use some insight and help.

I used to do a lot of white-water canoeing.

I hired a guide to help get through the rapids. To begin with, they got in the boat with me! As I developed skill, they stayed alongside me in their own canoe.

That’s a little bit like how coaching works.

Right now, we are navigating very turbulent times. You don’t have to face this alone, you can hire a guide to help you get through this while making good sound decisions and taking action when it is needed.

3. You Need to Cut Expenses and Find Revenue

Right now I am working with business-owner clients to find the opportunities in this virus situation by right-sizing your expenses while quickly adapting to drive revenue and hold onto your best talent at a time when everyone else is downsizing and hiding and watching their businesses fade away.

Tough times call for courage and tough decisions – and the challenges can feel almost insurmountable when faced alone.