This is one of the things I did not do when I first started. I did it all myself. And it took me 3 years to bring the company to profit. It’s not a long time and I did enjoy the process however I realize now there was another way, a smarter way. 

Before sharing why a coach can help and how, let me just say this: make sure you find a coach that is compatible with you and has the ability to actually support you. Ask for a free consultation to get a sense for how he/she is; in the consultation ask about qualifications, trainings, experience. Do your due diligence and choose right.

When you do find your coach, here are 3 things you can expect to happen. 

1. You get faster to answers you need to launch your business

In other words, you don’t need to reinvent the wheel.

If you find a coach that serves your needs, you get access to his or her knowledge without going through the learning process yourself. Learning is fun and good and there is plenty of that on your entrepreneurial journey however some lessons might take too much time to learn for the business to take off.

Let me give you an example.

Early on I was not even sure whether Beyond Dracula was B2C or B2B. We started off as B2C as that was what we expected the business to be; we expected direct clients to seek bespoke services when traveling. We did not expect or know that there are agencies and private travel designers who do exclusively bespoke travel. 

It even sounds stupid, I know. But do you see my point? We were new to the industry and did not know the landscape. It took us a while to understand what was going on and how to position ourselves.

Had we had a coach, this would have been revealed sooner even if the coach had nothing to do with the industry. By simply probing and asking questions, we would have gotten to the answer sooner. I am sure of it.

2. You have an accountability partner

This is huge. 

One change from having a job to being an entrepreneur is the fact that you become your own boss. This relationship in itself is worth exploring as there are many of us out there who can be tougher bosses than the meanest boss on earth. It’s how burnout came to exist.

A coach can both help you understand this new relationship you have to manage within you and also keep you on track to reach your goals. As we tend to procrastinate, having someone checking with us how far we’ve come can move the business faster towards its goals. 

3. You have someone to talk to

As an entrepreneur you often feel lonely. It’s the nature of the “job”. Even with a team around, if you’re the head of all the departments in your company, you will want at times to vent, share, be praised. The coach does that with and for you.

In my experience with coaching (later in the company history) every session helped me gain a new perspective. At times I either could not see a good solution to a problem and seeing it from a different perspective helped. On other occasions I knew the solution but I was having a hard time accepting it. Checking facts and my reality with someone else helped.

I also needed at times to really just vent. And very often I had achieved something important but because it was not huge and news worthy, I discounted it. A coach praises and helps you see your wins even when you do. That alone makes a huge difference on your journey.

Do any of these appeal to you? If your interest is kindled, have a go for 6 months. Start with clear goals that you discuss with your coach and check where you get after 6 months. May the force be with you!

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