​Got A Business? Get An Executive Coach.

Why business owners need an ally

Most business owners are prepared to forge their own path, get others onboard and work hard to reach their goals.  With sacrifice and determination success is guaranteed, right? Well, not always. This article focuses on some of the challenges business owners face and how best to remedy them.

Aspiration Versus Reality

Owning and running a business is aspirational for many people - it promises freedom, flexibility and the chance to make a decent amount of money.  Whatever your business, and whatever your level of experience, you can’t do and think of everything.  You need perspective, insight and an ally to help you develop your business, find the right strategy and make the business work for you, otherwise you’ll end up feeling trapped, stressed and (potentially) going back to the drawing board.

The stats are quite sobering:

• 40% of small businesses fail within the first 5 years
• 11.6% of all business failed in 2016 and 10.5% failed in 2015

Living in A Vacuum?

Business owners hire consultants and coaches because they want an additional focus on what they do and how they do it. In many ways, having a coach is like having a business partner but without the strings. By amplifying their own insights and gaining more clarity on their goals, thinking and overall direction, business owners can make better progress, faster.  Without this kind of input, running a business can be lonely, overwhelming and unnecessarily stressful.  Plus, it’s easy to lose perspective - especially if you’re a one-person business or your flat-out most of the time.

Finding Your Own Way

“Don’t play games that you don’t understand, even if you see lots of other people making money from them.”
Tony Hsieh,  Zappos CEO

Being an entrepreneur, you may think that you need to run your business according to the ideas of other people or according to traditional models.  You don’t.  One of my clients is currently increasing his revenue by 300% whilst limiting his working week to 3 days.  With the right thinking, anything is possible and running a business that is based on your needs, ideas and values is the most rewarding way to do it.  

The job of a coach is to challenge you to find the model that is right and then troubleshoot until it’s been perfected.  Building a strategy is then based on firm foundations and executing that with a plan will mean success becomes tangible and achievable.

Stress Is An Inside Job, So Is Success

Many people believe that stress is mainly created by external events and people.  In reality, stress is merely triggered by those things (have a look at the bestselling book Invisible Power).  The primary reason we get stressed is because of our thinking - and that’s all happening within our mind.  The trick is to see how this process works within you.  That’s hugely empowering and frees you up from the stress that can plague your day and destroy your clarity of mind.  This hugely impacts your business.

Success may mean a nice car, great holiday, paying your mortgage off early and having plenty of money in the bank.  All of those things help, but if success is happiness, fulfilment and peace of mind, then it comes down to how you feel inside and the external trappings are just a bonus.  

Bearing that in mind, focus on what’s really important and think about what success really looks like - in terms of how you feel, the financial rewards, the relationships that matter, social impact and your own personal peace of mind.

Get Focused, But Stay Balanced

It takes a lot of focus and concentration to run and deliver your business and service to others and it’s easy to forget to look after yourself.  You need to keep an eye on your energy, rest well, eat well and exercise well.  Here are a few tips:

• Get enough sleep (7 to 9 hours a night) and wind down before you go to bed.
• Eat well and healthily.  Don’t skip meals and avoid too many coffees.
• Meditate.  It’s proven to help.
• Exercise in a way that works for you. Find your ‘thing’.
• Switch off your phone, regularly. Take a monthly digital detox.
• Maintain a positive attitude towards others within your business and your customers - respect them and learn to be patient.
• Remain open. Communication is the key to business, so don’t create a bubble around yourself and think you’re alone.  Business is not always easy. Friends and family matter.
• Set realistic goals and appreciate all your achievements.

Know Your Business

This may seem like an obvious thing to say, but many business owners often don’t know (with great accuracy) what’s happening within their businesses - in other words, they don’t have a clear way of seeing (and understanding) the key metrics that are crucial to the well-being of their enterprises.  Cash-flow, profit margin, cost of acquisition, most profitable areas of business, customer data, marketing reach etc, all matter.  This kind of data is the control panel of your business.  Imagine driving without the fuel gauge, speedometer and other dials on your dashboard? If you don’t know your KPIs your business is being run on instinct alone - and that’s stressful and risky.

Enlist The Right Support

Whether it’s a friend, coach, mentor or even an insightful accountant - getting the right kind of support is crucial for success.  No-one is an island, and we all need helpful and supportive allies to bounce ideas off, troubleshoot and to maintain perspective.  We also need others to keep us on track, help us develop the mindset needed for success, challenge us even - but most importantly to remind us to believe in ourselves.

Want To Find Out More?

If you'd like to explore the benefits of having a coach for you and your business, then feel free to call me on 07717 172 691 or email me.