Hiring a Business Coach, Even If It Ain’t Broke…

Small business owners have a perception that their status as “entrepreneurs” means that they are supposed to be able to operate with independence and rugged individualism.  After all, the alternative is working for somebody else, and most people go into business for themselves precisely to escape that boss-subordinate relationship.  We don’t want others telling us what to do, anymore!

So we become small business owners.  Hopefully, we enjoy some level of success, even comfort, in what our business contributes to our income, lifestyle, and wealth.  Even when small business owners fall short of their dreams, it’s easy to get used to a certain level of business that they find acceptable.  So the idea of engaging a business coach feels unnecessary, even wasteful.  After all, those poor saps who are losing money, or otherwise struggling in their businesses are the ones who need the help.  Certainly, not us!

Hey, if you’re happy, successful, and satisfied with your business, good for you!  But in my experience nearly all small business owners who profess such accomplishment, are doing so only as a façade!  There is always more to their story, and very often an undercurrent of dissatisfaction that they fear disclosing to anyone.  Let’s look at six reasons why even the apparently successful among us might consider working with a coach.

1. It’s lonely at the top.  I can’t tell you how often I’ve heard the comment that “I really don’t have anyone else to talk to about my business who understands.  Small business owners take pride in knowing everything about how their business works, but also shoulder the burden of that same knowledge.  It’s all on them, and for some, it can be a lonely journey… so much so that it can lead to anxiety, depression, and withdrawal.
2. The team is high-maintenance.  Even a successful small business can be held together by the strength of a leader.  But if that leader spends a lot of time just making sure the employees play nice with each other, it can be a frustrating grind.  The challenge is in creating a team that performs without such strong oversight, and does so even when team members change, or as the business grows.
3. Nothing stays the same.  Just when we think we have it all figured out, something changes, presenting new challenges.  Our market and our customers change as they mature, and new customers or markets open up.  The economy changes, or elements of the economy present new challenges (think health care).  Technology changes, and our businesses have to adapt and learn new systems just to stay even with the competition.
4. The business has little value to someone else.  The business may reward its owner with adequate, comfortable income, but how much will the business be worth to someone else when you decide to retire?  Do your kids want to own it?  Can it function without you?  Does the business have growth potential, cash flow, and a strong brand that other individuals or companies would want to own?  If your business is your primary source of retirement income, is its value adequate to support the rest of your life?
5. You worry about the next generation.  Let’s say one or more of your children look forward to taking over the business.  Are they capable?  Do they have the skills to take the business farther than you did?  Will employees work for them and support them the way they supported you?  What do you need to teach them before you hand over the reins?
6. You don’t know how to exit.  Preparing the business for ownership transition involves work that goes beyond the day-to-day running of the business.  In spite of the success you’ve had, you’ve never done that work before, and don’t know where to begin.  Worse yet, your likely to get only one shot at it.  What steps are needed to help make your exit a success?

In my experience, all businesses have some level of challenge or dissatisfaction that owners put up with, despite their frustration with it.  Find a coach that you like, and who seems to have the experience and understanding of your situation.  Then share your journey with him or her, and accomplish even more than you ever could alone.

Success is for Givers

One of the most counter-intuitive keys to success is that giving something to others helps us get something that we want in return.  It’s not a direct return, mind you.  It can come from other sources, in unforeseen ways, but it amazingly returns nonetheless.  Dr. Ivan Misner, founder of BNI sums it up in two words, “Giver’s Gain”.  Moreover, way back in 1937, the grandfather of all business success writers, Napoleon Hill, suggested that we should be “Go-Givers”, not “Go-Getters”.

I’ll confess that I often feel I don’t give enough.  I’m amazed by those who have the ability to contribute their time and money to the good causes in our society in significantly more meaningful ways than I do.  And I’ll bet that if you’re a small business owner, you probably feel the same.  After all, so much of your time is taken up with the work of keeping your business afloat so that it serves your customers and employees, and ultimately yourself in the form of income and equity.  For many small business owners, the income and equity they gain from the business doesn’t feel sufficient to be able to give much of it away.  Does you share that feeling?  It’s a bit of a disappointment, isn’t it?

So then, how can we be Givers?  I think it can come in the form of the work we do, or more specifically, the work that our business does.  One of the aspects of our coaching work is helping business owners create strategic plans, and one important element of strategic planning is a discussion and definition of the Purpose of the business.  I’ve found that the best Purpose statements, the ones that really get at the higher value that the owner wants to achieve with the business, start with the simple words, “We help.…” 

“We help businesses achieve greater success.”  “We help people live healthier lives.”  We help people enjoy recreation.”  We help people build and furnish their homes.”  You get the picture.  Whatever the work of your business, it can often find its greater purpose in the way that the business helps others.  The help we provide is our avenue for giving.  In fact, I’ll go so far as to say that without a strong Purpose that defines the kind of help (giving) provided by the business, the lower the chances of success.  On the flip side, the more we live the Purpose of our businesses, the more we give, and thus the more we stand to get, be it in terms of the success of our business, or otherwise.

If you are looking to gain more from your life and your business, think about what you are giving.  Are you focused on the greater Purpose of your business in helping others, or are you fixated solely on the making money?  The counter-intuitive part of being a “Go-Giver” is that the “making money” purpose doesn’t usually work out so well, but the “helping others” purpose leads to achieving the greater success that you are seeking.