Recently a question was asked in a Facebook group, about whether a person can become a Business Coach if they have never run a successful business themselves.
I relate this back to a Sports coach, there are many of coaches out there coaching a particular sport, at any level, who have never played the game before, or never played the game at the top level before.
I have often heard an old saying, those who can play will play, those who cant will coach.
Guess after all anyone with more knowledge, skills, qualifications than a particular Business owner, then technically they can coach/ mentor you towards a new skill which can assist your business. So my answer to the question would be Yes.
What we need to understand, is what has the Coach/Mentor done in their life, which can help to support me and grow my business, for example, were they a CFO for a Multimillion dollar company, were they an Operations Manager for a company turning over 2 Million dollars, or were they a cleaner at a local school for the majority of their life. If we take the time to understand someone’s background then we can understand how they can help our business.
I am a Business Mentor, however, I work with businesses, who have been in Operation for 1-5 years, however if someone came up to me who was in a Business for 20 years, or who stated they currently earn 5 Million a year and want to increase it by 2 million in 18 months, I would say this sort of agreement does not meet my skill set, and therefore the Business owner should find another Mentor/ Coach, as I mainly work with Business owner helping them to plan and set up their business in the right way, rather than increasing their revenue by a certain % at any point.
Why do I mention the last paragraph, is I think it is important for Business owners when looking for any Service Provider, they speak with the Service Provider and ensure the provider can help you achieve your goals and outcomes and therefore ensuring whatever you are trying to achieve. After all, if the Service Provider can not help you achieve your goals, then you are just wasting your money and will end up disappointed with the results. It is like buying a product which won’t suit your needs or your requirements, similar to buying an Electrical Power Tool, however, you will never use the tool near a powerpoint, it becomes frustrating and you just have to go out and buy another one.
In Summary, I don’t believe it is a necessary requirement for a Business Coach to have owned a business before they become a Business Coach, as long as they have the skills, and ability to communicate with you in the right fashion for you, then they can help your business. It is up to the Business Owner who is looking for the assistance with their Business to ensure the chosen Coach is the right fit for your business and to help you reach your desired outcomes, therefore with this in mind, it is important a Business owner understands what they want to achieve with using the services of a coach/ mentor, or any service provider.
However, to help the industry, I also ask all Service Providers, including coaches, mentors, advisors, Marketing etc, that if you don’t believe you can help a particular Business owner reach their Goals, then please advise the Business owner of this, and allow them to find another service provider to help them. If a Service provider takes on a client knowing they can’t fully support the client to reach their goals, then it only ruins the reputation of the industry and does nothing to help anyone.
The important aspect is to ensure the relevant Service Provider can help you reach your outcomes, without being concerned about their background, everyone’s background is different. Ask yourself, “do they have the skills and abilities to be able to help me reach my Goals”.
Have a good week in Business, and remember if you need help for your business, then start your search for that help this week, and start to put everything into place in the new year and according to your budget.
