In episode 56 of the Business & Life Conversations Podcast, I am going to be talking about five of the most important things you need to look out for when looking for and hiring a business coach. I feel like this is something that really needs to be talked about because it is essential for them to hire someone who is competent and knows the ins and outs of the work that you do. This will be a short but informative episode with me, so tune in to learn more.
Important Links Mentioned in the Show:
Australian Business Collaborative Facebook Group
Finding Balance in Business Women’s Retreat
Angela Henderson Active Business Facebook Group
Angela Henderson Facebook Business Page
Prefer to read 5 Costly Mistakes to Avoid When Hiring a Business Coach? Here’s the transcript:
ANGELA:
You’re listening to the Business and Life Conversations Podcast with Angela Henderson, Episode 56.
Hey there, you’re listening to the Business and Life Conversations Podcast. My name is Angela Henderson and on this show, we talk about improving your business, life or both. By having amazing and rich conversations with brilliant guests who will inspire you and who will give you tips and tricks to help you grow both in life and in business.
Well, hey there and welcome back to another episode of the Business and Life Conversations Podcast. I’m your host Angela, from Angela Henderson Consulting, where I’m a Business Consultant helping women in business to develop the foundational framework and strategy they need to grow sustainable and profitable businesses. Thank you so much for being here today. Today’s episode is going to be a solo episode, but an informative episode of the 5 costly mistakes to avoid when hiring a business coach.
But, before we jump into this episode, I just want to let you know that this episode is sponsored by my 4-day, 3-night Exclusive Women in Business Retreat, where we will be focusing on women having the chance to connect, refocus, learn, and grow, so that they can grow both in business and in life. It’s an exclusive event being held from October 24th through to October 27th at the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia. And we will only be releasing 50 tickets for this particular event. From having 8 of Australia’s top female entrepreneurs speaking, to surrounding yourself with amazing people that will lift you up both at the conference and after the conference, to daily masterminds to get individualized help on your business from both the peers and the speakers, to amazing food; you’re not going to want to miss out on this amazing opportunity. To learn more about this event and to purchase your ticket, head to angelahenderson.com.au and simply click on Retreat.
Alright. Let’s jump into the 5 costly mistakes to avoid when hiring a business coach.
Now, I cannot tell you how many times a day, a week, a month, a year, that I hear how people are getting burnt over and over by ridiculous, non-educated, non-trained, zero experience business coaches. I have women who call me up crying, I have women who have spent tens of thousands of dollars, and they’ve nothing to show for it. And I want; because there’s no governing body around this, I want to be able to start talking about this; to having open conversations so that both women and men know what to look for when hiring a business coach to help them grow sustainable and profitable businesses.
Now, I guess, there are other peak bodies like doctors; I think it’s APRO that they’re going to go to; nurses and etc. And yes there are good doctors, there are bad doctors; there are good nurses, there are bad nurses; there are good web developers, there are bad web developers; there are good business coaches, there are bad business coaches. I mean, it doesn’t matter where; there are always the good and the bad. But again, some people, like I said, have bodies that they report to so that risk is limited, whereas, with business coaches and web developers and everything else, we’ve got no governing body. So as I said, I really to hone in on this conversation today about 5 mistakes to avoid when hiring a business coach. Because let’s be honest, when trying to grow a business, hiring a business coach can provide you with so many wonderful, juicy tools and resources that you need for success. A good business coach can set you and your business up with valuable systems, experience, contexts and complete your business ahead; far ahead. But on the other hand, a bad business coach can do exactly the freaking opposite; like really bad.
Here are the 5 common mistakes to avoid when hiring a business coach:
Mistake Number One: Hiring a friend. I say it over and over and over again, but a cardinal rule in business that is too frequently broken is to never work with friends or family. Let’s repeat that; never work with friends or family. It’s a tempting rule to break because when it works, it can be awesome. The issue is that, more often than not, it does not work. And this can lead to the deterioration of your business, relationship; both also your physical health, your mental health. So often, I see this go terribly, terribly wrong. Hiring someone you’re close with to be your business coach or consultant can result with them holding your back also. You want someone that can be completely objective to advise you. This will ensure that they have no hidden agendas and are able to deliver tough lessons to you when needed. So mistake number one; hiring a friend.
Mistake Number Two: When hiring your business coach so they see on a regular basis, is hiring someone with limited connections. Now, this is an overlooked mistake that I see many people make when hiring your business coaches, that they don’t consider the business coaches’ connections and contacts. The advice and experience of business consulting give you can be invaluable, yes. But even more than that, a valuable asset can be being able to access their contacts and connections. You want a business coach who could help you build relationships in your field. So do some research about the crowd your potential coach is associated with. This may seem somewhat shallow on the surface, but the reality is, is that networking is what will build your business faster than anything else. And I can live by that; with my first business, Finlee and Me, and my second business, Angela Henderson Consulting. So that’s mistake number two, is hiring someone with limited connections.
Mistake Number Three: Is not knowing what you want to achieve. Again, not knowing what you want to achieve. You might say, “Well, that’s why I’m hiring so that they can help me do this.” And yes, we will. But you’ve got to have a core understanding about what’s lacking in your business. Really take time to reflect on that. One of the most common mistakes to avoid when hiring a business coach is not being clear on your goals. Remember, business coaches and consultants; we are not mind readers. We’re not magical unicorns that can just know right away. Coming to them with a vague goal of wanting to improve your business overall won’t yield you the immediate results that you’re looking for. So before meeting with a business coach, analyze your business performance and have a look at the areas you specifically want to improve in. This is going to allow you to streamline the process, saving you time, and saving you money. So mistake number three; not knowing what you want to achieve.
Mistake Number Four: Skipping the background check. You might go like, “What the heck is Anj going on here?” Let me talk to you about it. You would be surprised at how much a quick Google search and/or Facebook stalk can reveal about a person. That’s right. I’m encouraging you to go and do some stalkish, within legal boundaries or right regulations, but go into a stalk. Use these tools to your advantage to research the credentials of your potential business coach. Check out some of the testimonials on their Facebook page or on their website. See if they have any qualifications. What events do they attend? What’s their professional history? Or do they have any Facebook groups; like I’ve got a Facebook group community of over 5,000 community members. Go into that Facebook community. See how that coach interacts. Do they interact on a regular basis and make you feel warm and welcome and treat you like a person and not a number? Or does the coach that you potentially want to hire only sweep in like a seagull? They come in only at lunchtime, and when they want you to buy from them, they shit on you like a seagull does? And then leaves. Check and see these. These are free resources for you to be able to do these thorough background checks. Good business coaches are proud of their experience and their expertise. So if information about them is hard to find, this is a definite red flag, people. I repeat, this is a definite red flag, people.
Mistake Number Five: Hiring without test driving. You might be thinking again, “Anj, are you drinking mojitos already when you’re recording this?” No. No, I’m not drinking mojitos. But I see this, one of the biggest mistakes to avoid when hiring your business coach is not to test drive before you agree to work with them. What I mean by this, people, is you don’t walk into the BMW store, or the Mercedes store, or the Land Rover store, or the Land Ranger, whatever car you want and tell the salesperson to draw the contract up for $200,000/$300,000 car without looking at the car; without asking questions about the car; without test driving the car. And it’s the same when hiring a business coach. If you’re going to work with someone in a one-to-one capacity, you want to hop on and have a free discovery call with them. This should be something that a business coach is willing to do, not a salesperson, but an actual business coach. If you’re going to have an intimate relationship to dig deep into your business and to grow you sustainable and a profitable business, you need to be able to test drive them. You must, you must, you must be able to this. And again, look and see whether or not they’re going to let you test drive with a free discovery call. It’s the least they can do; it’s a 30-minute, 15-minute discovery call. This process allows you to ask questions. To get a feel of the person’s personality. To learn more about their 101 services and then equally ask the business coach to make sure that can meet your needs. And if not, that is their responsibility to identify that they can’t meet those needs and to help connect you with someone else. So please, please, please; mistake number five that so many businesses make when looking at hiring a business coach, is they hire without testing.
By keeping an eye out for these particular mistakes to avoid when hiring your business coach, you can potentially save yourself a lot of time, money and heartache. Finding the right business coach will be the best thing for you and your business, so please, take your time. Don’t settle for less than what you feel is right.
Now, as many of you know, I also as a business coach working with women in business to develop that strategic framework that they need. So I encourage any of you if you’re in that spot right now where you’re like, “I’m so overwhelmed. I don’t know where to go. I don’t know what my strategy is,” I’d like to offer you a free 30-minute discovery call so that we can work on; understanding each other a little bit better, and see how I can potentially help you as a business coach. You can work with me by going to angelahenderson.com.au, click on the ‘Work with Me’ button, and you can go from there, and book yourself in for a free 30-minute appointment.
Now again, remember that when you are working with business coaches, it’s important to know that again, business coaches; it’s not a free ride; so that you’ve also got to be prepared emotionally and financially to be able to invest with you. Please, please, please remember, that you are the person that gets to choose who your business coach is, who you want to work with, who you want to let in, to not only business but also your life. You want to surround yourself with positive energy. People who have connections. People who are not going to treat you like a number but treat you like a human being. So please take your responsibility of hiring your business coach seriously, because not only it is the coach’s responsibility to make sure that you get what you want, but it’s also your responsibility to come to that relationship, knowing what you want and how you want that business coach to be able to help you.
Now if there are any listeners out there who are currently struggling with their business and you don’t really know which way to go or which way to turn and you’re feeling overwhelmed and you know that you need some structure and some guidance, always know that I’m here for you from a business consultant point. Because that’s what I do, I work with women in business to develop the foundational structure they need in order to grow sustainable and profitable businesses. And if you’re at that spot, if you’re financially and emotionally prepared to look at hiring a business coach, I would strongly encourage you to head to my website, angelahenderson.com.au, and book in for a free 30-minute consult with me, where we will look at your goals, your struggles, and also explore how I, too, can help you as a business coach.
And please remember, my team and I will also be putting together the whole transcription for this episode at angelahenderson.com.au. And of course, I cover all sorts of related business and life topics inside my Facebook community, the Australian Business Collaborative. Have a fabulous day and I look forward to you joining me next week for another amazing episode of the Business and Life Conversations Podcast. Have an awesome day everyone. Bye.
Thanks for listening to the Business and Life Conversations Podcast with Angela Henderson, Hiring a business coach. www.angelahenderson.com.au
