You may remember from our January survey that we asked our members how they would invest in their business in 2021. 65% of the female entrepreneurs and business owners that answered our survey claimed that they would be hiring a business coach for 1:1 coaching. Half of those women who responded claimed that they had a trusted community and/or mastermind of women business owners that they could confide in when they need help. 

What do the feedback results tell us? 

The results from our new year survey tell us that the female entrepreneur community is finally starting to embrace doing business together – even as solo-entrepreneurs! This makes us so happy as it’s been our mission to educate and encourage collaboration + community over the last five years. You’re picking up what we’re putting down ladies! *happy tears!*

So why are all these women hiring a business coach? 

Women entrepreneurs everywhere recognize the benefit of having a trusted advisor. Whether it’s for one difficult season (such as being shut down by a worldwide pandemic), or for the long-haul with accountability to focused goals, women business owners are recognizing just how a business coach uplevels their game. Considering that our leadership team is comprised of business advisors, coaches, and consultants, we thought it would be best to share our insight as to WHY hiring a coach is beneficial to your business. 

Here Are 15 Reasons Why You Should Hire a Business Coach This Year: 

#1 Comfort Zone Pushing

A great business coach will push you out of your comfort zone by challenging you to do things you’ve never done before. Though these tasks may feel daunting and uncomfortable, the forced push out of your comfort zone will result in growth. This forced growth will also make you more confident and fearless. The benefits of doing this comfort zone expansion with a coach is that you’ve got someone to cheer you on when it gets scary or nerve-racking. 

#2 Collaboration

Most business coaches have a creative side and enjoy collaborating with their clients on new ideas or methods for accomplishing goals. It is also common for business coaches to collaborate on finding solutions to the challenges that exist for the business problems. They offer an outside perspective that can be refreshing and eye-opening in most scenarios. 

#3 Candid Remarks

It is common for business coaches, advisors, and consultants to be direct in nature. They don’t skirt around the issue, but rather call it like they see it. Business coaches are not afraid to call you out when they see something that contradicts the previously defined plan as their ultimate intention is to get you accomplishing the goals you’ve set for yourself. This is healthy for the coach to client relationship as it showcases honesty. The coach wants to be honest with you, but most importantly… the coach wants you to be honest with yourself. Candid remarks often sting at first, but result in incredible clarity. 

#4 Accountability

Coaches are known for their accountability. As the client, you present your ultimate goals and plans for the business. Then, your coach holds you accountable to those goals and plans along the way. When you start to get off track or show signs of losing focus, your coach will often remind you of the goal and challenge you to stay focused on the long-term plan. This is imperative if and when you’ve got many people trying to pour advice into your life. 

#5 Connections

Believe it or not, business coaches are very well connected! They spend most of their time listening to others and working with high-achievers. By getting to know your story and desires, your business coach can connect you with others that they meet or already know. If you do any sort of B2B, you will want a business coach in your corner! If you’re B2C, then your business coach most likely knows someone who is getting in front of your ideal client and can help you build strategic alliances. 

#6 Results

Many business coaches require tracking of KPIs or other measurable factors so that they can verify that your business is heading in a positive direction. The most talked about measure of success is financial gain. Business coaches directly correlate their success as a coach to your success in financial gain. Some, like myself, also track clarity on decision making and confidence level. 

#7 Clear Goals

For those of you who have many ideas and many dreams on your list, a business coach is definitely someone you want in your corner. They will help you gain clarity on which dreams are most important, teach you to validate the many ideas swirling in your head, and help you to make very clear, actionable goals that lead you to the dream life you want to build. 

#8 Stay Focused

Business coaches help you to stay focused. As an entrepreneur, you may have many ideas and opportunities that come and go. A business coach will remind you of the goals and help you to decide if the opportunities are more a distraction rather than steps to getting you where you want to be. An outside view really helps if you’re a “yes!” person. 

#9 Decision Making Becomes Easier

Believe it or not, by having a business coach… your decision making process will become easier. You’ll start to hear your business coaches questions in the back of your mind when faced with a decision. Will this get you to the goal? Is this a distraction or a next step? You’ll find that making a decision becomes easier because you are more focused and clear on your plans/goals/dreams. 

#10 Trim the Fat

And no, we are not talking about weight loss! Trim the fat is another way to say… make your business more profitable. Because business coaches care so much about the success of your business, they will often inquire about the costs of doing business. Your business must make profit in order to stay operational. More importantly, your business must pay you an earning or else it’s not worth your energy. By trimming the fat at least once per year with your business coach (or consultant), you will maximize your earnings to the most profit. 

#11 Smarter Financial Planning

Especially at the beginning stages, business coaches will often ask you a lot of hard questions about the numbers. What is your profitability? How many leads did you receive? What is your closing ratio? A business coach forces you to know the numbers and that is a GOOD THING. As the CEO of a growing business, you must know the ins and outs of your finances. A business coach will teach you just how and what is important. 

#12 Become a Better Leader

A business coach will challenge you to become a better leader for both your business and team. Even if you’re a solo-entrepreneur with no plans to hire a team, understanding and thinking as a leader will enable you to efficiently and effectively grow your business. You are the leader of the business. 

#13 Think Like a CEO

For those of you wanting to grow or scale your business, a CEO mindset is crucial. What we see most often is that female entrepreneurs consider themselves freelancers rather than CEOs. We talk a lot about this in our training series and at our masterminds, but we encourage you to hire a business coach who can help you shift the mindset if you ever want to work less hours while making more money. Many times a boost in income comes immediately after one accepts the CEO role in their own mind. 

#14 See the Blind Spots

When you’re in the weeds of running a business, it can be hard to see the things that are holding you back from reaching the next level. As a third party and outsider, a business coach can help you identify the blind spots – areas you can’t see clearly. Many business coaches will have you do exercises like walking them through your customer onboarding process or showing them the back-end operation. These small glimpses allow the business coach to call out any potential issues/blind spots that you may have in your business. 

#15 Help you Navigate Challenges

Business coaches help navigate troubled waters, high emotions, and unforeseen obstacles. Many entrepreneurs hire business coaches when they feel overwhelmed… which often puts business coaches in the line of fire from day one. This is common and acceptable, but it also proves that business coaches are for the challenging times. Many business coaches have a “fixer” mindset and embrace the Marie Forleo mindset of “Everything is Figureoutable.”

This fresh perspective really helps business owners navigate and overcome obstacles while having a trusted confidant right by their side. It is also worth mentioning that most business coaches embrace this and it’s often the reason why they do what they do. 

Hire a SOWBO Approved Business Coach

Realistically, we could probably list many more reasons why you should hire a business coach this year. As the founder of SOWBO, I’ve always enjoyed coaching women business owners on their path of entrepreneurship. I’ve watched MANY breakthrough moments happen directly from conversations with my coaching clients over the years. 

It is important to find a coach that listens, cares, and shows up when you need them. It is even more important to find a coach that has experienced failure and admits to it. 

We live in a time where coaches want to stand at the top of the mountain and say, “I have all the answers! I’ve done it! My life is perfect – so follow me!” But for those coaches who are saying, “I’ve failed. It sucked. Here is what I’ve learned…” Those are the coaches you can trust. Those are the coaches you want to work with. 

It is through those vulnerable and honest moments with your coach that you will find connection. It takes connection in order to have true vulnerability. Vulnerability leads to a breakthrough. Breakthroughs lead to clarity. 

The fact that so many of you are hiring a coach this year… it brings true joy to my soul. If you want to learn more about my coaching philosophy or program, then CLICK HERE. My team is ready to welcome you with arms wide open. 

Sincerely,

Amanda, Founder of SOWBO