The following is a guest blog by coach Erin Garcia. Thanks, Erin!
Women often wait to hire a coach until they’re frustrated and ready to throw in the towel. Or they reach out to a coach when they feel stuck and are unable to gain or maintain momentum toward their next level in business.
But you don’t have to be frustrated, stuck, or on your way to a “next level” to gain value from a business coach.
Sure, a coach works with women to eliminate frustration, overwhelm, and the feeling of being stuck. Yes, a coach is focused on generating forward momentum.
But there is so much more a coach can offer.
Many women business owners aren’t sure that coaching is right for them. They don’t understand how coaching works nor do they know what a coach can offer. After all, how can someone who hasn’t been working in and on your business understand?
I’ve heard it all. I’ve heard from women who are concerned that for a coach to be a value-add they need to be an expert in the same industry as them. Other women worry that their coach will just say, “What do you want to do?” and “When do you want to do that by?” and then the next session the coach will say, “So, why didn’t you get that done?”
Come on—how long will that really be valuable?
And yet other women are concerned that a coach will tell them how to do things and they will lose the authority of their own business.
I get there are hesitancies to hiring a coach. But I believe in coaching and believe it adds value for women business owners. I’ve seen the tremendous growth that business owners have made working with a coach, both in my own business and that of my clients. I’ve also seen the value of business coaching reach far beyond just business. Many women experience an enormous amount of unexpected personal growth. Some women even report that business coaching improved their marriage, family, and health.
Here are just four ways a coach can be a catalyst for your business and YOU.
Logistical Decisions
It’s tough to make logistical decisions within your business when you’re so closely and emotionally attached to it. You know what you want to do, but you just don’t know how to package your skills, knowledge, and experience into services that people will buy.
A coach can take an outsider’s perspective on your packages and pricing and give you feedback on best practices and what it looks like from a client’s point of view.
Coach Tip: Have a system set up for pricing, one that keeps your target rate and target client in mind. Then stick to it. I work with my clients to design a custom pricing formula that allows them to quickly price out any project. Be sure to build in marketing costs, taxes, assistant fees, and material costs into your pricing as well.
Oh and don’t forget to add in a “resentment fee.” This is a fee that accommodates your time caring for the client: additional phone calls, email support time, extended deadlines, late to appointments, etc. It happens. We’re all human and most business owners underestimate the time for projects too. It’s a built-in “buffer zone.”
[bctt tweet=”Do you factor a resentment fee into your pricing? You should!” username=””]
Internal Systems
It’s easy to get hung up on the back-end “stuff” of running a business. Managing multiple projects, tracking income, organizing client work and marketing, managing your time. These are all places where it’s really easy to fall down a rabbit hole of trying something new, repeatedly, without really settling in and making something work.
A coach has experience building and developing internal systems with business owners—in many different industries. She can guide you to discover what works and what might not work you. A coach can help you develop efficient and effective business systems that keep you consistent and on track to making progress.
Coach Tip: Put your internal systems in writing and tweak them as your services shift. Having them written down holds you accountable for sticking to them and helps to better inform your clients when you’re working together. It makes for a much more seamless process and builds your clients’ confidence in you. Plus, you’re ready to turn the system over to an assistant when the time is right.
Tools & Technologies
Like internal systems, using tools and technology in your business can make everything run more smoothly. Automations can help parts of your business run automatically, freeing up your time to grow your client base. Technology can make most things you need to get done more efficiently.
Coach Tip: One of the quickest ways to automate is to set up an online scheduler. How often do you go back and forth with clients, trying to find a time to meet? With an online scheduler, you create a calendar that fits with your needs and that allows your client to schedule at the most convenient time for them. You set the available times, your client chooses a time that works for them, and voilà! No back and forth. Most scheduling software also can take payment and even have the client complete forms and agreements of understanding. Saving more time and allowing clients the convenience of doing it all at one time.
[bctt tweet=”One of the quickest ways to save time is to set up an online scheduler. No more back and forth!” username=””]
Awareness, Shift, and Growth
I saved the best for last because this is where a coach can probably support you the most. Our minds can do terrible things to our confidence, ultimately holding us back in business and sabotaging our success. A coach can help you uncover long-held beliefs that are so unconscious you’re not even aware of it.
I recently worked with a client who tied the idea of money to negativity because of something that happened in her past. Any time she started moving to where she wanted to be in her business and started seeing the fruits of her labors, she would sabotage herself—without even knowing it.
When you have an outside perspective on your emotional, mental, and personal awareness, you can start to see things from a different perspective. And that is where growth starts to happen—both personally and professionally.
Coach Tip: Find a coach who you really connect with and who can push you to dive deep. Not every coach out there is a good fit for you, just like everyone isn’t your ideal client. To find the coach who will kick you in the pants (in the best possible way for you), schedule a quick call with her. If you like what you hear, start with an introductory session before investing in a big package. It might take a few calls to find the perfect fit, but you’ll find her!
The point here is that as solopreneurs, we’re not meant to get through this business and life alone.
It’s healthy (and smart) to have a coach on your business team. A coach can be a catalyst, the person who moves you forward faster and whose there to ensure that you enjoy the magic of business ownership.
Since 2006 Coach Erin Garcia has worked with hundreds of women, coaching them to build their own service business. Erin’s intention is that her clients build a business that is emotionally sustainable and provides financial success and personal fulfillment. Erin’s coaching philosophy focuses on designing businesses that are client focused, mission driven, philosophy centered and life integrated. You can connect with her on her website or on Facebook.
