You need a business coach. In my 18 years as an accounting professional (14 of them as CEO of Ignite Spot), I've worked with hundreds of business leaders. In that time, I picked up on a trend: Every successful person has a good coach in their corner—and each coach probably has a different coach helping them too.
You don’t know how to do everything, and there will always be people who are better in business—and even in life—than you are. So, learn from them. A business coach—especially one who’s also in the position to provide you CFO services—can be a valuable resource to help you achieve your goals.
A lot of entrepreneurs entertain the idea of hiring a business coach—aka an executive coach or leadership coach. Business coaches help business owners and professionals like you grow, providing feedback, personalized advice, and growth plans. Because a coach works to boost your business revenue and growth by leveling up your leadership skills, they and your CFO services partner should be one in the same.
The big thing to remember about coaches is that you are the priority. They intentionally come to the table ready to help you get to your purposes rather than defaulting to their own agenda. They may defer to past events to inform their work but focus more on what’s possible than what has been before.
Following your lead, a business coach provides:
What are you trying to change or improve? Business coaches can help anyone who needs to do and be more. Business owners especially benefit from coaching services, as do managers who need strong leadership skills.
By partnering with a business coach, you can tackle meaningful goals. Hiring a business coach/CFO services hybrid might be the right choice for you if you need:
The stakes seem high when you’re looking for the right coach, but a little trial and error is healthy. You want to understand your weaknesses, then find a relevant expert. We put too much pressure on ourselves to find a business coach, and it’s easier than you think.
The Association for Talent Development says an executive coach “provides a safe, structured, and trustworthy environment in which to offer support for the individual. The coach also helps the leader understand their current competencies, see how they’re perceived by others, and focus on identifying and clarifying current goals as well as the appropriate action steps to reach those goals.”
In practice, that means mental breakthroughs and perspective changes that perpetually get you and your business “unstuck.”
If you’re more process-focused, the Wharton School lays a solid framework for assessing who makes a business coach. Look for folks who follow this model:
Be sure your shortlist includes coaches with the right education and track record, with certifications accredited by the International Coaching Federation. They should help you achieve clarity using one or all of these tactics. A business coach should earn his or her keep each month, so avoid entering into a long-term contract unless and until you see results.
Part of looking for a business coach involves lots of research to find the right fit. Don’t overlook the value of doing your homework because it’ll make a difference in the quality of the coach you partner with—and consequently your personal growth from the relationship.
You have a handful of solid resources to find the right professionals who are credible and honest. You can:
Once you find a few potential suitors, dig a little deeper to determine if they can really support you.
After you’ve collected a handful of potential coaches, it’s time to weed out the good from the bad. So, how do you know if a coach is going to be great?
Coaching is as much about helping other people succeed as it is helping themselves succeed. It helps if they’re part of a reputable system or company, such as the Tony Robbins Results Coaching program. There are a lot of high-value coaching companies out there!
You shouldn’t be best friends, but there should be enough chemistry that it’s equally easy to hold you accountable to your goals and metrics and course correct. It also helps if your coach operates the way you do.
A coach who just instructs versus journeying along with you imposes their own agenda. Can you put yourself in the executive kitchen with your master business chef? Create and consume all the firsthand learning you can together and up close.
You might go through three or four people until you find a business coach. And that doesn’t say anything bad about you or them. Similar to finding the right therapist, you just need to find someone you’re comfortable with to truly accept their direction and advice.
If you want to be the best, you find the best. A straight-up business coach typically charges between $1,000 and $4,000 a month. Of course that fluctuates when your CFO services and coach are one in the same. So what does your investment cover?
The reason you usually pay more for a business coach is that their work is unique to you. If you find a business coach, they’ll be worth millions to you. Remember, business coaches work to:
And when you add in CFO services, you get much more. At Ignite Spot, we help you set goals, understand how your business performs against those goals, and make strategic financial decisions with the future in mind.
For as much as they do, business coaches still have to draw the line between what’s in or outside of their purview. If you want a professional coach, don’t expect to get:
A business coach answers to you and your agendas, not their own or a curriculum. If you could hit your financial, business, relationship, and health metrics 10 years earlier, what would that mean for you?
Your business can only be what you put into it. Between the everyday tasks and product/service delivery, what can you do to stand above? A business coach and CFO partner helps you to—as the Army used to say—be all that you can be. And they know that you are the priority, following your lead to identify ways for you and your business to be better.
Sound like something that could give you the right edge? Get out there and find the best business coaching services for you. In the meantime, we’re here to help. Book your free CFO session, and speak with an Ignite Spot rep to get advice on your financial picture.
Eddy Hood
