Good business coaching costs money.
That’s the truth, and with budgets feeling tight at the moment, it can start to look like an out of reach luxury rather than a business essential.
But, what if by thinking about price you’re forgetting to think about value?
Here we go: A frank look at what your options are if you don’t feel coaching is something you can afford right now.
The Alternatives to a Professional Business Coach
Running a business is a full time undertaking. In fact, it’s much more than a full-time undertaking.
Even the most seasoned business owners struggle to switch off and disconnect. Turning off those email notifications, and stepping away – even just for an evening – can be a real challenge.
Which means that in all likelihood your business is never going to be far from your thoughts. And – if my experience is anything to go by – what’s in your thoughts is also what you can find yourself talking about (a lot!).
So, what are the genuine alternatives to taking on a business coach?
Option #1: Do nothing
If you’re reading this post, chances are this is where you are at the moment.
“But it’s all going well so far”, you might be thinking – and I really hope that’s true.
But ask yourself this:
- Are there areas of your business on which you’re expending more energy than you need to?
- Have you got a clear idea of your business goals, and how what you do every day brings you closer to them?
- Do you have a list of ambitions for your business or work life balance that are simply gathering dust in the back of your mind?
If the answer to any of those is yes, then inaction might just be costing a whole lot more than you realise.
Option #2: Ask your partner
“Don’t miss business with pleasure” goes the old saying – and it’s one I’ve certainly flaunted in the past when my wife and I worked together to run a dating agency.
Your partner can do a lot of amazing things.
They are the person you’ve chosen to spend your time with. It’s not unlikely that together you’ve learned to support and care for each other through all kinds of challenges, professional and personal.
But, asking them to also provide business counselling – especially if this isn’t their area of expertise – can put a real strain on a relationship. For me, it just wouldn’t feel fair, and finding an external and objective source of reassurance and guidance can work wonders for your personal life.
Option #3: Speak to a friend
Friends are another great source of advice and counsel. They’re ideal when you need a moan about something that didn’t go to plan, and brilliant at celebrating successes, particularly when they’re hard won.
But as with a life partner, that relationship simply isn’t set up for providing business advice, and in all likelihood your friends don’t have the same insight into your industry or needs as a professional would.
Option #4: Ask AI
There are plenty of champions out there hailing the ability of an AI chatbot to act as a sparring partner.
Now, in certain situations, ChatGPT will do a pretty good job of giving you a sounding board. Just watch out for incorrect information, or guidance that’s more based on predictive text than genuine business intelligence.
Because, as with anything, you only get out something as good as what you put in. So learning how to ask your chatbot friend the right questions, or create the right prompts – in effect, training yourself to be a coach – will be an essential part of the equation here.
Option #5: Read books or blogs and listen to podcasts
The internet is packed with well-intentioned advice about running a business. There are forums with like-minded business owners, and motivational speakers selling books or systems that make it seem like things are easy. There are even podcasts with leading figures brought together to discuss challenges you might be facing.
The best out there are a fantastic resource for educating yourself on specific challenges, for feeling a sense of companionship in the lonely business-ownership game, or for getting access to useful tools (my free business plan template is a good place to start.)
But navigating through such a complex landscape of advice is a tricky business, and by its very nature none of those guides can possibly understand the specifics of your situation.
Which is why, good as they can be, online resources will never compare to a one-to-one interaction.
What Are You Really Buying?
Well I think it’s about time I made the case for business coaches. Although that’s not to say that taking one on is always the right move (more on that here, in which I lay out when hiring a coach might just be the wrong thing for you to do).
Firstly, speaking with a business coach isn’t merely a transactional encounter. It’s about building a professional relationship with an experienced guide with whom you can reflect, assess, and strategise.
Someone who – unlike your friends or partner – truly understands what it’s like to run a business, with the tools to unlock your ideas and help you get to the place you really want your business to go.
If you’re stuck thinking of coaching as a purchase, an expense, a cost centre, then – to be frank – that’s on us. Business coaches need to get better at improving their communication of the value they provide – and if the coach you’re considering isn’t doing that, then it might just be that they won’t be able to cut through to see the heart of the challenges you’re juggling either.
Good coaching isn’t just about a conversation. It will make you more effective and efficient. It will help you stop exerting effort in less fruitful directions. It can inspire you to achieve incredible things in your professional life.
Fundamentally, it will often save you money too – and help you to develop a much healthier work life balance.
So, Is Your Business Worth the Investment?
The old saying goes that nothing good is cheap.
That’s not to say that good business coaching has to cost an arm and a leg, but you do get what you pay for.
The question, really, is whether you believe that the potentially transformative changes you can make with the support of an experienced sounding board is worth that financial investment. An investment in your business – and also in yourself.
For me, it absolutely is. (Which is why I invest in coaching for myself.)
Because if it means achieving the growth and business happiness you want, isn’t that truly worth it?
Kind Regards,
Chris
P.S. Still unsure whether coaching can help you? I’d be more than happy to have a quick chat to share some advice.