In this video, I will tell you why every solopreneur needs a business coach and I’ll share with you some reasons why you can’t afford not to have one. But first, if we’ve not met, my name is Connor McAuley, the Managing Partner of Move at Pace. We help business owners scale from start-up to exit and we do so using systems and processes to build the most efficient businesses possible.
Before Move at Pace, I started, built and successfully a group of businesses over 13 years, that generated multiple 7 figures per year. Importantly, I started as a solopreneur in this very room. So make no mistake, everything I share in this video is my real-world experience, doing exactly the thing I’m suggesting you do.
First things first, let’s cover the biggest challenge most solopreneurs face when choosing a business coach. Cost. Yes, hiring a business coach comes at a cost, but let’s rephrase that. It’s an investment! The cost will indeed be prohibitive to some solopreneurs, but what is the cost of not doing so? You may make decisions that negatively affect your business, make misinformed decisions or take chances that end up costing you money or your most important resource, time. These decisions take you further away from your goal, not closer to it.
In the truest sense of expense, a good solopreneur business coach should be net positive for your business, if not in the cost aspect, but by providing significant value right across the entire business.
With that said though, never go into debt to hire a business coach. People like myself have plenty of content on YouTube and Linkedin that can help you navigate many of the challenges you face, and we do this freely. Exhaust all the free resources first and then when your cash flow is better, revisit a coach.
However many solopreneurs I work with have significant businesses with a very healthy cash flow. They’ve built their respective businesses through hard work, dedication and focus on their end goal.
I didn’t note that they’d done this efficiently. Because as a solopreneur, you make every decision yourself. There’s no teammate to bounce ideas off and even if your partner, wants to help, they don’t really know your business in the same way you do. Many of the decisions you need to make as a solopreneur are not directly related to your field of business. And this slows down the process as you learn, understand and make decisions. Hopefully the correct ones.
If I use graphic designers as an example, many creative agency owners followed this path to self-employment. School, then university, possibly a short stint in an agency, then into the world of freelance or solopreneurship. Nowhere on this journey did this person learn about business. Sales feel like selling your soul and business plans are at best some sort of alien glyph. You may be the best designer in the world but still need support with business functions. Without it, you still may achieve your ambitions, but it’ll be a whole lot harder and slower than working with someone who has experience in these areas, and who is working collectively with you to support your business.
And that’s just one of many reasons why you really need a business coach. But here’s the thing, not every business coach will be right for you, nor you be right for them. It’s important to understand your needs and the support each business coach can bring. For example, at Move at Pace, our business coaches exclusively work with solopreneurs who sell a service or time. These are designers, creative agencies, consultants, other coaches, personal trainers, engineers, estate agents or professional services such as solicitors and accountants. If you run a retail or e-commerce business, our skills may be transferable, but truthfully there will be better-suited coaches out there. And this is my point. You should always work with a business coach who can support you directly on your journey through closely aligned skills and values.
We help service-based entrepreneurs in many areas of their business. The first is often helping them to set their business plan or their ambitions for the next 12 months, or beyond. A business plan looks to understand your strengths and your weaknesses, the opportunities you can capitalise and the challenges you might face. But, a business plan is only as good as the person writing it. If you lack the skills or experience to write a business plan, the chances are you might miss a critical element. And if that’s the case, what hope do you have for implementing it? An experienced business person helping to create your business plan can be a huge step in the right direction. They’ll note any potential pitfalls and they’ll challenge you to increase your goals.
Let’s be honest with each other for just a second. Right now, do you make business decisions predominantly based on facts or based on emotions? There’s blood, sweat and tears in your business and this often clouds judgement. A business coach provides objectivity in decision-making. They assess the options available and help you decide on the right course of action for you at the current stage of your business. They’ll of course help you speed things up, but also help you realise when growing too fast may also be a problem. The bottom line is that a business coach’s job is to help your business meet its agreed objectives.
Many business coaches have specialisms or areas of expertise. These are often complementary to the skills you possess as a solopreneur. Whether they can support you in sales and marketing (I can), operational excellence (yes to that also) or systems and processes to help your business flourish, choosing a business coach that meets your needs is key. As mentioned, we focus on service-based businesses. I personally have taken my businesses from zero to well over 200k months. We made plenty of mistakes along the way and I’ve paid the price for them, but we also gained some amazing wins. This experience is transferable and it’s something I share as part of the service.
A huge part of the business coaching process is accountability. Now I always tell my clients that the minute they dread seeing a message or email from me, that’s the day we should quit working together. However, if you are willing to be respectfully challenged to meet your goals, then the accountability a business coach provides can keep you focused and on track throughout the year. A business coach will keep you accountable to the long-term goals and ambitions you set while being able to support the reactive needs of your business. Sometimes meetings will focus on the here and now, others long-term goals will be further explored. This fluidity meets the needs of your business at all times!
When it comes down to it, you pay your business coach for experience, to access their knowledge and in some instances, their network. I can think of a dozen times offhand that I’ve made an introduction to service providers or businesses my coaching clients want to work with. Knowing who to speak to or having an introduction often shortcuts the process, whether that’s building a team, selling more or growing your service offering. This experience and these introductions save time, and money and in a lot of instances show you what’s needed, without you having to do the legwork yourself. Because of these factors, you should see the benefits of working with a business coach in both the short and long term.
Now here’s the thing. Not every business is ready for a coach, but I’d also note that every top performer needs to be coached. Whether the time is now or in the future, you need to know how to find the right coach for your needs. Firstly, you should always start with the end in mind. Write down your long-term goals and ambitions. Then break these down into areas where you have the skills to achieve this and more importantly, the areas you need help with. Even roughly knowing the direction of travel of your business, you’ll be in a better position to assess the business coaches you choose to work with.
Then you need to consider the experience the coach has. Some business coaches learn from books. I prefer those who have achieved the things I also want to achieve. Ask yourself this, has this coach built a business like mine? Do they have the experience I am likely to learn from? If so, this will help you decide.
Finally and most importantly, do you like the coach? Now you don’t have to be their best friend, but does this business coach fill you with energy and enthusiasm? A good business coach is not just the champion in your corner, but also the cheerleader when you need it.
Personally, I offer a free 30-minute coaching discovery call to all prospective clients. This is as much to find out about your business as it is to assess if we can work together. My skillset and experience won’t be perfect for every business and if I feel I cannot help you to the best of my ability, then I’ll be the first to say so. But the same can be said for you. If I can’t demonstrate clearly the value I can bring to your business in just 30 minutes, you’ve lost nothing but hopefully gained valuable insights in our conversation.
In fact, now is a great time to offer you a free discovery call. If you like what I have to say and think I might be able to support your business, or you have some questions you think I might be able to answer, head over to https://moveatpace.com/solopreneurs/, and get in touch. The link is also in the notes below.
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Best of luck