How do you find the perfect coach for YOUR business?
Finding and hiring the right coach is a bit like having the cheat codes for growing your business (remember those old video games with cheat codes?).
Take a look at some of these stats — according to a survey conducted by the International Coach Federation…
- Executives and entrepreneurs who use a business coach can increase their net income by an average of 46%.
- 70% of entrepreneurs and executives say business coaching is “very valuable.”
- 12% confide in their coach more than anyone else.
- 62.4% developed more intelligent goal-setting
- 57.1% lowered their feelings of anxiety
- 52.4% built more self-confidence
- 43.3% saw improvement in personal satisfaction
- 25.7% generated more salary
Of course, there’s a fine line (and a big difference) between the right business coach and the wrong business coach.
I know because I’ve been able to hire some incredible mentors and I’ve also had the privilege of mentoring hundreds of business owners to help them achieve mind-boggling growth.
Here’s the process I recommend for hiring a business coach.
Pre-Qualifying Yourself for a Business Coach (The Questionnaire)
When most people decide that they want to hire a business coach, they dive head-first into the hunt and seek out the most qualified man or woman for the job.
Problem is…
You can’t find the perfect person for the job unless you know what you need help with.
That is… why are you hiring a business coach in the first place?
Try to answer the following questions…
- What is it that I’m really missing in my life or business, that I need help with?
- What will happen if I have a mentor VS. trying to figure it out myself?
- What type of return am I expecting from hiring a business coach?
- What do I really like in my life?
- What do I really not like in my life?
- What do I want more/less of in my business?
- What’s my ideal life and ideal business?
- What are my intentions for my business? Do I know how to get there?
- What type of lifestyle do I really want and what’s truly important to me?
- What do I need to let go of in order to get to the next stage?
- How is not having a mentor benefiting me? How will having a mentor benefit me?
- What must I give up if I want to grow to the next stage?
That might seem like a lot.
But taking 15-30 minutes to answer those questions as honestly and clearly as possible is going to make the hunt for a business coach 10 times easier.
Where to Find a Business Coach
Now you might be wondering where you’re going to find the perfect coach for your business.
The first place I’d look is in your existing network.
Do you have any experienced executives or entrepreneurs in your network — maybe friends, family, or social media connections?
If you don’t, you very likely know some entrepreneurs who have coaches. Reach out to them and ask for a referral.
You also might consider trying some of the following marketplaces…
Or I might be available 😉
But remember: wherever you find your coach, vet them before you hire them.
Finding potential coaches is only the very beginning of finding the right coach for your business.
So keep reading.
How to Vet Your Business Coach (Before You Hire Them)
You’ve found a few potential business coaches, maybe you’ve booked a couple of calls to get to know them.
Yay!
But how are you going to know if they’re the right coach for your business?
Here are some things to consider…
1. The Vibe
Before anything else, do you feel good around this person?
Do you have an energetic, optimistic, and authentic connection with them? Are they the sort of person you could take feedback from?
You might even be able to “feel” their vibe before getting on a call with them — based on the aesthetic and tone of their social media, website, and other marketing assets.
2. The Future
Do you want what they have?
Consider the life they’re living — is that the type of life that you want to live? Are the things that they’ve accomplished the same things that you want to accomplish?
What do you admire about them and what do you really want to learn from them?
3. The Results
For some times of coaching (lifestyle coaching, for instance), results are impossible to track.
That’s not true with business coaches.
You’re hiring a business coach to help your business grow. For example, I’ve helped hundreds of businesses scale past 7-figures. What’s more tangible than that?
Make sure your business coach has results they can share from working with past clients. And make sure that those are the results that you want for your business.
If you’re looking for more of a life coach, the results will be more difficult to quantify.
4. The Stage
It might be exciting to hire someone who’s way ahead of you.
But there is such a thing as too far ahead in the business coaching world.
As an extreme example, would it make sense to have Elon Musk mentor you to grow your business? No. Probably not. Because he’s on an entirely different level and likely won’t remember what it’s like to face the challenges that you’re currently facing.
Try to hire someone who is just 3 or 4 steps ahead of you in their business.
5. The Strategy, Tactics, & Mindset
Consider the strategy and tactics that your business coach is most familiar with.
That is, how did they grow their business?
Is that the same way that you want to grow your own business?
Additionally, what is their mindset like and is that the same mindset that you imagine a better version of yourself having?
6. The Expertise
What is your potential coach an expert at?
Marketing? Management? Vision & Mission? Entrepreneurship? Something else?
Their expertise is going to have a huge influence on the advice that they give you — keep that in mind when you’re deciding who to hire.
7. The Program
What’s your learning style?
It’s critical that you hire a business coach that teaches and structures their program in a way that fits your learning style.
8. The Questions
By this point, you should have a pretty good idea of if the coach you’re considering is a good fit for you and your business (or not).
Here are the final questions I’d recommend asking your business coach before making a decision. These will help you determine what their coaching style is like and how committed they are to helping you succeed.
- Why do you offer mentorship and why am I a good fit?
- How do you work with those you mentor and what type of support am I able to have with you?
- Based on who I am, what do you think the next steps are over the next 3-6 months?
- Based on my story and my business, what do you see as being the biggest advantages and disadvantages?
- What do you think will be the reason I succeed or fail based on the goals I’ve given to you?
- What are other questions I should be asking right now?
Qualifying Your Business Coach (The Questionnaire)
I highly recommend not making a decision while you’re on the call with your coach (no matter how hard they push) — that way, you have a few moments of silence to take in everything you’ve heard and consider your options.
Here are some questions to ask yourself immediately after the sales call.
These will help you get a read on where you’re at and why you may or may not want to hire this person.
- What is this mentor going to help me with? Is it my entire life, or just a part of my life?
- Who has this mentor worked with that has the results that I desire?
- Has this mentor done what they are attempting to do with me, multiple times?
- Is this mentor mentoring me from a place of flow and ease or from a place of hustle?
- Do I want the lifestyle of this mentor?
- Why am I attracted to this person?
- What don’t I like about this person VS. What do I like about this person?
- How much can I learn from this person, from every area of life, not just business?
Determining the ROI of a Business Coach
And now we come to one of the most common questions I get from entrepreneur friends of mine who are considering hiring me or someone else as their business coach.
“What’s a good price? How much should I expect to pay for a good business coach?”
The truth?
There’s no right or wrong price for a business coach.
It entirely depends on the results you’re expecting to get, the experience and results that the coach brings to the table, and the budget you have to work with.
And keep in mind — there’s usually a short-term payoff that’s easy to measure and a longer term payoff that’s damn-near impossible to measure.
For example, one mentor that I’ve paid over multiple 6-figures did make me a small amount of money in the first 6 months. But the money I truly made from that mentorship was actually 3 years later.
And it was at least a 20x multiple of what I paid him.
Here’s how I look at the ROI of hiring a coach…
- What’s the best measure of success by hiring this coach?
- What result am I trying to achieve? What amount of money is worth that result?
- What’s the chance of success that we will have working together?
Those questions will help you determine if the investment is worth it.
Final Thoughts on Finding the Right Business Coach
The truth is…
Doing business alone is difficult.
The job of a business coach is to be there for you, help you through challenges, and make the path as easy as possible.
There’s no right or wrong mentor.
As you can tell from the steps we’ve walked through, it’s really just a question of alignment — does your goal, learning style, and personality match up with your coach’s expertise, teaching style, and personality?
If so, you’ve found the right business coach for your business.
If not, keep looking.
There’s a great coach out there for everyone. 🙂
