Business Success Coaching for Business Owners
Whether it’s running your own salon, cafe or store, working as a freelancer or running an agency in your area of specialism, taking on a local franchise, building a network marketing business or using your talents to make and sell specialist products, the attractions of running your own business are clear:
- Build a business doing what you love, where you can work the hours suit you, from a location that suits you
- Experience the highs that the challenge and results of running your own business bring
- Earn money doing something you enjoy
- And, particularly if you’re a parent, have the flexibility to be hands-on with childcare, get to sports days/doctors appointments/parents evenings and be there to help your children with their homework, without having to ask permission from the boss every time.
So far, so enticing. A great lifestyle choice, yes?
Perhaps your experiences as a business owner are more like this...
- overwhelmed by the constant juggling, decision making, the huge number of things that need your attention ALL THE TIME and by the sheer responsibility of being totally responsible for your own income (and that of others, if you have employees)
- business not flowing in exactly as you’d hoped and you aren’t making the money you’d planned
- obstacles cropping up that you don’t know how to overcome (or haven’t got the time to overcome even if you do know how)
- discovering aspects of running a business and managing staff that you didn’t know existed, that challenge you in ways you weren’t really expecting or looking for
- knowing you need to let go of control in some areas but finding it hard to trust others to do a good enough job
- regularly putting things off or not doing them at all, because you’re secretly paralysed with fear (fear of failing, fear of getting things wrong, fear of what others will think about you or about how you do things, fear of letting go of control of something in case it goes wrong…)
- the initial confidence you had being tested on a daily basis – you can’t imagine why you thought you were good enough to do this, you really aren’t worthy of the title business owner, you don’t feel remotely confident in half the new situations you now find yourself in
- finding it easy to make logical decisions about issues one day, then finding yourself backtracking on them emotionally the next
- the fabulous work life balance you thought you were going to have feeling like a pipe dream
- finding being the boss and having to make all the business decisions daunting and lonely
- stressed to the hilt
That’s certainly a lifestyle choice, but probably not really the one you had in mind!
Set goals and strategies that will develop and grow your business
Develop the confidence and self-belief you need to make your business more successful
Get a new business idea off the ground
Decide which opportunity is the right one to take your business to its next level
Find solutions to problems in the business that are sucking up all your time or stopping the business from making money
Achieve the short or long term goals you’ve set for your business growth and development
Cut out the things that aren’t making any real difference and do more of the things that are
Improve your personal effectiveness as a business owner, leader and manager
Manage your work-life balance and stress so you’re happy in life as well as work.
You know your business and what you want for your business better than anyone. But when you’re running at a million miles an hour trying to keep on top of everything, no matter how experienced you are in business it can be difficult to work out the right questions to ask yourself that will lead to getting the answers to your business challenges.
I don’t just tell you what to do and come up with solutions for you. I use my coaching skills and 20 years of business experience to ask you the kinds of insightful questions that you may not have thought about before, so that together we get to the root cause of your challenges and work out how you can solve them in a way that plays to your strengths. I usually have a bucket-load of ideas and suggestions to add into the mix, but the decisions about what you do and how you do it to achieve your goals will be yours and yours alone. Coaching is a great fit for entrepreneurial minds that hate being told want to do and value autonomy – because you remain in the driving seat.
Be warned: during your business coaching I will take you out of your comfort zone and make sure you confront the real issues that are holding you and your business back. But I will also be a kind of partner that you can turn to for support, motivation and to hold you accountable when your confidence is feeling low, or when you are feeling overwhelmed.
All business owners need to take some time out of the day to day, to step back and consider how to make their business more profitable or how to move things forward. Business coaching gives you that time to think and I will really listen to you and encourage you to think clearly and deeply to consider all the options open to you so you make the best possible decisions and get the results you are after.
I’m passionate about helping people achieve the business success they are after without sacrificing personal happiness through stress, overwhelm or lack of personal time, in the process. I understand that life is all about balance, and that while making your business a success is really important to you, it can’t come at the expense of your health or time with your family. So I will also be aware at all times when we work together, that your business is not the only priority in your life.
All my business coaching programmes are entirely bespoke, and are based on the specific needs of your situation. As a rule of thumb, you can expect to work with me for around four to six months to turn your issues into successes. The frequency and length of coaching sessions will depend on the issues you want to deal with.
Alternatively, you may prefer to work with me on The Business Atlas – my 12 month retained strategic business coaching support package, where you’ll receive in-depth support once a quarter to set strategic goals and actions plans as well as additional coaching for new and ongoing issues, to help you make decisions or develop your business owner confidence.
Unlike many other business coaches, as well as setting up and running my own small business, I have been the MD of a successful £50m medium sized retail company, so I’ve experienced the challenges of running both a very small business and a successful medium sized firm.
I have more than twenty years’ experience in business leadership and marketing, and have launched, developed and grown several new brands and new business streams in that time. I have led teams of up to 700 people and developed the management and leadership skills of executives in fields as diverse as IT, merchandising and product development.
I’ll bring all that experience to the table, while remaining totally focused on you, your business, your challenges and your points of view. Because in the end, it’s what you want that matters…and I’d love to help you achieve that.