Are Business Coaches worth it?
Yes. But….
It will depend on your individual circumstances, along with the coach in question, their relevant experience and your relationship with them.
A pretty vague and non-committal answer, sorry.
What I can tell you with authority is that as a Business Coach I’m seeing great results with my clients. And to illustrate this I asked one of my clients, the Founders of Bower Camp Co. some questions about our journey together.
Ruth and Bob Walker are the founders of Bower Camp Co. a company built on the belief that nature and the outdoors are the gateway to connection, personal development and a healthy existence.
I worked closely with them over a period of 5 months to operationalise their new business, build a business strategy and put the foundations in place to be able to scale. Here’s what they said about the experience.
Note: Bower was my last client before I left Australia to relocate back to the UK in 2024.
What were your initial objectives when you began working with a business coach?
We wanted help in organising and running a new business, to feel less overwhelmed, to gain a fresh insight into the launch stage of our business and to help with strategies to get the business out into the public domain.
Why did you engage me to work with you?
Because you have a very friendly, approachable manner combined with a very clear, efficient and organised way of looking at things and an obvious wealth of knowledge about business. You were also very enthusiastic about our business and I could see we had compatible ideologies.
How did you feel about the progress we’ve made through our sessions?
Really happy. We have focus and direction and strategies to implement change.
What are some specific things you have achieved since we started working together?
We have:
- established a new website and digital presence
- developed a LinkedIn sales strategy; created a business LinkedIn page and developed a personal Linkedin profile and started to use as a sales tool
- created social media content and grown our followings
- tested the logistics of our operation
- successfully run two camping retreats with good reviews
- added to our media assets with professional photo shoots
- increased our mailing list significantly (700+), automated welcome emails, got a subscriber pop up on our website
- created a clearer picture of the financial health of the business
- started getting paying customers
Can you share any specific examples of business challenges you’ve encountered?
- We had difficulties with an ecommerce platform that wasn't cost effective or functioning in a way that benefited our business.
- We had a one page website that needed to be upgraded and function in a clear, efficient manner.
- We were spending too much money and not bringing in enough revenue.
- People didn't know about our business.
- We were messy and disorganised in the running of the business.
And how did our sessions help you navigate or overcome these challenges?
The sessions gave us a clear understanding of what we actually needed in terms of ecommerce for our business, and how to make the necessary changes.
For our website overhaul, we received guidance along the way about how to make it user friendly, and how to improve what was being created for us.
It was made clear where we could cut costs and also strategies that we needed to employ to build revenue, both within the business and outside of the business, whilst the business grows.
We have tools and systems in place to help us stay organised and keep on top of the running of the business.
We also now have a business plan that we can refer to to keep us moving in the right direction.
How has your mindset or perspective shifted as a result of working together?
We have realised that there is so much more that we can achieve by ourselves without spending money on unnecessary things, but at the same time we have realised where there is value in spending the money.
It has enabled us to focus on those aspects of the business that have the most potential for revenue.
We have realised the necessity of pacing ourselves and of taking time out, when needed.
It has enabled us to look at bigger future goals with more confidence in achieving the outcomes.
It has also helped us to always consider our goals when planning our time.
Can you provide any measurable outcomes or specific achievements that have resulted from our partnership?
We have:
- a more organised way of storing information and recording data of all kinds.
- a functioning website that appears in search engines.
- an ecommerce platform that we are happy with.
- had articles published in media publications about our business.
- a functioning google business profile with testimonials from happy customers.
- been able to navigate difficult conversations, with the right knowledge and the right questions to garner the information we needed.
- see an increase in visitor numbers to our website and to our mailing list.
- customers paying for our retreats.
In what ways did our sessions impact your personal or professional development?
It has made me understand that we are capable of much more than we previously thought.
We have both started to think in a more business minded way, and have gained a much clearer understanding of the many different systems and processes that are required to operate a successfully functioning business.
It has made me understand more about running a business, where and how to research the information I need.
It has given me confidence to do new things and to start selling.
How would you describe the overall experience?
It has been wonderful. It felt like a calm, measured lifeboat in what would have otherwise been a very tumultuous and rough ride as we launched our new business.
Each session left us feeling much calmer, with practical tools to apply. You have always been able to answer any questions with clarity and offer immediate practical solutions. No questions were regarded as stupid and you were able to guide us in the right directions as well as offering very valuable answers and advice.
Would you recommend my services to others?
Absolutely. You can see clearly what needs to be refined, changed and improved. You know and understand all aspects of running a business and can provide advice, guidance, wisdom, solutions and strategies in a really easy to understand, easy to apply manner, whilst fostering confidence and competence in your coaching clients.
Final thoughts
When I started Jenx, bringing calm to chaos was the exact service I wanted to offer businesses. I also wanted to empower people with tools and knowledge to really show them that they can do a lot of things when launching a business themselves.
Often we are plagued with the mindset that ‘I’ve never done that before, so I can’t’. But actually you can. With a bit of grit, some strong coffee and a calm head in those head-banging-wall moments (that will come quite often!), you can do anything. More on cultivating a growth mindset here.
If you’re at a point in your business journey where you'd like some outside advice or you are just getting started, get in touch. I’d love to hear from you.
PS. Another big question on Google is; Is business coaching tax deductible? Yes, yes it is.
