A couple weeks ago I received an email from a new client indicating that one of her coaches had told her to do “X” with her business and another of her coaches told her to do “Y” with her business and she wanted to know my thoughts/recommendation.
My initial thought was that she has too many coaches, quickly followed by the fact that she doesn’t know what she wants for her business and that’s why she’s looking for outside validation/recommendations.
And when those recommendations differ, she understandably becomes confused and overwhelmed.
It’s the result of having too many cooks in your business kitchen.
And it’s the result of not knowing, deep inside, your business purpose. Once you know your purpose, and are committed to it, others aren’t going to sway you and you can more effectively use your time with your coaches and mentors.
It’s their responsibility to live up to their end of the agreement and it’s your responsibility to do the work while remembering that your business is your business and not to abdicate decisions to others.
My Request to You
If you haven’t yet read last week’s article and are unsure of your business purpose, you can get a copy of it here.
Before hiring your next small business coach or mentor, make a list of the things you’re looking for in that professional.
Here are a few to get you started:
- Which values are important to me and does she share them?
- Is her business just 2-3 steps ahead of mine so she can relate to where I am?
- What results am I looking for and does she specialize in that?
- Does she have a track record of success?
- What’s my intuition saying? Does it feel like a good fit?
An important note. . .it’s totally okay, and often very beneficial, to work with more than one small business coach or mentor – think of them as an advisory team for your business – as long as you, and they, know the role they each play in supporting your business.