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Originally Posted On: https://www.briancarmody.me/blog/using-an-online-business-coach-how-to-grow-and-scale-your-business

 

More aspiring entrepreneurs are taking the plunge with a startup than ever before. In the early post-pandemic era of 2021, there was a 20% increase in startup registrations compared to other years.

But with all the excitement of a new business comes the inevitable challenges. Are you ready to face them?

The good news is you don’t have to confront all this alone. Getting an online business coach is a perfect way to get the direction and focus your business needs to grow. Here’s how.

What is an Online Business Coach?

An online business coach is like any other coach – someone who works directly with you (on a one-to-one basis) to support you with your goals. In this case, the person will focus on your business goals.

So it’s something that’s often of interest to entrepreneurs and small business owners who need external support to help them grow their businesses.

Since these business coaches are online, you’ll mainly interact with them via calls, video calls, and email. Online business coaches can meet with you in person, but it’s not the norm.

What Does an Online Business Coach Do?

Before getting support from a business coach, knowing what to expect is useful. Here are some of the most typical things an online business coach will do:

They Build an Action Plan

A business coach will often start by writing down some big goals you want to accomplish. Once they have that, they’ll work with you to develop a detailed action plan with clear milestones.

They Put Accountability First

A coach is like a personal cheerleader, but sometimes a tough-talking one! A coach is there to keep you accountable.

When things get tough, a supportive coach can help nudge you to go the extra mile to ensure you reach your lofty goals for yourself and your business.

They Offer Strategic Expertise

One thing you’ll probably notice as a business owner is that you have lots of ideas and plenty of strategies for your business, but focusing on the right priorities is sometimes more of a challenge.

There is no limit to the strategic directions you can go with your business. Still, a business coach can point you to the most effective ones and give you practical advice about applying them to your business.

They Are a Sounding Board for Major Decisions

Sometimes you’ll find yourself at a crossroads in your business. Perhaps you have a significant investment you want to make, but you’re not sure if it’s the right decision.

Or maybe you’re thinking about hiring staff, but you aren’t sure if it’s too early to do that.

An online business coach is there for you as a sounding board. They’ll provide an objective point of view and help you make the best and smartest decisions for your startup as you expand.

Benefits of Hiring a Business Coach

An online business coach offers some exciting benefits for your business. Here are a few of those advantages:

They’ll Counter Your Weaknesses

We all have strengths and weaknesses, but the latter can often get in the way of business success. A coach can provide some balance, giving you an honest opinion when needed and alerting you when you’re about to make a mistake.

They’ll Take You Out of Your Comfort Zone

We all have aspects of our business that we would rather delay. Perhaps you hate selling or don’t want to do the laborious task of writing your website content.

However, putting off critical tasks can set you back months or years and slow your progress.

A business coach is there to challenge you, encouraging you to step outside your comfort zone and do the things that matter instead of the things you enjoy.

They’ll Give You New Ideas

One of the best advantages of using an online business coach is that they bring with them a wealth of experience, and with that experience comes fresh ideas that you might not have considered before.

They could give you a spark of inspiration that will lead to your most successful marketing campaign or a new award-winning product. The possibilities are endless.

Working With a Business Coach to Grow and Scale Your Business

We’ve talked about growth, and it’s evident that a business coach is there to help you grow. But what’s the optimum way to do that? Here are some ways you should use an online business coach to achieve your growth objectives:

Create More Efficient Business Processes

When you start your business, you probably aren’t too concerned about business processes as you’ll do a lot of tasks yourself.

But as you expand, you’ll get to a point where your business isn’t sustainable or scalable enough to manage.

And that’s when you’ll need to implement some systems, tools, and processes that help you work faster and cut costs.

On paper, that seems straightforward, but it’s a big, complex area.

So having someone who understands the operational challenges of a growing business is valuable. You can work with your business coach to put the right processes in place at the right time.

For example, perhaps you currently manage all your sales calls, but now you want to hire specialists who can do some of that cold calling for you.

A coach can help you set up systems and tools, like call booking technology and processes, such as proven call scripts for your sales team.

Market to a New or Bigger Audience

Marketing is a perfect example of a broad topic where you’ll benefit significantly from the help of an online business coach, as a successful marketing strategy can directly impact your growth.

A good business coach can advise you on the marketing campaigns that will bring you the best and fastest results for your marketing budget.

They’ll know the latest trends and the likely costs of running a promotion.

They may also connect you with leading brand and marketing experts, which is a critical factor in any marketing campaign.

Another critical marketing skill a coach helps you with is defining your target audience correctly before you start crafting an offer.

That is vital when running an online business, as it will help ensure your marketing reaches the right people.

Revamp Your Web Presence

Your website and social media profiles will be the first thing potential customers see. What does your current web presence say about you, your brand, and your business? Does it reflect the company you want to become as you grow?

An online business coach can help you answer that question. They can assess your current website and social media accounts and recommend improving them.

Perhaps you need a rebrand to better position your website for your industry. Or maybe you need a few minor tweaks to your social media accounts to help you grow followers.

Even minor changes can significantly impact your business, such as helping to improve your social media reach. But often, you need an outsider to point these things out to you.

When it comes to your website, a coach can help you with specific performance metrics to get your business in a better position for growth.

For example, if you aren’t generating enough new customer leads from your website, your coach might suggest homepage changes to boost your conversion rate.

That change will give you more customer leads without needing more traffic, so it’s an excellent time investment if you work with a coach who understands how to convert website traffic into sales.

Start Using Data in a Smart Way

The incredible power of the internet is that you no longer have to rely on guesswork or advanced customer psychology to see what your audience loves and hates. You have a wealth of data at your fingertips – providing you know what to measure and how.

There are analytics tools on the market that are an excellent match for your business goals, and you can work with a coach to help you narrow down which tools best meet your needs.

In addition, once you have these tools in place, a coach can work with you to get these running correctly to support your business.

For example, a coach might be able to guide you on what reports you should set up to monitor your social media marketing campaigns or what tools you need to track website conversions.

They’ll Work With You to Set Growth Targets

You need clear direction for your business if you want to see consistent growth. It will help you prioritize and cut out the noise in the day-to-day running of a company that can take you further away from your objectives.

A business coach can work with you to set one specific goal and, from that, put an action plan in place.

For example, suppose you want more business leads, so your coach recommends you try email marketing.

They can work with you to put together a detailed action plan that covers all the crucial steps, such as buying an email tool, creating a lead capture form, and running traffic campaigns to grow your list.

They Will Help You Scale a Business

Scaling is the number one challenge for any business that desires growth.

Scale too fast, and you could have a chaotic and unmanageable business, but scale too slowly, and you could lose momentum and miss out on opportunities that go to your competitors instead.

A good business coach will understand the issues that most businesses face when trying to scale. They can ensure you expand in a way that helps you sidestep these problems.

Hiring the right people for your business is an excellent example of a challenge many scaling enterprises face.

Getting people with specialist skills who understand you, your business, and your brand is critical. A coach can work with you on processes and recruitment management to help you grow and scale successfully.

They’ll Keep You Focused on the Finances

One danger many small businesses face is overspending on the things that seem important but don’t bring financial returns and, conversely, underspending on the things that do.

So although a coach will help you with financial management, they’ll also help direct your attention to the financial savvy you need to grow a business.

They’ll keep you accountable for your spending, which will be valuable because you’ll encounter many tempting sales pages offering tools or training that over-promise what they can do for your business.

A coach will keep you on track with your core goals, ensuring you invest only when that investment directly benefits one of your critical business goals.

They’ll Challenge You to Outsmart Competitors With Your Products of Services

It’s easy to become complacent with your products and services if people already buy from you. But it only takes one aggressive competitor with an innovation to sweep away all that loyalty you’ve developed with your client base.

A coach will push you to remain competitive by ensuring you’re continually improving your products and services.

That might be something subtle such as improving your customer service processes, or it might be something in the way of branding, redesigning your service offerings in a more appealing way to your target audience.

They may even be able to spot opportunities to develop your product for a new market demographic. For example, perhaps you can tweak an existing B2C service to make it suitable for the B2B market.

Get the Support You Need

Don’t go it alone with your business ambitions. Your startup is too important to leave your success up to trial and error.

If you want to succeed, invest in support that will help you get there faster. An online business coach has plenty to offer a business owner with the talent and potential to do great things.

Why not find out if your business is the right candidate for coaching support? Head here to contact us. Let’s discuss how we can help you hit those business goals.