Why a business coach will prove to be your best investment

Vision plus passion equals success

It begins with vision. The seed of an idea to build a business that meets an unmet need or does what others do – only better.

Then came those countless hours of hard work required to turn that concept into something real.

Real, not only in terms of bricks and mortar, but also in terms of the people you employ and loyal clients who value your work enough to keep giving you their business.

By building your company, you’ve also created a family.

And the fuel that powered your relentless work ethic through those 14-hour work days and endless weekends was passion. The natural human passion to create, to excel and to construct an enduring legacy for the next generation.

And it worked. Your business is established and thriving.

But still, all is not well.

Taking your company to the next level is proving to be more of a struggle than you expected. And this is a worry because you’ve been around long enough to know that businesses are like fish in that they have to keep moving forward to survive.

The 21^st-century economy means you operate in a global ocean full of competitors, all of whom are busy trying to out-innovate each other. You’re well aware that stagnation in this sort of dynamic business environment leads to contraction and, ultimately, to collapse.

You’ve seen it happen.

You’ve watched as thriving businesses fall by the wayside because they failed to keep pace with the latest technology, emerging market opportunities and/or changes to consumer demand.

Growing Pains

So, when the business structures that have served you so well in the past are now beginning to seem a bit creaky, there’s cause for concern.

It might be that you’re struggling to recruit and retain the quality employees that your business requires to meet growing customer demand.

Perhaps you’re not quite sure how to bring your inventory management and invoicing systems into the 21^st century.

Or maybe your customer service is falling short of the excellence you expect and demand.

You may have tried to address these growing pains by nipping-and-tucking around the edges of your existing operations.

But cosmetic adjustments just don’t cut it (pun intended) when it comes to fixing organisational structures and practices that have outlived their effective use-by date.

Experience plus objectivity equals effective strategic advice

The task of taking your company where it needs to go may require a more invasive surgical approach. And this is the point where your motivating passion may become more hindrance than help.

There’s a rule that doctors should never treat members of their own family because emotion tends to cloud rational judgment. The same principle can apply to business owners who – after years of investing blood, sweat and tears – come to view their company as their baby.

Both in medicine and in business, a firm diagnosis and an effective treatment plan require objective analysis based on facts rather than feelings.

Writing in Forbes magazine, best-selling business author Nick Leighton observed:

while you may have a top-tier team of analysts and a meticulous hiring process, there are likely many things that are difficult to see from within the organisation … there is always a benefit to getting advice from an outsider and learning to see things from another perspective.

Your personal pathfinder

Here’s where expert business coaching can help. A business coach is an independent actor who brings objectivity and strategic business expertise to the task of assessing the strengths and weaknesses of your company, your team and you.

Experienced business coaches will have worked with hundreds of businesses from a wide variety of sectors that include (and not limited to) trades (electrical, plumbing, HVAC and building), professional services, manufacturing, distribution, agriculture and franchising. They then draw upon their cumulative strategic and tactical expertise to generate common sense and achievable solutions to the problems bedevilling their clients’ businesses.

In an article for Business Insider, entrepreneur Sohail Khan explained how

a business coach will help you increase your business, set up a financial plan and future, and help design a strategy for you to earn more from your business.

It’s a bit like having your own personal pathfinder who’ll help you navigate the most efficient route to the mountaintop. Rather than blundering around the bush or getting caught in a series of dead ends, a good business coach will point you in the right direction and will provide ongoing course corrections to keep you on the right track.

Helping you to do your job more effectively.

At Alluvion Business Coaching, we define our job as helping you do your job more effectively and efficiently.

The Alluvion process begins with a deep dive into your business. Our business strategists bring a fresh set of eyes to analyse what you do and how you do it. We also take a broad-spectrum look at the characteristics of the markets you serve and how your primary competitors operate.

Once we’ve mapped out the lay of the land, the consultation phase begins. This is when we work in close collaboration with you to generate a tailor-made business coaching plan that reflects the particular character of your company and its specific goals.

Then we suggest practical, cost-effective and achievable ways to make your business more efficient. These include tangible benchmarks that will enable us (you and Alluvion together) to measure practical progress towards your goal.

Expect the unexpected

Our experience has taught us that unforeseen issues can often emerge during the course of the business coaching process.

For that reason, Alluvion’s strategists and advisors will be there with you at every step of that journey as your plans for reform are put into practice. If we can’t take your call immediately, it’s our firm commitment that we’ll get back to you the same day.

Trust

Alluvion’s relationship with our clients is built on trust. And that includes our commitment to confidentiality. So, while we might seek advice from other business experts about your particular problems and possible solutions, we’ll always pose the issue in generic terms to protect your identity and your privacy interests.

Bottom line – we’re effective, we’re accessible and we’ll always be responsive to your needs.

Return on investment

In real life there’s no such thing as free and, of course, Alluvion charges a fee for our expertise and advice.

But you’ll find our rates to be surprisingly reasonable. And, as our clients will attest, those costs soon pay for themselves through enhanced efficiency, improved strategies, leading to greater profit.

Drop us a line

So if you’re confronting challenges to your business and you think some out-of-the-box thinking might help, give us a call, drop us a line or send us a message by carrier pigeon.

It doesn’t matter how we connect, so long as we do.