TOP 5 REASONS EVERY BUSINESS OWNER NEEDS A COACH
By Sizakele Gambu

When people get into business, they tend to focus on being a master of the technical job, for example a lawyer may tend to focus on being a master of law while they forget about being a master of running a business which requires a business owner to be familiar with all the areas of the business including sales, marketing, finance, teambuilding, systems development, legal, finance, taxation, goal setting, etc. The challenges business owners confront everyday would overwhelm most managers. The rapidly changing world calls owners to manage their businesses as if they were about to go under. They must continually acquire new skills, ask themselves where they want to go and how they will get there. Previously having a business coach was a luxury, now it has become a necessity. The top five reasons every business owner needs a business coach are:

1. Coaches develop and refine the entrepreneur’s ideas. Business owners have great ideas! Some you can put into practice easily. Others are raw and in need of refinement. A business coach has acquired a working knowledge of hundreds of marketing, sales, customer service, and teambuilding strategies, etc and knows how to adapt them to your business.
2. They give perspective from the outside, looking in. Over time, business owners tend to lose the ability to see their businesses with objective clarity: it can be like living next to a busy road and not hearing the traffic. A business coach is there to take a fresh look at the business on a weekly basis. They know what to look for and, most importantly, see what the customers see.
3. Hold the entrepreneur accountable. One of the reasons why big businesses grow is because their investors at the Stock Exchange are demanding extra returns every single week. Most small businesses become satisfied once they have paid salaries and a bank loan as they do not have somebody demanding growth. One of the greatest things about the coach is that the coach will hold the business owner accountable to the business growth strategies every single week. Sharing the goals with the business coach means that if they do not get completed, they will require an explanation and commitment to buckle down and get them done.
4. Education. A business coach will educate the owner in business growth principles they will use for the rest of their business life and weekly contact with your business coach will keep them pressing for the next level.
5. Provide the entrepreneur with the contacts they need. When a business owner needs contacts or resources for the business, such as expansion capital, investment advice, professional services, or resources to grow one’s personal library, a business coach has a network of business contacts and knows where to find the information the entrepreneur needs.