How long does it take to get results with a business coach?
If I was looking for a business coach, one of the first things I’d want to know is “how long does it take to get results?”.
So we thought it would make sense to write an article on how long it takes to get results.
It’s time to make things a little bit clearer so here goes.
What results can you expect at the start of a business coaching programme?
You’ll start feeling the difference a coaching programme can make straight away.
At first, you’ll notice an increase in energy, motivation, and state as you have your first sessions with your coach. You’ll usually get an uplift in belief too as you start to see clearly what you can do to achieve your goals and dreams.
You’ll start to notice financial results pretty quickly as well. Not every business owner comes to us for financial gain (maybe they want their time back, want a better quality of life or maybe they even want to work on their mindset). But even if it’s not their priority, they’ll undoubtedly see some growth in the numbers as we cover finances, marketing, and sales (as long as they take action on the learnings).
What kind of results would I see in year one from working with a business coach?
As long as you are setting goals, and working ON those goals (rather than just working in the business, stuck in the day-to-day, and fighting fires) you’ll start to see real improvements in year one. By the end of the 12 months, you’ll feel like a whole new person. We often see a high % growth in year 1 of a coaching programme when the business owner is setting clear goals in the areas they are most concerned in, and if they are completing those goals by taking action.
Generally speaking, those that get the best results didn’t get results because they are in the “right” industry, or had the right experience before starting. It’s actually the small things that count. Things like turning up on time, completing their goals, and turning up to all of the sessions available to them.
When we see business owners following that simple framework, they often grow by a pretty healthy percentage in year one.
What kind of results would I see once I’m a few years in when working with a business coach?
Then as we move into years 2, 3, or 4 we often see a business growing on a multiple (X growth instead of % growth) meaning a business might be anywhere from 2 times to 10 times more profitable.
There are the unicorns, those business owners that completely commit, nail their goals and take risks, and those unicorns can get multiplier growth (2 times, 3 times etc) in under a year.
All in all, everyone grows at a different pace. Use the comments above as a rough guide, but don’t let them limit you if you can go faster, and on the other side of the coin, don’t let them intimidate you if you’d rather go a little slower.
What would help me get a better result once I join a coaching programme?
Measuring
The first thing to get right is “testing and measuring”. You can’t improve something if you don’t measure it. So start measuring any area of the business that you want to improve. Because as the old saying goes “what you measure, you manage, and what you manage you improve.” So start out by measuring the basic things like the number of leads your getting, or your total number of sales. It’s also really important to review your financial measures with your coach by looking through the profit and loss account, or the balance sheet.
Going all in
If you really commit to the programme, there’s no limit to what you can do. We have a business called Conveyancing Expert that we work with that has grown by 9600% since they started working with us. And that’s a multi-million pound, 12-year old business. We’ve also had companies that have grown by tens of millions since they started working with one of our business coaches such as National Energy Direct. What do they all have in common? They go all in. All in with the goals, all in by turning up to everything, and all in with the community. That’s what makes the difference.
Being open to learning
If you want to earn more, you have to learn more. It’s so much easier to get results from a business coaching programme if you immerse yourself in education. We have 5-6 sessions a month that people can join to learn, plus a digital training platform with 125 videos. Combining that level of education, with lots of reading and the sky becomes the limit. It’s not just about learning, it’s about being open-minded to learning and changing.
Those are the things that can help you get a better result from a coaching programme.
What would stop me from getting results quickly when working with a business coach?
Not measuring
Well if measuring would help you get results, not measuring would certainly stop you. How do you know if what you are doing is working if you don’t measure the results? It’s like driving a car in the middle of the night without headlights, you can’t see where you are going. To look at your measurements easily, a dashboard can be really useful. Having the key numbers for the business on a dashboard that you can see daily will work wonders for your business. Imagine not being able to see the dashboard in your car, how often would you run out of fuel?
Being lazy
Being lazy, or being distracted. Both are as bad as each other. We get it, sometimes motivation can dip. But when motivation dips, it’s discipline that will see you through. If you were trying to get fit and had a day of low motivation, you might skip the gym. If you do that day in, day out, pretty soon you’re going to put on weight or become unfit. The same is true in business. You have to turn up and take the action despite feeling a little lazy.
The same is true with distraction. It’s important to work ON the business regularly, instead of working in the business and fighting fires. Fires don’t move you forward, they just help you through the day. What’s the best thing to do? Find some time each work to work on your biggest goals and actions from your coach, rather than getting caught up in the day-to-day.
Problems with the business model (cashflow, not profitable, too cheap)
Problems with the business model can absolutely stop you from getting results. We had a client that paid for their stock, it took a month to arrive, then they paid their staff to sell it, and once sold they got their payment from the customers 2 months later. Meaning they fork out lots of money on day 1, and don’t get paid for 3-4 months. That’s a really tough business model. As luck would have it we were able to change the payment terms so cash went in and out at the same time, but not everyone sits down to tackle such things without a coach.
It can also be hard to get results if a business is selling things for less than it costs them. That usually comes down to being too cheap or trying to please everyone. It’s no good making a sale if it costs you money. That can be fixable with a coach helping you unless (which is incredibly rare) the product that you buy can’t be bought any cheaper AND the price you charge can’t go up. That’s almost never the case, so in most instances, the profitability can and will be improved with a good business coach.
What advice would you give to someone that’s thinking of joining a coaching programme?
Read and research as much as you need to until you’ve made the decision that suits you best. We have a learning centre with articles on every question we get asked by our members on coaching programmes. Things like “how much does coaching cost” and “what kind of programme should I join“. Reading up on those kinds of questions might just give you peace of mind when it comes to choosing the right coach.
