Does Hiring a Business Coach Actually Work?

As you might imagine, I get asked this question a lot.

I hear it from people I meet at business networking events, from friends and family, even from my own kids. Most importantly, I hear it from business owners who are curious about business coaching but aren’t yet convinced that it is the right investment for them, their business, or their family.

So how do I answer that question?

Of course I’m going to say “Yes.” After all, I’m a business coach.

But that answer alone doesn’t carry much weight, does it?

Instead, let me answer it the same way I would if we were sitting down over a coffee.

Does it work financially?

This is probably the easiest question to answer because it is also the easiest one to measure.

Whenever you invest money into your business—whether it’s new equipment, advertising, software or staff—you naturally want to know two things:

• When will I get my money back?
• What return on investment will I achieve?

Business coaching should be judged exactly the same way.

You invest in your coach, then measure the return through improvements that matter to your business—higher revenue, stronger profits, improved cash flow, increased available cash, better margins or whatever key performance indicators are most important to you.

Over more than twenty years of coaching business owners, I have consistently seen clients achieve returns that far exceed the investment they made.

Independent research supports this experience. Studies conducted by PwC, the Metrix Global Study and the Manchester Review have all reported that organisations commonly achieve returns of around seven to eight dollars for every dollar invested in coaching.

Put another way, that’s approximately a 700–800% return on investment.

If someone offered you an investment with that sort of potential return, I am sure you would agree, it would probably be worth taking a closer look.

Does it work when I’m already incredibly busy?

Ironically, this is often when coaching creates the greatest value.

Many business owners tell me they don’t have time for coaching because they are already working sixty or seventy hours each week.

My response is usually simple.

That is a very good reason to get started with your business coach.

When we’re busy, we naturally spend our time solving today’s problems. We become reactive instead of proactive. We work harder, but not necessarily smarter.

A coach provides something that is surprisingly difficult to create on your own – time to stop, think and make better decisions. In over a quarter of a century helping business owners, it still amazes me how much of a difference this makes.  Clients still remind me years later that this was the moment they took back control of both their business and their life.

Sometimes a single decision can save dozens of hours every month.  Which equates to hundreds, thousands, and in some cases millions of dollars per year.  I worked with one business owner who knew they needed a senior sales manager, but kept delaying the decision because it felt like a big financial commitment. Once they finally made the appointment, gross profit improved almost immediately. Just as importantly, the owner suddenly had time in their diary to work on the business instead of being trapped in it.

Sometimes it can prevent a costly mistake. As you know, most mistakes cost money and luckily for this client they avoided it before it happened.

By switching from a reactive, putting-out-spot fires approach, to a rational pre-planned growth strategy, they are now reading the workflow 3 months in advance.  This has allowed them to maintain their price point above competitors, and yet still have clients signing the contracts.  Whereas they had been considering dropping prices to maintain market share, which would have cost them dearly.

Sometimes it simply helps you focus on the few things that will actually move the business forward instead of being distracted by the hundreds of things competing for your attention.

The goal isn’t to add more work to your week.

The goal is to help you accomplish more while working less.

Can it work for my staff?

Absolutely.

Most business owners initially engage a coach to improve the performance of the business owner.

What they often discover is that the biggest improvements occur throughout the entire workforce.  The majority of problems that occur in a business are generally related to the people, in other words your problems have names.

That’s not meant as criticism. It’s simply recognising that businesses are built by people. When communication, expectations or leadership improve, the business improves too.

A coach will help you to establish;

Better communication.

Clearer expectations.

Improved accountability.

More confident leadership.

Stronger systems.

Higher morale.

Part of the Prosperity Business philosophy we have developed over decades is these are your most important jobs as a business owner.  Recruiting, training, understanding, motivating, inspiring and helping your people achieve their life goals will arguably give you the best return of investment in your business.

The reality of a life in business is that a business can only grow when the people grow.

After all, every business eventually becomes a reflection of its leadership.

Without a coach, business owners can very quickly get swallowed up in the dramas and chaos that can often develop on a daily basis when working with staff in a business environment.

One thing a coach gives you is perspective. When you stop fighting today’s fires for a moment and start building a high-performing team, everything begins to change. Better teams make better decisions. Better decisions create better businesses. Before long, the business starts solving problems without relying on you for every answer.

Where do business owners usually receive the greatest benefit?

This answer surprises many people.

Most don’t tell me that the biggest benefit was increased turnover.

Or higher profits.

Or better systems.

Those things certainly matter.

Instead, many tell me the greatest benefit was getting their life back.

They leave work earlier.

They spend more time with their family.

They take holidays without worrying that everything will fall apart.

They sleep better.

They make decisions with greater confidence.

They create personal wealth through investing and creating new opportunities.

One thing to note is that these things don’t occur in isolation.  More often than not, they experience all these things along side each other.

Their business becomes something that supports their life rather than consuming it.  Imagine working with your coach to turn your business into a life support system for your ideal lifestyle.  Not the other way round.

For me, that’s what true success looks like.

Does coaching work for everyone?

No.

And I think it’s important to be honest about that.

Business coaching works best for people who are prepared to be open, willing to learn and prepared to implement new ideas.

I’ve never met a successful business owner who hasn’t questioned themselves at some point. Every business has difficult seasons. That’s exactly why having someone objective beside you can make such a difference.

A coach cannot build your business for you.

But a good coach can help you avoid expensive mistakes, identify opportunities you may have missed and hold you accountable for doing the things you already know you should be doing.

The businesses that achieve the greatest results are rarely the smartest businesses.

They’re usually the ones that consistently take action.

So…does hiring a business coach actually work?

In my experience, yes.

Not because a coach has all the answers.

But because every successful athlete, executive and elite performer understands something that many business owners overlook:

You can only see your own blind spots until someone helps you see beyond them.

Business coaching isn’t really about giving advice.

It’s about helping business owners make better decisions, build better businesses and ultimately create better lives.

If that’s the outcome you’re looking for, then perhaps the better question isn’t whether business coaching works.

It’s whether continuing to do everything on your own is producing the results you really want.

At the very least, take pause today and consider this question.

If your business looked exactly the same three years from now as it does today, would you be genuinely happy?