Posts Tagged ‘business coach’

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Hi, I started an IT business 4 months ago and have constant work coming from a few places enough to cover expenses. Most of my business is coming from the local people in the area. I haven’t really spent much time working ON the business at all because I’ve been so busy working IN it, but I want to expand my operations to start working with other businesses. I am the only IT business in town and while I’ve done well with lay people, I need to start doing business with companies to really grow. How can I sell myself to the businesses in town that may need my services?

Tuesday, June 21st, 2011

Your best move is to start by targeting some of the smaller businesses in your area who are less likely to have long term IT service contracts in place. Try to find out who is in charge and offer to come to their office or storefront and do an audit of their needs.

If you are willing to spend regular time working with these companies, you could become very popular, so long as you are solving their problems. Dissatisfaction levels with remote IT support is typically pretty high, so you should do well if you are as responsive to these companies’ needs as you would be if you were an in-house IT Department. As your reputation grows, so will your business.

As you have stated, you seem to be doing well with your existing customer base, so don’t be afraid to draw on them for referrals. I’m sure many of them know or even work with the types of businesses you’d like to start working with. Why not ask them to tell everyone they know about your service and what you are willing to do for other small businesses? If they truly like your service, they’ll be happy to tell others about you.

Finally, since you haven’t had much time to work ON your business, I would recommend bringing on another team member who can help you grow your business. This might be an IT person, it might be a salesperson or someone who does a little bit of everything, but the point is, you can’t do it all yourself.

So to grow, reach out to small businesses, leverage your best customers to provide referrals and build and train your team to provide great service, so you can focus on growing your business.  Follow these steps and you should get the kind of attention you want from the other businesses in your town.

All the best,
Brad Sugars

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I am 24 years old and want to start my own business. I do not have any capital saved, and I am not sure what business I want to start. A friend suggested that I start out in MLM. From what I see – a lot of so-called work from home business opportunities are a scam. What is your advice on starting a business for the very first time?

Friday, June 17th, 2011

My advice for someone starting a small business for the first time is to learn as much as you can before you invest your time and money into such an important undertaking. There are many ways to learn and multi-level marketing can be one path to educating yourself.

Working within a MLM will force you to develop your sales skills and get out of your comfort zone because you will have to talk to people and sell to make any money, which are important if you want to build the necessary skills to be successful in business down the road.

There are some major negatives to working within a MLM that you should keep in mind. Most MLMs will have you selling something like soap or vitamins or some other similar products. Even though you’ll be tempted to sell to your friends and family, you’ll need to develop a network outside of that circle to really be successful.

Beyond that, the best thing you can do is work and get as much practical experience as you can and learn as much about how business works before setting off on your own.

Also, talk to people who are already in business and learn from them. There is as much value in “learning before you earn” this way- and you just may find a good mentor who can guide you on a path that will lead to business success.

Owning a business may be the first step on the path to freedom, but if you don’t know what you’re doing, you can end up with a mountain of debt and legal issues you may never escape. That’s why you don’t want to rush into anything without being better prepared.

All the best,
Brad Sugars

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Hi Brad, I’ve heard so much about business coaches and consultants, but I’m not sure what the difference is or whether I even need any help in my business. Can you tell me what the difference is between the two and some reasons I might need some coaching for my business?

Tuesday, April 12th, 2011

The main difference between a consultant and a coach is that a consultant gives answers while a coach asks questions so you can get the right answer for yourself.

To put it another way, a consultant will do a lot of the fishing for you, but a coach will teach you how to fish. That’s why, if you want to improve your business’ performance, you want to hire a Business Coach.

Business Coaches are results-oriented and use systems designed either to move your business forward or deepen your insights depending on predetermined agendas.

A Business Coach will help you develop a plan that focuses on building your businesses strengths and honing your skills in the areas that need improvement for the long haul.

Unlike a consultant, a Business Coach does not come in and fix the problem for you, then leave.

When your consultant is done, you may have more questions without developing the skills or resources to deal with them, while a coach will teach you how to handle any challenges and be there for you if you need any follow-up help.

Business coaching is an individualized but collaborative process between the coach and the owner that ensures goals are met within set time frames.

Our process and systems here at ActionCOACH are designed to help Business Owners solve problems, increase strategic thinking, improve communication skills, create a business-savvy positive image and develop on-going goals, while making the business owner accountable for both the successes and failures in a business.

A coach teaches you how to overcome challenges, achieve your goals and gives you the support and accountability you require to stay focused, while staying with you through the entire process.
The usefulness of a consultant for a small to medium sized business is limited because consultants do not empower the business owner with the knowledge they hold.

Employing a Business Coach empowers the business owner and their team by teaching them how to fix the problem for themselves by implementing a systemized solution.

Over time these systems allow the Business Owner to relinquish many of their day-to-day tasks and take a more strategic position in their business.

All the best,
Brad Sugars

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