Seven Common Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make Without an Online Business Coach (And How to Fix Them)
As a certified coach and multi-award-winning entrepreneur who’s been running my coaching practice since 2013, I’ve worked with countless entrepreneurs who came to me after making some dreadful mistakes that cost them lots of money, time, and sleepless nights.
I will highlight some of the most common mistakes in today’s article.
We’ll cover the following:
1. Why Entrepreneurs Struggle Without a Business Coach
2. Mistake #1: Trying to Do Everything Alone
3. Mistake #2: Lack of Clear Strategy and Direction
4. Mistake #3: Pricing Too Low (or Too High) Without a Strategy
5. Mistake #4: Ignoring Mindset and Personal Growth
6. Mistake #5: Inconsistent Marketing and Sales Efforts
7. Mistake #6: Scaling Too Fast (or Not at All)
8. Mistake #7: Avoiding Data and Financial Tracking
9. How an Online Business Coach Helps You Avoid These Pitfalls
1. Why Entrepreneurs Struggle Without a Business Coach
You don’t know what you don’t know. In entrepreneurship, it is safe to say that we don’t know very much when starting. And as we continue to scale our companies, we find ourselves in new uncharted territory almost daily.
The difference between when you’re starting out and when you have a bigger business with employees is that the stakes are higher. There are also way more decisions and areas of the business that need tending to.
There are usually three key areas that entrepreneurs struggle with when they don’t have a coach:
1. Feeling Lonely and Isolated
It’s lonely at the top, and entrepreneurs rarely have reliable sources with whom they can bounce ideas off or run things by. This leads to the business owner experiencing a lot of pressure.
2. Focus and Accountability
Business owners often struggle to stay focused on long-term goals without an accountability partner. They get stuck in the day-to-day and lose sight of important growth strategies that will yield better results.
3. Mindset and Habits
To grow a wildly successful business requires the entrepreneur to work on their mindset, personal, and leadership skills along the way. If they fail to do so, growth will stagnate, and they’ll experience a lot of resistance to growth and frustration.
Entrepreneurs also develop some habits and behaviors along the way that can make it difficult for them to release control and step out of the day-to-day.
Coaches can help entrepreneurs feel supported and keep them focused and accountable. An experienced business coach can also shift an entrepreneur’s perspective and help break unhealthy habits that are jeopardizing growth.
Without the help of a qualified business coach an entrepreneur runs the risk of making the following detrimental mistakes:
2. Mistake #1: Trying to Do Everything Alone
Yup, we’ve all made this mistake – before we worked with a business coach, am I right?
Most service-based businesses that I have worked with usually started as a company of one and then quickly grew into something much bigger. So, once upon a time, they did everything in their company.
Once the business starts growing to the point where additional staff is needed, these business owners find it incredibly difficult to delegate effectively.
They often fall into the trap of micromanaging their employees and hiring mini-me’s that are not suited for the role they need filling.
This cycle can repeat itself for many years; for instance, one of my clients was stuck in this loop and had been in business for more than 25 years before we started working together.
3. Mistake #2: Lack of Clear Strategy and Direction
This mistake is one of the biggest ones out there.
When entrepreneurs don’t have a clear vision or a growth strategy, it’s impossible to discern what to focus on. This will trickle down to the staff and create lots of frustration. Every day, the business owner will show up with a new idea or strategy that they want to implement, which will confuse and frustrate the staff.
This way of operating in a business is a huge drain on resources and bandwidth, and can lead to high staff turnover. All of the above wastes a lot of time, drains the business owner’s energy, and leads to slow growth.
4. Mistake #3: Pricing Too Low (or Too High) Without a Strategy
This is another big mistake business owners make when they go at it alone.
If a business’s pricing isn’t aligned with what the market can sustain and the profit goals of the company, it leads to significant revenue losses.
When working with an experienced coach, they’ll help you pinpoint your pricing sweet spot that will also help you attain your profit and growth goals.
I also go a step further by helping my clients work on their money mindset and offer an effective and easy way to get a better handle on their company finances.
Once a business owner has this knowledge at their fingertips, they’re able to spot easier ways to optimize growth and profits.
5. Mistake #4: Ignoring Mindset and Personal Growth
This one is another big mistake that those without business coaches make.
My clients are often very surprised to see just how much their mindset has blocked or sabotaged their growth.
Seasoned entrepreneurs will also experience more failures and setbacks, and these often impact the beliefs about what the entrepreneur thinks is and isn’t possible.
Once it’s time to start hiring more folks to work for the business and managing those folks, the entrepreneur may run into a lot of frustration and problems. This is because those past experiences and the beliefs that formed as a result keep them from being effective leaders or from being able to spot solutions.
In my book The Up Level Project: Your Guide to Unlocking Higher Profits While Creating More Freedom I teach readers a simple formula that business owners can use to shift their beliefs and thoughts to help them take aligned action faster and easier.
When business owners enlist the help of a qualified coach, the coach will help the client rewire the limiting beliefs and change those sabotaging behaviors faster. They’ll also help the client clearly define the type of leader they want to become and help them develop the skills to assume that role more easily.
6. Mistake #5: Inconsistent Marketing and Sales Efforts
This one is so easy to make if accountability is lacking.
I’ve worked with a lot of marketing agencies that have struggled to stay consistent in their company’s marketing efforts.
This often happens because clients have too much work to focus on and then don’t have time to continue their marketing efforts. Other times, clients experience feast or famine when it comes to leads and clients because they have subliminal fears of becoming too successful or too busy in the future.
With the help of a qualified business coach, clients can overcome those limiting beliefs and work on a consistent marketing strategy that will ensure sustainable growth.
7. Mistake #6: Scaling Too Fast (or Not at All)
This is another mistake that happens way too often.
There is a huge focus online to scale fast. We celebrate and are obsessed with overnight success – but when a business owner scales without the necessary infrastructure in place, it can lead to burnout or the company failing altogether.
And then there is the opposite: where an entrepreneur is not scaling because they don’t have time, bandwidth, or have an overwhelming fear of failure or success.
When entrepreneurs work with qualified business coaches, they’re able to create growth plans that address and overcome all of the above, making the business owner’s life so much easier (and joyful!).
8. Mistake #7: Avoiding Data and Financial Tracking
I love diving deep into financials with clients, even those who find numbers scary or overwhelming.
Not knowing your numbers and avoiding data is a massive mistake that will 100% bite the business’ revenue in the bum.
There are many reasons why business owners avoid looking at their data or numbers. Usually, it stems from something they were told when they were younger about not being good with numbers, or they have a certain mindset about money and numbers.
When I work with my clients, I do a lot of work around money mindset and shifting those old stories from the past. I then offer an easy template to start getting a better grip on data and numbers, and from there, my clients are able to use the knowledge to make smart and informed decisions.
9. How an Online Business Coach Helps You Avoid These Pitfalls
If you’ve made one or many of the mistakes above, don’t beat yourself up – we’ve all made them at one stage or another along our entrepreneurial journey.
The important takeaway I’d like you to get from this article is that there is someone who can help you rectify (and even avoid) the mistakes above.
With an experienced coach and business partner by your side, you’ll have the accountability, focus, and proven strategies at your fingertips to ensure you avoid and overcome many common pitfalls.
A seasoned coach will help you reach your full potential by cultivating your awareness, addressing key problems in the business, and helping you hone your leadership skills.
10. Take the Next Step: Get the Guidance You Need
Are you ready to stop making unnecessary mistakes and save more time and money in your business? I can help you. Click here to read how I have helped clients like you create more freedom, joy, and profits in their business, and let’s book a call to get you the support and solutions you deserve.
If you found this article useful, I also recommend reading this article:
The Difference Between Coaching, Teaching, And Consulting (And When You Need What)
And if you’d like more resources to help you expand your business, check out:
Accelerate your growth with this free handy download.
Take the free Business Acceleration Assessment.
Read my bestselling book, The Up Level Project
Join my group accountability program: Business Growth Achievers
Work with me: Book a 1:1 consultation with me here
