When Should You NOT Hire A Business Coach?

Business coaching
Written By Claire Ransom

A lot of the time, people want to know how to go about hiring a business coach.

But just as important as this is knowing when it’s the wrong time to hire a business coach.

There are some circumstances when you absolutely shouldn’t hire a business coach. And that’s OK: it’s probably more often than you think!

I know from personal experience that there were coaches that I’ve considered hiring, but when I met with them for an intro call, the vibe just didn’t feel right. 

In that situation, you really need to trust your gut. But we all know that isn’t always easy, so here are some more occasions when you really should avoid hiring a business coach. 

1) When you can’t afford it

Let me be absolutely clear about this: you should never hire a business coach when you can’t afford it.

One of the most important disciplines of being a business owner is around having financial control and oversight of your business, so I would never advocate for hiring a business coach if you are in financial difficulty.

Cover your basics and life essentials first, then worry about business growth.

I’m not talking about situations when you think you shouldn’t hire a business coach because it doesn’t ‘feel’ like the right investment at the time: that’s a whole other question. I’m talking about when you do not have enough money in the bank to pay for life essentials, plus some luxuries. Get the big rocks in place first.

Once you get beyond that point, the question of whether or not you can afford a business coach becomes more a question of priorities. At this point, it may be within your financial capacity, but you might not feel like it’s the right time to invest in coaching. 

And you know what? That’s totally fine.

You should never feel pressured into talking on a coach, so listen to that inner voice.

2) When you aren’t prepared to change

A coach will ask you difficult questions. They will ask you to search your soul, and to be vulnerable in ways that can often feel uncomfortable and awkward.

This is how personal growth and change happens.

If you aren’t prepared to deeply consider difficult scenarios and be truly, painfully honest, with yourself and your coach about every single aspect of your business, then coaching will not help you.

You need to be prepared to fully let down your defences, to allow your coach – and yourself - to see your strengths and weaknesses, and to see where there are risks and opportunities within your business. 

This is difficult work and it isn’t for a lot of people. You might not like all the things you learn about yourself. You have to be prepared to handle that.

However, coaching works best when you are prepared to have these difficult conversations, and to really search deep inside yourself for answers about what you truly want in life, and in business, and to accept that you are fallible.

If you clam up every time your coach poses a difficult question, or asks you to really think about why you said that thing, or reacted in that particular way, you won’t make progress.

3) When the coach’s expertise doesn’t match your own

It’s so exciting to have found a coach who is inspiring and whose messaging resonates with you.

But if their speciality and expertise doesn’t match that of your business, on a very practical level, the relationship may not work.

For example, there are few occasions where a coach who specialises in mentoring and coaching senior leaders at top global banks would also be an appropriate coach for a small business owner running a store on Etsy. 

Sure, the coach might know very well how to produce accounts and manage a business from a financial perspective, but they’ll have very little real-world insight into the day-to-day challenges of a creative online entrepreneur and artist.

That’s quite an extreme example, but you get my gist.

There is immense value in working with a coach who has a specific niche and expertise in helping a particular type of client, because they will have had time to observe, develop and execute strategies that are common to exactly that type of business. 

However, if their expertise doesn’t quite match your industry or profile, their input can be less valuable, as you’ll have to spend a lot of time explaining background and context to your business, which isn’t what you should be paying a coach for.

4) When you don’t have the time to commit to coaching

For business people, coaching is the equivalent of going to the gym and training for athletes. If you don’t train hard, you won’t win the big prizes. And if you don’t make time for training, you won’t be in the best (business) shape of your life.

Coaches know you’re busy. We work with many high-level, talented clients. Everybody is busy, but for coaching to be effective, you simply have to carve out the time. 

You shouldn’t hire me if:

Most of my clients are self-selecting. It’s very rare that I meet someone I can’t help, but I do occasionally meet with people who aren’t a good fit.

We won’t be a good fit if: 

  • You aren’t an entrepreneur or business owner

  • You’re unambitious

  • You aren’t open to change

  • You aren’t prepared to do the difficult internal work

  • You can’t commit to ringfencing the time to work with me

This might sound harsh, but I’m not alone in having these requirements. I want to work with ambitious, passionate entrepreneurs, who are willing to put in the work to change the course of their business and life. Coaching is meant to be impactful, so if I can’t have a big impact on your business, I will tell you so from the start.

But if you think we’re a good match, I’d love to meet you

As you’ll have learned, I’ve won multiple awards for my businesses. For a decade now, I’ve been coaching ambitious entrepreneurs.

If you liked what you read here, here’s how you can get more support from me to become the best entrepreneur you can be:

Claire Ransom https://www.alohalifedigital.com
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