[00:00:00] Kristy: I think we can all agree. Running a business is quite the rollercoaster. It's probably the greatest personal development journey you'll ever embark on, perhaps other than parenting. Being a business owner invites growth through extreme emotional experiences. Elation, hello. Landing that ideal client or reaching your biggest revenue month to deep overwhelm, I can't keep up with this workload and the constant deadlines through to fear.

[00:00:32] Will anyone buy this thing that I'm putting out? Or who am I to start offering X, Y, Z? There's also that feeling of being stuck. Stuck in a plateau, stuck not knowing what to do next, stuck in the ideas or maybe just stuck in a holding pattern where you are feeling beneath all the business demands and you're not quite sure how to fix it.

[00:00:56] Oh, and let's not forget, failure, failing in life, failing in relationships, perhaps failing in parenting, all as a result of working hard in your business. It's a lot. I get it. If you are resonating with any of these or maybe even some others, then I think you're gonna find today's conversation quite interesting. I'm going to share with you when or should you even hire a business coach.

[00:01:22] all that and coming up in this conversation Hello, boss and welcome back to the podcast. Firstly, I have a little bit of a husky voice because last night was the semi-final for the Women's World Cup and yeah, lots of screaming, lots of emotions. So, feeling a little bit, uh, sore through the throat today.

[00:02:16] So please bear with me throughout this conversation. But today we're talking about when is the time to get support in your business, and more specifically, when is the right time to hire a coach? Now there's many different types of coaching that is available to you, so it might be worthwhile exploring first.

[00:02:33] What are the different types of coaching that you can get? Firstly, there's group coaching, now, group coaching often, but not always revolves around a curriculum of sorts, and the coaching is based upon the learning and how you'll apply it. This is based on the premise of train. So train you on a new skill Practice that skill and coach, which is a framework that's often used in schools, for students who are learning.

[00:03:03] It can also be learning to swim. So you learn a new stroke and then you practice it and then you get feedback from the coach. It's also the same premise of when you're learning an instrument or even. A language. So this is not a new concept, but it is a form of being able to support you through a new learning process.

[00:03:21] The idea here is that you get in, you learn the new skill delivered by the coach, and then you practice or implement what you learn, and then you get that feedback from your business coach to improve your learnings or to help you to get better outcomes. Now there's also one-to-one coaching. This is private coaching between you, the business owner and a coach.

[00:03:43] Now, each coaching container will look different, and in some cases coaches may give you access to a set curriculum and use that as a framework similar to what I mentioned earlier, but it's more of that one-to-one capacity. or it could be that the coach tailors each of the coaching calls to the individual needs of the business owner, which is essentially what I do with my private coaching programs.

[00:04:08] So how do you know what is best suited for you and your business? For those of you who are wanting to opt in for group coaching programs, there's a few things that you might find appealing. Firstly, part of a community, And this means that you are not only learning from your coach, but you are also learning from others within the cohort.

[00:04:32] often with group coaching, this is a much more cost effective way of getting private coaching because obviously when it's one-to-one, that typically results in a higher price for you, the business owner. Another reason why you might opt for group coaching program is that you are looking for more of that curriculum style program.

[00:04:53] So as I mentioned before, typically with group coaching programs and not always the case, masterminds are slightly different to group coaching, but typically with group coaching programs, there is. learning or a curriculum that you are taken through to help you to develop a new skill. And then you'll get that coaching off the back of that.

[00:05:13] So it depends on what you are looking for and what you're looking to experience within the coaching container, but that will give you a bit of an idea about what that looks like from a group coaching perspective. Now, when it comes to private coaching, the benefits here is that. Every single conversation is tailored to you.

[00:05:33] You'll obviously get more time with the coach. So in a group coaching session, it might be that there are, you know, 10 people on the call. It's a 60 or 90 minute call. You may get 10 to 15 minutes, obviously teasing things out directly with the coach. But if you are working one-to-one with a coach, you have the entire session dedicated to you, your business, your challenges, and the things that you are working through.

[00:05:57] another benefit when it comes to one-to-one coaching, it gives you an opportunity to go a little bit deeper. So in my experience in a group coaching session, it's quite hard to get into a very, very vulnerable space or really share the nitty gritty, whereas when it's just you and your coach, it does open up that opportunity to go a little bit deeper and for you to really experience.

[00:06:26] Levels of conversation that may not necessarily be accessible in a group coaching container. So for me and my coaching, there is a lot of crossover in the messy middle between the business as well as for you personally. So obviously at this stage of business, we're looking to optimize your business so that you do have more capacity for your personal life.

[00:06:52] As a result of that, the nature of the conversations do go, further beyond the business conversation, which of course, again, in a group setting, it doesn't quite work entirely. I.

[00:07:04] Now another reason why you might prefer one-to-one coaching is that you do get to build that deep relationship with your coach. They do become your trusted partner in business. It also might be that you are really not interested in a curriculum as such or a structured curriculum and that you want everything packaged up and delivered uniquely to you in your coaching calls.

[00:07:29] Private coaching is usually paced out at where you are at, so obviously in a group coaching container the curriculum is moving at a certain pace, whereas within private coaching, that pace is really set by you because you are the only person who's inside of the container.

[00:07:48] And the reason why this might be so important for you, particularly in the messy middle stage of business, is because you've got a lot of things that are vying for your attention. You've got a lot of things and a lot of moving parts that you're responsible for. And so implementation might be just that little, tiny bit slower than if you were at an early stage of business and you had a little bit more capacity and a little bit more time for implementation.

[00:08:12] So they're the two types of coaching, and I hope that that's given you a little bit of an indication of what might be best suited to you. And I wanna remind you that there's absolutely no wrong choice here. It's actually about figuring out what is going to get you the best outcomes, and you're going to have the best experience inside of each container.

[00:08:33] So, I just want you to know that there's absolutely no right way here. It really is just about what's going to work for you. So my next question to you would be, when is the right time to hire a coach? Now this really does depend again on what's going on in your business. So in the early stages, you do typically have more time to learn and figure things out as you go.

[00:08:58] However, It might also depend on the transferable skills that you are bringing into your business at the startup stage. So let's say you've got a lot of business experience and you've got a lot of marketing experience, and you've got a lot of things that you can already transfer and figure out how that applies to small business.

[00:09:17] You may not necessarily need a coach in this startup stage because you've already got enough skills to get you through those early years in business, however, If you don't have those skills, it might be that you do need to invest in a coaching container to support you with that setup stage.

[00:09:36] For me personally, I typically coach business owners who are at that messy middle stage of business. They've come through startup and they're looking to transition into a much more sustainable business model. And why this is a particularly important stage to get coaching is that you already have a lot of experience.

[00:09:58] You've got runs on the board. You've got data points that you can learn from, and you've got a whole bunch of lessons that inform what your next moves are in your business. Here's the thing, when you start your business, it's like a big experiment. Well, actually a lot of businesses experimenting, but you have a better place to make decisions in the messy middle than in the beginning, where really a lot of it is pure guesswork. At this stage of business, when you've had a few years under your belt, this is often the time where you are looking to transform your business model. What often is the case is that what got you through those first few years of business is not really what's going to take you through into the future. Because the reality is, is that when you start your business, you're not setting things up for growth.

[00:10:50] You're not setting things up. For scale, you are really getting your business off the ground. You're bringing in those first new clients you are essentially just following your nose. Whereas in the messy middle, you'll have more clients that you're trying to serve. You'll need to make sure that your business is streamlined and it's set up for growth and it's set up for scale.

[00:11:10] So that requires a time investment from you, the business owner, to really reshape your business model and make sure that it's ready to take you through into the future. I. For me. I have toolkits and frameworks and formulas that I use to support business owners in the messy middle stage of business.

[00:11:29] Whilst I do have that in my toolkit, I don't necessarily use each of them for each client. It's really about, for me, supporting each client where they're at. Every single business owner is unique, as is every single business. So, At this stage of business, you may be looking for a lot of the answers from within, which is why having a coach is really valuable here because our job is to help you to find those answers.

[00:12:01] So that happens through asking the right questions as well as holding space for you to have that time to work on your business.

[00:12:11] And then of course there are coaches that will work with you into that more mature stage of business as well. But I think for many of you who are listening to the podcast, you're not quite at that stage yet, so I'm not gonna spend any amount of time on that today. I think it's really important. Whilst we're here and we're talking about coaching, is that we talk about who coaching is not right for, because in all honesty, coaching isn't for everybody.

[00:12:40] So. For you to get the most out of your coaching experience, there are two crucial components that you are responsible for as the coachee or as the business owner in this case. Firstly, is execution. A coach won't do the work for you. A coach will help you to figure out what you are doing and how you are do it, but it's up to you to action.

[00:13:03] What is. Unpacked inside of your coaching calls. So either you need to create time to be able to implement the work or you need to have people within your team, either permanent resources or people that you are outsourcing tasks to, to roll out the work for you.

[00:13:23] The second component for you to have a positive coaching experience is to be coachable, is to have a growth mindset. The thing is, you are gonna wanna be okay with having blind spots exposed.

[00:13:40] Oftentimes coaching, we are holding up a mirror and we're facilitating these really accountable conversations and that can be really tough. But what I can assure you on the other side of moving through that, that's where you get really great results. So, For me, when I'm working through this with my clients, it's always done with support, with love, with utter care.

[00:14:04] But you know, it can be tough to see things from a different perspective, so you've gotta make sure that you've got that mindset right before engaging with a coach.

[00:14:16] At the end of the day, it's important to remember that you are always calling the shots with your coach, though the decisions that you make are ultimately up to you, and we as coaches don't actually tell you what to do. We can definitely offer perspective and insight and at times guidance.

[00:14:36] Ultimately, every decision that's made coming out of a coaching call is going to fall on your shoulders and nobody else's. No one can really step in and say, Hey, you gotta do this, and hey, you gotta do that. It's really about making sure that you are taking complete ownership of the experience.

[00:14:56] Okay, so how do you find the right coach? Finding someone that firstly offers the type of coaching that aligns to you? So we spoke about that earlier in the episode, and also finding someone that specialises in the stage of business you are in as well. So as I said, for me personally, I'm really focused on that coming at a startup stage, that messy middle stage of business.

[00:15:21] But you're gonna wanna find someone that really fits with you. because the key here is to find a coach that really has a solid understanding of your experience, as well as how to move you through your challenges.

[00:15:35] And lastly, the coaching experience is, it's a pretty vulnerable one, and it's gonna be really important for you to pick a coach that you trust, pick a coach that really energetically aligns with your vibe if you like. And someone that who's really going to get you as a person. Okay? So it's one thing to understand your business, but it's also going to be really important that as a person, you two have a really good fit and a great way to understand that is to consume your coaches' free content. So that's the first thing.

[00:16:15] And so if I'm your coach or. earmarked as your future coach. Consuming this content really does give you a good perspective of my personality and my vibe, but also getting on a call with your coach, so having that free introduction call, or clarity call, or discovery call, whatever that's called for the coach, and just having that opportunity to speak to them and connect with them and to really just double check that they're gonna be the right person to see you through this experience.

[00:16:45] How can a coach help you? Okay, so as I mentioned earlier, every single coach has their speciality. So you might have coaches that are focused on marketing. You might have other coaches that are focused on the financial side of your business. The space, obviously, that I work in is in business strategy and transformation, which essentially means helping you with your operations, your structure, and preparing your business for growth.

[00:17:11] So every single coach has a different area that they focus on. So finding that person that really works in your pocket of needs is going to be critical,

[00:17:21] But when it comes to how I help my clients, I help take complex challenges and simplify them for my clients. I know the backend of businesses and operation structures and business strategy, so I use that deep understanding of small business to help my clients to figure out what it is that they want their business to look like, and then how to make that happen.

[00:17:45] It's my job to understand the individual needs of each business owner that I'm working with as well as their unique business. So essentially, our job is to hold space, is to facilitate really effective conversations to get you in a space of critical thinking so that you can find solutions to the challenges that you're experiencing.

[00:18:09] Knowing what to do next in business is really hard when you are in it on your own and you're doing all the things and you just have this never ending cycle of workload to-do list and just, you know, the day-to-day challenges that you experience as a business owner. This is how coaching really helps you because it takes you out of the business and it really offers that safe space for you to unpick what's happening as well as to devise a plan forward.

[00:18:42] For my clients, their transformation looks completely different though from one client to the next, from one business to the next, And that's because everybody wants their business to look slightly different. And as a result of that, the work we do in each of the coaching calls and the coaching containers looks different. So for some of my clients, we're working. Into deep leadership skills to other clients who are looking to really optimize and systemize and automate their business so they can pull themselves out of their business through to other clients who were really working on creating more capacity and space in their calendars and the work that they're doing so that they have more time with their families.

[00:19:26] But at the end of the day, my goal for you or for my clients is for them to have a sustainable business. A business that really creates impact and that moves them towards that big vision for their business, but also so that they can have their best life and they can move towards that big vision for their lives.

[00:19:46] So let me share a little bit about my programs. Now I'm only offering private coaching at this stage, and I do that in two different ways.

[00:19:56] So the first type of coaching is a once off 90 minute coaching call, and this is a really great opportunity to get coaching around. One specific challenge or opportunity you want to explore in your business. So let's say you've been thinking about something and you've been stuck in the idea stage and you haven't been able to figure out, a, is this the right move for my business?

[00:20:21] Or B, how do I execute that to make that come alive? So that's the one part, or the second part is, is that you've been stuck in the same challenge cycle with something that's been happening in your business, but because you're so busy or so overwhelmed, or you just can't get that clarity on how to move through it.

[00:20:39] That's what the 90 minute coaching call is really helpful for. So really awesome if you're not wanting to invest in that ongoing coaching, or you're not ready to invest in that ongoing coaching at this stage. So the 90 minute coaching call is an excellent opportunity for you to get an answer quickly and to get a really clear next step for your business.

[00:21:02] My second container is the six month business Accelerator coaching program, and this is the full coaching experience where I help you transform your entire business model.

[00:21:13] The program is really great if you are at that messy middle stage of business and you are needing to optimize your business to make it more sustainable for the future, and to carry that growth through. So often when my clients come to start working with me, they're still following that momentum and when they hit this stage of business, it's really hard for them to keep all the balls in the air as well as have any semblance of a personal life.

[00:21:39] So my job in the first month in particular, is to really help you to examine what's happening in your business and to clarify what is and isn't working. From there, we set the business vision, mission, and values, which is essentially the bedrock of your business.

[00:21:56] Now, you might've done that work in the early stages, but often in the messy middle, you have so much more lessons and data points and experiences that can inform what that's going to look like moving into the future. So we're gonna reset that piece. Then by the end of month one, you are going to have your strategic plan in place, and then we start the fortnightly coaching calls.

[00:22:19] Now, each of those calls are entirely tailored to you. this is not about training. It's about helping to support you as you transform your business operation model. What's really beautiful about the six month coaching container is that it's not just a transformation for your business, but it's also a transformation for you personally. You are going to not only fall back in love with your business, but you're going to have that capacity for the people and the things that you love to do outside of your business.

[00:22:54] As I said at the start of the episode, building a business, it's lonely and none more so than in the messy middle stages of business. You have less time for community, less time to get more support, and you are incredibly busy doing all of the things.

[00:23:14] The impact though of this means that you are sitting on ideas for too long and you are not knowing how to organize those ideas into a plan and execute them so that you can make meaningful change. This is not because you don't have the skill to do so. It's because your mental load is so massive, you're juggling so many different components, and it's really hard to step outside that picture and see, your business from a full perspective.

[00:23:43] And I love the way that Jemma Mrdak described this in last week's episode where she said working together was like putting up a periscope and seeing everything from a really clear perspective. That's the benefit that you get when you work with a coach, especially at this stage of business.

[00:24:00] My job, With you is to facilitate important conversations to help challenge you, but also to deeply support you. I hold space for you when things are really hard and I cheer you on when things are going well. I love helping my clients turn their ideas into goals and then into a plan.

[00:24:20] There's real power in having support to keep you moving forward, to prevent you from getting stuck for too long That boss is the power of coaching. So in summary, the type of coaching, the timing of when to hire a coach, the coach to hire, it's all unique to you. I do hope in this conversation I was able to help provide a little bit more insight into helping you to make an informed decision about what the next move is for you, and when is the right time to hire a coach. Now if you feel called to learn more about my coaching programs, I invite you to head down into the link and go ahead and apply today.

[00:25:05] Once you apply, we'll tee up our time to chat so I can learn more about the challenges in your business and what you're looking to achieve through coaching, and you have that opportunity to ask me those questions that will help you to decide if we are the right fit.

[00:25:20] Boss, as always, I appreciate you. Thank you so much for joining me for this conversation.

[00:25:26] I do hope that you consider investing in coaching because it really is such an incredible experience that supersedes the time that you're actually working with your coach. It really is something that's gonna create massive impact for you.

[00:25:41] Thanks for tuning in. As always, I look forward to chatting with you next week.

[00:25:46] This episode was recorded on the land of Kilen Darbin. I pay respect and tribute to the turbo people who are the traditional owners and caretakers of this great land that the podcast is recorded on.