This blog post has been authored by Tineke Rensen, Powerful Business Academy
What does a baby have to do with your business and with business coaches?
Well for many of us our business is like another child to us.
When you have children you will remember what it was like when you just had your first baby.
For me, it was like this….
With my first one, I felt very insecure, I wanted to know for sure that what I did was right, I read books, I asked my mother and for the monthly check-ups, I always went to the baby consultation bureau. In my country, they are THE authority for monitoring the growth and well being of your baby.
When the visit came closer I prepared the book with all the questions they wanted to know about my daughter. This was the book where they monitored her growth. I always took it with me. When I wanted to know something they were the people I would talk to and I took their advice very seriously. When there was a concern they sent me to the specialist, which happened once. Luckily there was nothing wrong.
No doubt in my mind would I have asked for advise of anybody else than THE authority because I wanted what was best for my baby. And I knew I had to learn and grow into becoming a mom.
How about our other baby?
With our other baby, our business, many of us behave differently.
There is one authority, the chamber of commerce, yet most of the people who work there never had a business of their own. It makes you wonder why they then give advice to people who start a business?
Not to mention the enormous amount of business coaches, who never had a business of their own either and who are very eager to help you to grow your business. Their business model is to get as many business owners as their client and to show them how to grow a business. They can usually only show you the way they use, to make you their client.
Whilst the advice given by the experts of the baby consultation bureau is free, business advice is not.
What 10 years of business mentoring has taught me
If there’s anything the past 10 years of expertise in mentoring businesswomen has taught me, it’s that the same issues continually recur when women want to grow their businesses.
From this, I have created the Blueprint for a Successful Business Make Over with eight areas that are essential to master when you want to grow your business.
What is a Business Blueprint Definition?
A business blueprint is a strategic plan that tells those operating the business the productivity requirements, the necessary jobs, the milestones, the targets, and the expected outcomes. A business blueprint is a plan for how you will strategically execute business. According to the How To Entrepreneur
This is what the website Blueprints has created in regards to various Business Blueprints.
We often behave differently when we need to pay for help
business coach.
And how picky we are to get the best advice for our baby we think we are equally as picky for our business help as well.
But something astonishing is happening there. For baby help, we are not being sold too.
The doctor or midwife tells us where to go and all these people who work at the baby consultation bureau had training and are certified to work there.
The people who give you business advise often do not have a lot of business experience of their own at all. Very often they can sell very well. They speak your language, they show you what you lack, they show you what you desire. They are trained very well in selling their advice to you.
How on earth can someone who never had a business of their own advise a business owner to grow their business?
And that is exactly what is happening all the time.
Most business coaches have never had a business of their own.
Many business coaches followed some pieces of training with some business guru’s and start to teach other people these things. Basically they are interns with no experience yet.
They have not seen the proof that it works until you become their client.
Would you take advice for your baby of an intern?business coach
Yet that is what most business women do. When it feels right and the results they can get are impressing the deal is easily done.
It amazes me how many people become a business coach with very little business experience of their own and how easily they get clients.
It is the reason I am very reluctant to use the name business coaching for what I do.
I remember when I sold my first business after 22 years and I was at a networking event. I figured out that after 22 years I knew quite something about business and that I wanted to help other business owners with my own experience. I’d heard that was called consulting or coaching.
I choose the title business coach and when I first introduced myself to someone he said:
“Oh, are you one of those who teach people how to grow their business without having experience at all?”
I was shocked and felt offended. He only had a business for 3 years. Who was he to say that to me? But it had nothing to do with me, it was the word business coach that did it.
At that time I had no idea where this came from.
Now, more than 8 years later I completely understand and it saddens me to see how many business coaches there are with no business experience and how many clients they get because they can sell very well. Whether it is live selling directly to you, or whether it is online selling.
The methods they use to get you as their client might not work at all for you to get your clients.
It has happened to me many times. I did exactly what they told me to do, and I am not a quitter and nowhere near did I get the results as promised. They did not tell me how many years it took them, and they could not show me other ways than their only success formula to get new clients.
There are hundreds of success formulas to grow your business. There is never only one way.
Yes even after being in business for 30 years I also still hire business coaches. There is always a lot to learn and when you teach other people you should always be updated with the latest. Every good coach has a coach. But I am very critical who is good enough to teach me something.
Everybody should be that critical.
So how can you find a good business coach?
There are some questions you should ask this person.
And I am noticing that not many businesswomen ask those questions.
And when you ask all of them to me, yes I can answer all of them and no I did not frame the questions in such a way that I am one of the very few that can answer them.
I phrased them in such a way that the good ones can answer the questions. And then chances are a lot higher that you find yourself a good business coach.
A good business coach should be able to listen to you ask you the right questions teaches you new skills give you advice (In every area of your business)
He or she is a coach, trainer, teacher and mentor. In my opinion, these are all the qualities you should look for when you search for help to grow your business.
A good business coach is someone who is a generalist who can help you in every field of your business and not only in one field, who has a lot of experience and had lots of clients, with a large network and is happy to connect you with these people.
And when you need very special advice they can send you to a trusted specialist they know.
That is exactly the same way the baby consultation bureaus operates.
Answer all the questions and when this is really not possible then send you to a specialist.
And when you might think: “I am just a beginner everybody can help me,” just remember what you would have done with your baby. Would you have thought the same then?
Don’t join a group program where you will have no 1-on-1 moments with them. You need to be able to have tailored advice to your situation. And to be able to get answers to your specific questions. When this is all you can pay, I suggest you save some more money.
When they ask you an enormous amount of money when you want to work one-on-one with them and they cannot answer all these questions positively you know there are a few things they can do very well. Selling! And therefore they are very busy. It does not necessarily mean that they are very good at helping you to grow your specific business.
Position and brand themselves
Speak your language
Sell very well
When they give you no time to think about they know what can start to go on in your mind after the conversation. And that when you go back to your normal routine chances are that you come up with reasons not to do it.
I know all these selling tricks and yet I believe we should also respect the client to be able to make a solid decision. So when she wants to think about it I always respect that.
Tineke Rensen is in business for 30 years. She built an international Outdoor and Survival business from scratch and sold this after 22 years. Tineke was a national whitewater kayaking champion.
She now is one of the most all-round business accelerators you can find. There are very few topics she cannot help you with your business. Many people find it hard to believe when they hear this. How much do you think you know about a topic if you live it day and night for 30 years?
Tineke works with female business owners to grow to their full business potential. She uses her own system the “Blueprint for a Successful Business Makeover”. She is a women’s business coach.
Tineke is the author of “Maximum Business Growth For Women”
Maximum Business Growth For Women
If you want to watch business videos with Tineke Rensen you can like the Powerful Business Academy Youtube Channel
info@PowerfulBusinessAcademy.com