One thing that distinguishes successful entrepreneurs from “wannabes” is their ability to come up with a great idea and turn it into a legitimate business opportunity. Just coming up with the idea isn’t enough. Of course, ideas don’t turn into products or services all by themselves. It requires a lot of work. And sometimes (perhaps most times) it requires some help. That’s where a skilled and experienced business coach comes in. How does a business coach help turn your idea into a business opportunity?
Let’s look at a few key steps in the process.
I recently read a newsletter from Chris Brogan that identifies some of the steps. By the way, if you’re not familiar with Chris, you’ll want to check out his book Trust Agents. Chris talks about five things that are essential in the process:
- Raw Materials
- Testing the Premise
- Business Potential
- Building It
- Branding
What does a business coach have to do with those things? Let’s explore that a bit.
Coaching & Raw Materials
Your big idea is what makes up your raw material. A business coach helps you define and refine your big idea. He or she will ask you questions such as: What have you got that people want? What will it look like? Why will people want it? How will you make it? A business coach doesn’t get wrapped up in the emotions of your idea. That doesn’t mean he or she isn’t excited about it, but it does mean he or she can be a bit more objective and ask hard questions that you need to answer.
Coaching & Testing the Premise
Once again, a business coach can challenge your assumptions about your idea. If you’re the boss in your company it may be easy to get “buy-in” from your team. A business coach can be more objective—and even bring in outside input (with your approval) to see if the idea can stand on its own outside the walls of your business.
Coaching & Business Potential
Nobody does new ventures purely for the fun of it—at least not with the intent of growing a company/business. If you’re interested in scaling up and growing, you need to make sure this idea is going to generate revenue. A business coach can hold your feet to the fire to make sure you’ve done your homework to make sure you’re generating profitable revenues. He or she will want to see the numbers that demonstrate that the thing is going to work. He’ll ask you questions about pricing. She’ll want to know where your manufacturing numbers came from.
Coaching &Building It
In his newsletter, Chris Brogan points out that this is where a lot of people fall short. They come up with a great idea—but don’t do anything with it. A business coach will work with you to create a business strategy and a plan for executing it. Then, he or she will hold you accountable for the work that needs to be done. You’ll be held to account for specific tasks, deadlines, and responsibilities (who on your team is responsible for which action items?).
Coaching & Branding
If you’re doing something truly new, you’ll need to brand it—and perhaps even re-brand yourself. While you business coach won’t do the branding for you, he or she can help steer you in the right direction. If you don’t have the skills or the personnel to handle that on your own, there’s a good chance your business coach has additional resources to bring to bear. By the way, Here’s a recent post that Chris did on branding that offers some great insights on branding.
All of this is helpful information, but do you really need a business coach to make these happen? The short (and theoretical) answer is no. You may have the skills and the discipline to do this on your own. What I’ve discovered, however, in the years that I’ve been an executive business coach and business strategist is that leaders are often so busy working in their businesses that they don’t have the time to work on them.
I repeatedly have clients tell me that they were so wrapped up in running the day-to-day operations that they didn’t have time for strategic thinking about how to grow their businesses. They had great intentions but didn’t have anybody holding them accountable for the things that would ensure growth.
In fact, I’ve had potential clients who weren’t even sure if they were ready to make the changes necessary to transform their companies and scale up. If that sound vaguely familiar I encourage you to take this 5-minute assessment (click on the button below) to see if your company is ready for growth—and what things might be holding you back.
Need help growing your business? With over 35 years of experience and thousands of companies assisted, Chuck Kocher and The Transformation Company can help you scale your business into a truly exceptional business capable of high growth strategies. Businesses are always changing, don’t let yours be left behind. Stand out with our business and executive leadership programs – designed to challenge and improve your business. Your business will thank you for it. Contact me today for a free consultation! 719-339-9505