Call me biased, but I think every business owner should have a business coach. Well, not EVERY business owner. But every business owner who wants more from their business. More money, more time, higher performing teams, more fun, greater success, an exit strategy, and so on.

Business owners who are motivated and committed to achieving greater things will definitely benefit from coaching. Business owners who are NOT motivated can still benefit from having a coach, because that coach may be just the person who will motivate them.

But not every coach is for every person. Not every coaching program is right for every person or every business. There needs to be the right fit, and when there isn’t the right fit, lots can go wrong. Coaching can be a big investment – not to mention a big commitment – and so it’s important to be aware of what could go wrong with coaching and ultimately cost you lots of money and waste your time. Worse, when coaching goes wrong it can cause you to feel despondent about your business and what you’re wanting to achieve, and ultimately force you back to “the way things were” – ie your comfort zone.

The responsibility of coaching success rests with both the coach and the coachee. When considering hiring a coach, or even if you are already getting coaching, here is a brief list, in no particular order, of the most common things to look out for and be aware of that can ultimately result in failure:

  • Lack of clarity; you have not set clear goals and targets.
  • Lack of a clear action plan. Not a business plan, but an action plan: what are you going to do each week over the next 90 days, to move you towards your goals?
  • No focus on your key performance indicators (KPI’s). You and your coach are not reviewing the most important numbers in your business at least once per month.
  • No educational component; you are “doing stuff,” but not learning or changing your thinking during the coaching process. You are not reading.
  • Your coach is not holding you accountable; you are not doing what you and your coach agreed you would do.
  • You are not coachable; you are not allowing your coach to hold you accountable.
  • You allow drama, distractions, noise, and day-to-day problems to get in the way of doing the most important work that will move you towards your goals.
  • You don’t turn up for coaching sessions (most likely for reasons that you think are good reasons).
  • You don’t fix time in your diary to work on the actions agreed with your coach.
  • You “pause” coaching one or more times because “things have come up.”
  • Your coach does your work for you. (If you don’t do the work, you won’t learn it, and you will have abdicated ownership of your results and success to somebody else.)
  • You don’t like your coach. Or your coach doesn’t like you.
  • You don’t trust your coach.
  • Your coach is reluctant or afraid to tell you what they’re really thinking.
  • You and your coach are not reviewing your progress regularly.
  • There is no community; your coach has not provided an opportunity for you to meet other coaching clients.
  • You do not involve your team in the coaching process; they are not aware of what you are working on and why. You are not delegating enough of your work to your team.

When interviewing coaches or searching for the right coaching program for you, keep this list handy. Even better, show this list to your prospective coach and go through it with them. Ask them for their thoughts on all these various threats to success, and how they will ensure none of them happen to you.

Find out more about what ActionCOACH can do for your business. Or if you simply have a question about something you’ve read here, don’t hesitate to get in touch. Email me at andrewgoldberg@actioncoach.com.