Business coaching

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Business coaching focuses on the needs of the business to expand and grow. The vision needs to be heard and built upon. Then the mission and the objectives, the strageties and plans. In the realm of business coaching it is imperative to select the right coach. If a person is in "what we call an idea to business to billions" then they would use an Incubation Business Coach. If they are in the start up to three years, they need to use a Startup Business Coach. At three years there is a critical stage and they need to hire a Business Breakthrough coach. The specialty Business coaching is at its best after the intake and determination is made as to where the coaching should be done. If the organization is weak then we use an organizational coach. Each need is reviewed and the right coach is selected.

Fortune 500 companies use specialty coaches for specific needs and most generally it takes in the personality or challenges facing individuals to "save or rebuild an employee" rather than rehiring as this process is costly. In Business coaching there is a lot of brainstorming with the coach sitting in to ask the right questions. It is all in the questioning, exploration and action that business coaching takes place. Certainly a highly trained coach can do this but when they have an expertise in one phase, they don't know the right questions to ask. There is always a crossover in business coaching as the component which creates the success is people and they all bring their personal issues to the company. The business coach is aware of this in the process and would suggest an expert coach in personal coaching. Business coaching is operated in any segment from solopreneurship to billion dollar businesses including electornic businesses. There are different models of assisting individuals with their management process whether with business startups or within established enterprises. Business coaching is distinct because it involves teaching and direction via encouragement and brainstorming.

There are over 20,000 business coaches in the US today. A business coach needs a strong followup system to benchmark the coaching.

Business coaching usually does not apply to all models of business. For instance, the "Franchise" model has systems that the franchisor requires and the Franshisor is invovled in the training of the owner as well as their employees. However if their issues are interpersonal relationships with the employees they may need coaching around this issue. The entrepreneur then uses a personal coach skilled in communications, anger management, etc to shift the enterpreneur from these challenges to actions creating a greater business.

Business coaches work with their clients to guide them to excel in their business. The epitome of the business coaching is to marry the business expertise of the coach to the needs of the business.

[edit] Difference from mentoring and consulting

Business Coaching is not business mentoring. Mentoring involves a developmental relationship between a more experienced "mentor" and a less experienced partner, and typically involves sharing of advice. A business coach can act as a mentor given that he or she has adequate expertise and experience although a good business coach need not have specific business expertise and experience in the same field as the person receiving the coaching, to provide good business coaching.

Business coaching is not consulting. To further put business coaching in perspective, there is also business consulting which involves the provision of expert advice, usually on a one time basis and the plan is developed by the consultant after inquiry and given to the business. A business coach is not a consultant but when they determine that this service is needed they may ask the question: "Do you think it would be better to call in a consultant?" This is project oriented rather than process oriented.