Will a business coach get you more clients?
I’ll give you a short answer: no. Does that come as a surprise? Hiring a business coach will not get you more clients. A coach is not a miracle solution for your business, nor will they fulfill your desire for a fully booked offer. No business coach can guarantee you clients. If you were under the illusion that investing in a coach would solve your lack of income, then it’s probably time for you to think again. Let’s discuss the benefits of hiring a business coach.
Why invest in a coach, then? What is the point?
Entrepreneurship is a marathon, not a race. It is a journey, and you need to be ready to be in it for the long haul. While you can choose to go on this journey alone, you can also choose to hire mentors and coaches to support you on the way, and grow much faster.
That should be your motive to hire a business coach. To not want to do it all alone, and to be willing to learn from those who went before you.
What are the benefits of hiring a business coach? A good coach will motivate you, help you gain insights and find solutions that are already lying dormant inside of you. They will catch you when you fall, hold you accountable, and hand you suggestions, ideas and guidance that can help you grow as a business owner – and help you understand how to attract clients.
You will have to put in the work yourself to actually book those clients. A coach will not do this for you. And they also are not responsible for the speed at which you grow your business.
What will be your ROI when hiring a business coach?
If I could give you that as a set answer, a figure, a hard bit of proof… I would have gold in my hands.
The ROI is different for every client, and depends fully on where you find yourself on the entrepreneurial journey. If someone is just starting out, and has never had a client so far, then the ROI will likely be an increased feeling of confidence and clarity, better marketing knowledge, and understanding what steps to take next to get that first client.
If they get their first sale while working with me, amazing! But I will not take full credit for that; that sale is totally because of the hard work put in by my client.
Other creatives I work with, who are already a bit further into their business adventure, may develop an improved understanding of how to reach a new audience. Their ROI may look like a visible improvement of their brand and a stronger presence online, now speaking to the right audience.
The benefits of working with a business coach, however, might also look like a massive light bulb moment of what path to take next in life. Or even finding out that the business they had in mind, is actually not want they want to do at all! While working with me through mindset blocks, ideas and challenges, and me asking the right questions, they may end up feeling 100% happy to go in a completely different direction than when they hired me.
Why is changing direction a positive ROI? Because without my coaching, they would not have discovered this so quickly, or had the courage to say yes to the inevitable.
Some of my clients increase their income, but all of them increase their confidence and clarity. They know what steps to take next.
Don’t think that by hiring a business coach, your job is done, and your business is saved. Forget it. You have only just begun. A coach is a piece in the big jigsaw puzzle. It will be this coach right now, then you may hire another. Or you sign up for a course, and then a membership. You may read books, and listen to podcasts. You are never done learning. All of those things are investments into your personal and professional development.
But this is the exciting bit: entrepreneurship is a vocation, something only for the brave at heart, and for the rebels, and for the ones who persist and believe in themselves. You are one of them.
And you may not see the immediate benefits of hiring a business coach after working with them. It may come later. Much later. Often, it does.
It can come because of something they suggested, a seed that was planted, or the wheels that were set in motion while you were still working with them.
None of my coaches told me that ‘if you do this, then you will get a new client’. Instead, they encouraged me, pushed me out of my comfort zone, inspired me, and helped me develop on a personal and professional level.
I did get more clients, but not immediately. It was as a result of many steps I took, insights I gained, new connections I made, and how I started to show up. My coaches were part of that journey. Not the reason for my results. It was me who chose to listen to them, put in the work, be consistent, and keep going. But they were a massive influence on me, and who I am today. My investment in them was absolutely worth every penny.
You are very capable. A business coach can help you feel even more capable.
I care deeply about my clients and I want nothing more than for them to get clients, and feel excited about entrepreneurship.
But what I offer is my guidance, my knowledge, and my skills. Not a miracle cure.
If you want to have an expert buddy by your side on your journey, and are willing to accept the fact that the ROI may not be instant, then hiring a coach is one of the best investments you can make. You may not see it straight away, but it is part of that bigger picture.
Being a creative entrepreneur is a mission, hard work, and requires persistence, time, and trust. And sometimes the ROI is not financial, but developmental.
You are capable, you have it in you, and you can totally do this. I believe in you!
