For some years now, I’ve used a business coach. She is my strategic planning therapist, so to speak. For those of you not familiar with business coaches, these are professionals trained to assist business people to work through a range of business challenges. For the small business person, a coach can be particularly handy.

Working from home, I have found work to be, on occasion, isolating. In addition, working solo, I find that I sometimes lack a professional to bounce off my ideas. Thus, my need for a coach became obvious.

Your coach can work with you in a variety of ways. He or she can meet with you face to face or by telephone. The latter approach is particularly useful if you have a busy schedule. My coach had me prepare a worksheet prior to each call and send it to her to review. The worksheet required that I outline my goals for the call, questions that I had and so on. At the appointed time, I called her and we talked for about an hour. Our relationship has been sporadic. We worked together every other week for several months. Once I had worked through the range of business issues I was concerned about, we stopped our sessions. A few years later, I restarted our discussions again for a few weeks. Obviously, each client and his or her coach work differently.

Finding a coach was a bit of a challenge but I recommend that you go about it in a couple of different ways. First, ask your fellow entrepreneurs who have used a coach for a referral. Also, visit the International Coach Federation online (www.coachfederation.org). They have a search function that can provide you with names of certified coaches. Like selecting any professional, talk to several coaches before you hire one. See if you have the right chemistry. Have them explain how they work. Ask lots of questions. 

I am interested in hearing about your experiences with business coaches.