The Business Bulletin
SME Survey Do you have a coach for your business?
A coach is someone who tells you what you don’t want to hear, who has you see what you don’t want to see, so you can be who you have always known you could be
Tom Landry
Word of mouth played an important part in the initial choice, with 20% of coaches being referred. Surprisingly qualifications (10%) and pricing (8%) overall were less important. It still leaves 44.4% that are flying solo and fighting the good fight on their own. Therefore the next question was to explore what the barrier was for businesses failing to have a coach. This gave the following insights. ■ I can’t afford one (30%)
Whilst there is a difference, this
the advantage of someone to help
question could relate to a business
guide the business forward. This then
adviser or mentor helping you with
begged the question: what made you
your business. Being a small business
choose them?
owner is a tough job and the buck ultimately stops with you. It can also be a lonely place to be. So, having an independent ear to bend or shoulder to cry on, can be of huge benefit to anyone trying to succeed in business. The survey of 90 respondents showed that 55.6% of businesses had some kind of external influence. This is great news that over half see
Interestingly, as you can see from the bar chart, the top reasons were as follows (respondents could choose more than one option): ■ Personality (64%)
■ I may get one in the future (27.5%) ■ Don’t need it for my business (22.5%) ■ Don’t have the time (12.5%) Whether you have a coach or not, hopefully this survey has helped you get some statistics to consider
■ Experience (54%) ■ Methodology (32%) ■ Reputation (26%)
Get involved To take part in the next survey – What is the biggest impact on your cashflow? – visit here: https://forms.gle/ ahvnHeBZNSFcNEM48. The results will be shared in the next edition of this magazine.
50 | Issue 4 – Strategy and Personal Development
