Why Investing in a Business Coach is Essential for Fitness Entrepreneurs

“Paying for a business coach is not an expense; it's an investment in your future. Particularly in the fitness industry, where trends and client needs evolve rapidly, a coach keeps you ahead of the curve, ensuring your business remains relevant and profitable.” – Rachel Holmes, Fitness Business Mentor

When you're running a business that isn't making as much money as you'd like, the first instinct is to look at how you can save money, i.e. spend less. So the thought of spending a few hundred pounds a month on a business coach can seem very counter-intuitive.

However any good business coach will be able to return your investment in their services back to you several fold, and usually very quickly (within the first couple of months), then going forward you can consider them a 'free service' that you have every month to maintain your business growth. Not to mention the continued increase in business revenue you will continue to gain the longer you are with them.

Consider for a moment of all the athletes at the recent Olympic games in Paris, every single one of them would have had a coach, that coach would have been responsible for keeping their training, attitude, diet and focus on track. Not one of the participants would have done what was necessary without the extra support of a coach of some kind. The accountability that having someone there, every day checking that they have done everything necessary to be the best is unbeatable.

These regular humans push themselves to be the absolute best they can be in their field, do you think they ever sat back and thought, it's ok, I don't mind if I place 10th in my event, I won't try as hard today. Of course not, they had a goal and kept their focus on it every single day. Why then as business owners is it ok to just be 'good' at what we do. Wouldn't it be great if we too could be Olympic standard - with our businesses.

More often than not small businesses are one-man (or woman) bands with the business owner being solely responsible for all the decisions that need to be made. There's no-one to bounce ideas off or get feedback from and a lot of the time actions are taken with fingers crossed 'hoping' that it will bring results. Having a business coach means you always have another person to be your sounding board. They will be on your team, but also far enough removed to be able to give an honest and unbiased opinion.

It is important when selecting a business coach that you find someone with first-hand experience in your industry, as although there are many similarities across all businesses that will help you grow, each industry will have its own challenges and solutions.

Some coaches will be business owners that have previously worked in the industry and are now taking what they've learned and helping other businesses as their main profession. Others are still active in their business and therefore have feet on the ground and will be able to fully relate to any current trends or industry 'issues' that are going on at any time. These coaches will be able to give real life examples of what they've done or are doing in their own business that could be transferrable to yours.

As with any investment, it's worth doing your research. You will be spending a lot of your valuable time with your coach over the years and sharing some quite intimate details of your business, so do make sure that you chose someone you like! Don't get me wrong, they don't need to become your best friend, there will always be that professional relationship boundary, however if you don't get on with your coach it will be much harder to access the creativity that can be unleashed with the right collaboration of business owner and coach.

In short I think the real question should be 'Can my business afford NOT to have a business coach?'