SCORE Minnesota

Score with Small Biz Coaching

May 18, 2010

So, you’ve got a fantastic business idea. All you need to do is start up a small business and you’ll be rich in a matter of months. Simple? Well, maybe.

Your business idea might have come to you while you were watching a TV show or infomercial. More likely, your business idea is related to your years of experience gained in an industry while working for somebody else. Given this experience, you are the expert. The last thing you think you need is a coach.

After 30 years of business experience, I have come to believe that everybody needs a coach — an unbiased truth-teller. This role goes by many different names: counselor, mentor, advocate, guide, tutor, coach…you get the point. If you are starting your own business or even considering becoming an entrepreneur, a coach can be one of your most valuable business and personal assets.

After 15 years as a manufacturers’ rep, my friend Patty started a business making small plastic toys. With her years of manufacturing experience, you can assume this would be easy for her, right? Her sales campaign consisted of sending out letters to businesses announcing the availability of her toys. While she waited for the orders to come rolling in, she started manufacturing the toys.

She filled her basement, her garage, and even moved on to fill a neighbor’s garage. She was intently focused on optimizing her manufacturing process; her strongest area of business experience. As she waited for the orders to come in, she spent her entire retirement funds on inventory. Once that ran dry, she spent her husband’s retirement on more inventory.

She was making great progress at optimizing her manufacturing process. While she was building a campaign to solicit even more funds from extended family, a friend finally woke her up to the fact that she needed to focus some real energy on sales before spending one more minute or one more dollar on optimizing manufacturing. Had she used her friend as a business coach earlier in the process, she might have been able to save most of her family’s retirement funds and been able to focus on a more pressing aspect of her new business.

Here’s another true story. I grew up in a small suburban town in Ohio. Bob, a newcomer to town, opened a small restaurant on the north side of our town. He spent considerable time and money interviewing local high school students to understand their interests. He invested a lot of money into a restaurant theme that supported student interests with the hope of establishing a pizzeria aimed at the young adult market.

The restaurant walls were decorated with many teen-oriented posters and intense red color everywhere. After investing over six-figures, he was unsuccessful in attracting the level of business he needed to recoup his investment. During year two, he finally asked a friend, “Why don’t the local high school students come by?” The answer was simple. The arch-rival high school, located just 4 miles to the north, sported a primary spirit color of red. Once he changed the color theme of his restaurant from red to gold, local students flocked to his pizzeria! (No proud “Golden Bear” would dare patronize a perceived “Cardinal” hangout!) Bob nearly lost his business by waiting almost two years to ask for some simple coaching.

Professional athletes have coaches. Actors have agents. Presidents have advisors. If you are thinking of opening a business or are in business today, you need a business coach. Who would be a good coach for you? While an effective business coach has expertise in business, I believe the most important attribute of a good coach is somebody who is willing to tell you what you need to hear. An unbiased truth-teller can be an effective business coach.

Your ideal coach could be a family member or a trusted friend. However, if you don’t know anyone who would make a good coach, I recommend contacting SCORE. SCORE offers Free counseling and mentoring to entrepreneurs and small business owners on how to start and grow a successful enterprise. SCORE counselors are business owners and corporate execs that are still working, in transition or retired. Although their background and experience varies they are all committed to helping other businesses succeed. They are also great business coaches because they are unbiased truth-tellers who will tell you what you need to hear.

No matter which route you go, good luck in your business endeavor!

To learn more about how to start, operate and grow a successful business contact SCORE by clicking the link on the right to the office nearest you or click here to request free face to face counseling.

Have you ever considered volunteering for SCORE? Our members help millions of new or existing small businesses succeed each year by sharing their knowledge and experience. Click here or the link on the right to the office nearest you to learn more.

Jim Emanuelson, St. Paul SCORE
View more posts by Jim Emanuelson

Filed under: Business Planning,Entrepreneurship,Start-Up

Tags: business coaching, entrepreneur, score, SCORE Counselors, Small Business Mentoring, small business owners, starting your small business