Few months back, before the lockdown started, I was sitting in a cosy coffee shop. There were two gentlemen sitting next to my table. As It was quiet afternoon time, I could clearly listen to their conversation. One of them was into providing digital marketing services to his various clients for past 10+ years, and the other one was working in some multinational company and was about to start his own business. Here for easier to understand let’s call the digital marketing guy, ‘A’, and the other guy, ‘B’.

Now ‘B’ must have attended some of the seminars or training sessions about start-ups or something similar. He was insisting ‘A’ to find some good business coach as business coaching is important for any businessman to grow.

‘A’ was very reluctant to accept that fact. He kept saying that he is in his business for 10+ years now, and he has started and taken his business to the present stage on his own. So, he has no need spend money for business coaching.

Listening to this conversation, a thought came to my mind, what would have happened to Sachin Tendulkar, M S Dhoni, Virat Kohali, Merry Kom, Vishwanathan Anand and so many successful personalities from different fields if they wouldn’t have any coach? Do you think, if Ramakant Acharekar wouldn’t have been there, Sachin Tendulkar would have been ‘Bharatratna Sachin Tendulkar’?

With this thought, I started thinking on many such experiences in my career where people are reluctant to accept business coaching for some or the other reason. Initially, their arguments may sound logical. But actually, they are not. They are nothing but the myths.

We are going to discuss about such common myths, and about the facts here.

1. I know my business very well. I can coach myself well. I don’t want any outside person to tell me what I should do? Sachin Tendulkar was having his coach till he declared his retirement. Coach is an outsider. He does not deal with your day to day work. But being outsider is his strength. He looks at your business icily. He does not involve his heart in your business as many of you do. But he involves his brain which is highly important. With hi expertise, experience, knowledge and involvement of the brain, he suggests you the right path to move ahead and he guides you in taking appropriate decision from time to time. You must be knowing your business very well, but the coach knows how to grow it exponentially.

2. Why should I pay for merely listening to the lectures delivered by the business coach?

Business coaches do not only deliver lectures and go. They have complete
involvement in your business with their brain. They are well aware of current market conditions and trends. They have in depth knowledge of analysing the future market trends and behaviours. They have experience of many case studies with them. With all these, they are there with you at every step of your business growth. They are close observers of your business and guide you at every challenging step.

3. Business coaching is expensive and adds to additional overheads in the business.

Anything that needs cost, but pays you heavily in return, is not an expense. It is an investment. Yes! The fees that you pay for the business coaching is not an expense, but that is the investment that you make on your business. This investment is going to pay you back exponentially in long run. Business coach not there to merely run your business, but he is there to grow your business, and hence the profits, month by month, year by year.

4. I will be wasting my productive time in meeting and discussing with the business coach periodically.

Again as mentioned earlier, as you make monetary investment on your business by paying fees to the business coach, you also invest the required time to grow your business, to grow your profits, every time you meet and discuss with the business coach. Your meetings and the discussions with the business coach gives you fantastic inputs to grow your business. That is nothing but the investment of time.

5. Business coaching is required only for the start-ups or for the small businesses.

Whenever a business, small or big, that has the potential to grow further, but is stuck at some point, requires business coaching. Business coaching is not only about solving problems faced in business and making necessary arrangements so that the business grows consistently.If we make the business coach an integral part of our business, we can be sure of increasing business growth and the profits.