Are you a business owner who wants to grow your business whilst containing or even reducing your working hours?
Is your business based in the South West? If so then please read on as West of England Coaching and Counselling wants to help you to reach the next level in your business.
This blog outlines the approach we use to help you to improve your results, most notably your bottom line whilst containing or reducing your working hours so that you continue to love what you do rather than being a slave to it.
We start with a complimentary 'Rapid Business Growth Coaching Session' with the outcome of helping you to achieve something tangible for your business and you straight away. This is often based on a priority and an intractable problem that you have been grappling with for some time. For example, a conversation with a customer about fees or one of your team that you know you should have because there is a performance issue but have been resisting. Perhaps you have an action that you decided you would take but haven't yet or a problem that is still at problem stage. Whatever the issue, we will work on it together and start to make progress.
The first meeting is an opportunity to start building our relationship as client and coach resulting in a coaching agreement including your coaching objectives, our code of ethics and agreed timings and fees. The coaching agreement exists to boundary our relationship and can be renegotiated by either party.
The coaching session following the initial meeting will be focused on your vision. Research shows that we have a tendency to be problem focused and that this tendency helps us to stay stuck in the problem. The problem may even become bigger as we analyse all of the 'what ifs' around that problem and ahead of that problem sometimes called 'negative forecasting'. What if we cannot cover our business costs? We would have to let staff go. Would we want to revert to a two person band? Should we sell the business? All this catastrophising is unnecessary. Unconsciously we are suddenly guilty of planning a route that we do not need to take. Yes sometimes businesses fail. Often, however, if spotted early enough there are better solution focused choices to make based on sound, realistic decision making.
Once we have a vision that you are passionate about, the next or subsequent session is focused on developing a strategic plan with a realistic time scale to work towards your vision. We build your commitment to your vision through two exercises that help you to visualise what is required and at the same time fine tune your plans. Along with coach validation these exercises will help you to feel your future like it is happening now. This helps your brain to motivate you to come up with more ideas and to get on with your action plan. We move at your pace so the number of sessions required does vary.
During your coaching sessions we will identify skills you require to close the gap between where you are now and your vision along with the best external environment for you to work in. There may be also aspects of your own psychology that you want to fine tune say to build your confidence or self-belief.
We will review your progress against your action plan and review your objectives as well as your vision to ensure that you are on track. For example, if the coaching time line agreed is three months we may decide to meet six times in the three months for one hour and have three reviews, one at the end of each month. Experience shows that over time new information arises that may impede your plan or open up new opportunities for you. The reviews help to adjust actions so that they are appropriate now.
Let's schedule a Rapid Business Growth Coaching Session so I can find out more about your business and see if I can help you.
You may want to speak with one of my clients before you start working with me to ask questions that you would only want a business owner who has been coached to answer. This can be arranged.
You can get in touch with me via enquiries@westofenglandcoachingandcounselling.co.uk and we can set up time to talk.
