the bonbon life.

Personal Coaching: How Can it Propel Your Small Biz Success?

Thursday, October 23, 2008 –

People tend to hear the word “coach” and think of it in the sports sense, such as a hockey coach or a basketball coach.  However, in the last 5 to 10 years there has been a growing interest in personal coaching.  That is, hiring someone to coach you in a specific area in order to achieve specific results.  There are life coaches, weight coaches, business coaches, parenting coaches–the list goes on and on.

Personally, I have had two coaches so far in my life.  One earlier this year to begin clarifying what I want out of a small business and one I just hired on a few weeks ago to coach me on making my long-held business, marketing and success goals a reality. Each of them has boosted me in their own way.

There are no hard and fast rules to coaching in the sense that you can hire one on for a year or a month, have one locally you see face to face or work with over the phone, or coach in a group format or one-on-one.

What they do is ask you the powerful questions, hold you accountable, provide clarity and know-how and speed up the learning curve.  Unlike a therapist, coaches tend to spend less time on the analysis of why you may be facing blocks or dealing with negative patterns and more time on moving you forward, setting and achieving goals and taking your life or business to the next level.

Because of my own positive experience, I highly recommend my current coach Tom Volkar and wanted to let you know about a fantastic 5 day course I took with him earlier this month called Authentic Business Discovery.  It is a small group program meant to help you identify the business you were meant to have.  Or, if you already have a business, help you align more closely to what your vision truly is.

I got so much out of this course.  The intensity and focus of the format allowed me to come out of it seeing so many issues which had previously been blind spots for me.  Tom is extremely skilled in showing you how you may be getting in your own way and how to turn that self-sabotage around. I was so impressed with the course that I immediately signed on for 3 months of individual coaching with him.  So far it has been truly life-changing.

You can read more of my testimonial on his testimonial page here. I also encourage you to subscribe to his blog, Delightful Work.  Not only has Tom himself been a great find, but the community over there of other bloggers, commenters and like-minded self-employed folks is absolutely top-notch.

Whether you are just starting a business, thinking of starting one or have been in business for years, personal coaching can be a wonderful way to help break through the barriers to your success, take inspired action and gain the confidence you are looking for.