Take back control with the entrepreneurship coach!
By: Fabrice Catan
Tags: Business Development, Business Strategy, Entrepreneurship, Coaching

You have created your box for some time. You’ve done all the right things, it pretty much works, but there you have it: you feel the fatigue come down on you after weeks, months, sometimes a few years of total dedication to your business. company. You no longer know exactly where you are or where you are going. Your desires for development are there, but you don’t know how to achieve them and you even wonder if you have enough energy left for that. You are like a runner out of breath and a little lost in the race. What if you were asking yourself, just a moment, and considering that you might just need a boost? The entrepreneurship coach is not only used to guide a project leader in setting up a business. It can also get you back on track in the development phase. I’ll explain that to you right away.

The entrepreneur’s difficulties

An entrepreneur, it’s like a long-distance runner. You spend a lot of energy in management of your business. You feel responsible for everything that happens there, and that’s normal: you are the boss, after all! Only, by dint of having your head in the handlebars, you end up losing overall view and visibility at all. You have projects but you are stuck in the management of common tasks, including prospecting, exchanges with employees, the providers, etc. You don’t know where to start to set up new services and, by the way, are these new ideas that relevant? What added value will they bring? In short, you often end your days completely flat, overwhelmed by doubt and fatigue. And very late, well after all your collaborators, because, in your eyes, it is your duty to throw all your strength into your work. Except that, during this time, you do not see your family, and that weighs on you …

Being an entrepreneur is difficult when you are alone. You are that long-distance runner who uses up all his energy in the early stages of the race. And, at this rate, you risk ending up on your knees! The entrepreneur coach is the trainer who watches the stopwatch and gives you the tempo. Its goal ? May you live your life as a successful business owner. That you don’t become a slave to your business.

Step 1 : Contextualize the business situation

You are not at the start line. You already have a few kilometers behind you. As business coach, I specialize in supporting entrepreneurs already in business and I know that their needs are not those of project leaders. You already have stocks on your counter. You have done the tests, you have an organization, an operation, a dynamic in place. Some things work, others not so well. The first step is to collect the information and analyze it all.

Your entrepreneurship coach is first there to highlight your successes. No, he’s not going to tell you that everything is perfect: if it was, you wouldn’t have called on him! But one of her goals is to rebuild your self-confidence, and that starts right from the start.

Then you have to sort through your actions: what worked, what didn’t work, why. Basically, now is the time to take an objective assessment of your progress. You are so deeply involved in day-to-day management that you have probably lost track! Your coach helps you gain height.

At this point, as far as I’m concerned, I immediately involve the business manager in the process by questioning him about his Goals and his entrepreneurial vision. How does he see the evolution of his business in the short, medium and long term? With that done, we have a solid base to move up a gear.

2nd step : Analyze the obstacles of the company

Why are you short of breath? Why do you feel like you are treading water while you are running like crazy? After studying the internal and external context of your company, your coach helps you define what you need to achieve success.

The entrepreneurial coaching allows you to have both a technical and human perspective on your business. You may have (probably, like many entrepreneurs, rest assured!), Technical malfunctions in your structure. You have gaps in this or that area, marketing or management for example. You have poorly defined your target customers or misidentified your positioning (Value proposition). Chances are, you have a perfect mastery of your area of expertise, but struggle with the rest.

But you may also come up against psychological blocks that prevent you from moving forward. You may not have yet fully developed a good mindset. You may have an unconscious reluctance to “sell yourself” and showcase your expertise. Yes your business is not taking off, maybe it’s because of that. Well the coach is there for that too!

On the one hand, he points out your technical shortcomings and explains how to remedy them (communication, human resources, prospecting, etc.).

On the other hand, he coaches you on a personal level to inspire you trust, determination, ambition.

Step 3: Transform the trial with your entrepreneurship coach

You now know what works, what doesn’t and you have identified your strengths and weaknesses. It’s time to take action! The coach is obviously there to give you a procedure to follow in order to achieve your objectives defined in step 1. This is done through action plan tables, of strategic action plan templates, etc., personalized to your situation.

Very often at this stage I give a lot of advice for automate procedures in the company. Indeed, my experience with entrepreneurs has pointed out one thing to me: business leaders are afraid of losing control. They want to be in control and that’s how they end up using their energy and getting lost in the details. The action plan proposed by the coach should therefore in no case give you additional work. Rather, it should help you better organize what needs to be done.

A distance runner only focuses on one thing when running: his breathing. He doesn’t take care of the logistics. When he is thirsty, he does not stop to buy a bottle of water. An assistant hands it to him directly. After drinking, the runner resumes his race, perked up and still focused on his goal: the finish line.

It’s not that obvious. Sure, you know what you need to change, but bad habits are stubborn and sometimes they come back sneakily. This is why the entrepreneurial coach remains a valuable asset in step 4, which consists of anchoring new habits.

Step 4: Anchor good business practices

Your coach follows you, week after week, to make sure that everything is going well for you and that you appropriate the new habits. These habits do not only concern the entrepreneur: they also concern your collaborators and employees. A business is a complex organism in which all the elements are connected. We must therefore follow the evolution of the situation throughout the structure. The entrepreneurial coaching also develops your leadership.

I offer weekly or fortnightly meetings: this makes it possible to answer questions and doubts and to strengthen the confidence of the business owner. As I told you above, the entrepreneurship coach is also a personal development coach. Much of the resources of a business leader are psychological. It is up to the coach to perceive these resources, to detect your moral and mental strengths and to develop them to lead you to success. And that takes us to the last step: setting up a new mindset!

Step 5: develop a New mindset

The mindset is the state of mind. It is the best resource you have to achieve your goals. The goal of a coach is also to work on this aspect and to help you develop the confidence in yourself and your business. The will to succeed. The serenity in the face of obstacles and the moral force to cross them. So that, ultimately, you are happy in your business manager costume. A entrepreneur coach aims for the well-being of business leaders, its collaborators and employees. It trains you so that you can run a marathon at ease, without breathlessness, experiencing all the pleasures of running at all times.

Your business is the way you chose to be financially independent and thrived every day in what you do. If it has become a burden and / or a dead end for you, it is time to react! But how ? An external and expert look at entrepreneurial issues is always a great help in detecting problems and blockages and proposing relevant solutions. Accept the outstretched hand! I suggest you online coaching, with personalized support and a very high quality of advice. Contact me for a free first appointment!

Image 1 by Tumisu — Image 2 by Free-Photos — Image 3 by Mehmet A.