Is your company missing something? Not sure what it is?
Perhaps you need an extra hand to help move your company forward. A small business coach offers an objective third-party look that can inject a new way of thinking into your leadership style, your managers, and your entire organization.
Read on to learn how to choose a small business coach for your company. We encourage you to stop guessing and start growing.
The best players have coaches. Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant had Phil Jackson. Patrick Mahomes has Andy Reid. Derek Jeter had Joe Torre.
The role of a small business coach is simple. The person guides you to achieve your goals through expert advice and support. Ultimately, a small business coach serves as a catalyst for growth and transformation.
How you reach your goals is why selecting the right small business coach is vital.
Business owners all want more money. Let’s compare this to a football quarterback who starts with his team at the 30-yard line with 70 yards to go. The quarterback’s immediate job is to run the next play successfully to gain yards. It’s the coach’s job to call the right play, and then a series of plays, to score a touchdown. Some of the plays come from a coaching booth high up in the stands. From this vantage point, coaches can see the entire field, the lineup of the defense, and other tendencies throughout the game.
This is where a small business coach can excel. You might be focused on quarterly earnings. Your chosen small business coach can show you a larger picture of where you could be 2, 5, and 10 years down the road.
Every business is unique. Even though a small business coach has a set of strategies and techniques to put into play, your company’s numbers, market, and revenue are different from all of the others.
Business coaches customize their approach according to the unique needs of each company. They’ll examine financial performance, marketing strategies, and operational workflows. Then, a small business coach will suggest practical solutions that align with long-term objectives. They might suggest reinventing how you think about your company and taking calculated risks. However, you still need to be accountable for progress or tweaking leadership to get better results.
In addition to strategy development, coaches foster personal growth among business leaders. They encourage owners to recognize their strengths and weaknesses, promoting self-awareness and effective decision-making. Regular feedback sessions enable entrepreneurs to track their progress and make adjustments as needed. By focusing on mindset and leadership skills, coaches help owners cultivate resilience and adaptability.
Small business coaches facilitate communication among team members through training programs and workshops as they introduce new ways of thinking, how team members see their roles, and how they can improve. Coaches empower teams to take ownership of their responsibilities, fostering a culture of accountability and innovation. The goal is to improve employee engagement and retention while giving them the keys to long-term success.
Before you invest in a small business coach, identify your business needs and goals. What challenges do you face? How can you overcome those challenges for long-term success? What’s hindering growth?
You might identify a lack of employee retention or a failure to attract top talent as a major challenge. You can read 100 studies on the best way to solve this problem. But do you really know what it takes to accomplish this? A small business coach who has experience in this regard provides valuable insights you may not find from the research and case studies proliferating the internet.
Once you identify the problem, create some SMART goals. Perhaps you want to hire 10 new workers in the next 12 months. You look at the numbers. You decide to increase the starting salary for new hires.
But how will that affect your current employees? Will they think they are being shorted? How will you handle any pushback? This is where a small business coach can help.
What type of small business coach do you need? Some have niches, and each niche leads to different results. There are seven main types of small business coaches. You might find that some coaches, like the ones at The Great Game of Business, fall into multiple categories.
Executive coaches work with business leaders to enhance their leadership and decision-making skills. They focus on developing communication strategies, improving emotional intelligence, and building stronger relationships within the organization. One-on-one sessions encourage leaders to reflect on their actions, identify growth opportunities, and build confidence in their decision-making abilities.
The goal of an executive coach is to help the business owner create a vision for the company while teaching them how to inspire their team members. They also address challenges related to managing stress, prioritizing tasks, and delegating responsibilities effectively.
John Maxwell is, perhaps, one of the most famous executive coaches.
Financial coaches assist business owners in mastering their company’s financial health. They analyze cash flow, budgeting practices, and profit margins to identify inefficiencies or missed opportunities. The aim is to empower entrepreneurs to make data-driven decisions that support long-term growth.
These coaches often create customized financial plans, helping business owners reduce expenses and increase revenue. They also provide guidance on managing debt and securing funding.
Warren Buffet is probably the most famous financial mastermind out there in terms of generating wealth for a company. However, we’d like to think that The Great Game of Business is partly a financial coach because we advocate teaching the financial fundamentals to all of your employees.
Do you think your company needs a rebrand? Marketing coaches help businesses develop and execute effective marketing strategies. They analyze current efforts and identify gaps or inconsistencies that hinder brand visibility. The goal here is to strengthen brand presence and build customer engagement.
From content creation to social media management and digital marketing campaigns, a company learns how to reach target audiences and craft compelling messages. They’ll also discover how to leverage data and analytics to assess campaign effectiveness and recommend adjustments that yield better results.
Perhaps the most popular kind of small business coach out there, sales coaches train business owners and sales teams to improve their selling techniques and close more deals.
They break down the sales process step by step, highlighting areas that need refinement. Through practical exercises and role-playing scenarios, they enhance skills related to negotiation, customer relationship building, and objection handling.
Jeffrey Gitomer is probably one of the most widely known sales coaches.
Mindset and performance coaches help entrepreneurs build mental resilience and maintain motivation. They focus on developing positive habits, overcoming self-doubt, and setting achievable personal goals. People learn to embrace challenges rather than shy away from them.
Techniques such as visualization, goal setting, and self-reflection form the core of their approach. If this sounds like a lot of personal coaches, you’d be right. Think of Tony Robbins or Jay Abraham as top mindset and performance coaches in their field.
The Great Game of Business is a mindset and performance coaching organization that teaches everyone in your company how to be an entrepreneur through an employee ownership culture.
Operations and efficiency coaches specialize in streamlining business processes and maximizing productivity. They assess workflows and identify areas that cause bottlenecks or redundancies. Businesses learn how to operate more smoothly and efficiently through a combination of refined processes and automation.
These coaches encourage teams to adopt lean practices and reduce waste. They teach methods for optimizing resource allocation and improving project management. Business owners learn how to eliminate time-consuming tasks, freeing up energy for strategic initiatives.
Part of what we do at The Great Game of Business is promote a better way to do business when everyone at your firm learns how to be better at their job. You could see us as operations and efficiency coaches.
Industry-specific coaches tailor their guidance to the unique challenges of a particular field. Whether working with tech startups, hospitality businesses, manufacturers, or retail operations, they bring deep insights and experience relevant to that industry. Business owners receive practical advice that directly addresses common pain points while keeping up with industry trends and best practices.
Just like upgrading equipment or investing in new software for your company, you need to do your homework when choosing a small business coach. Investing your hard-earned money in a new way of thinking or doing business shouldn’t be taken lightly.
How much experience does a small business coach have? Many times, you’ll look for certifications or accreditations. Other times, you might discover that small business coaches learned things as they went.
Someone who teaches you how to run a business should have experience running a business themselves.
Lead by example. It’s that simple.
As you evaluate small business coaches, see if they have owned a business in the past. Was the business successful? Did they sell the business? Why did they sell the business? Do they still own the company?
The Great Game of Business was founded by Jack Stack. He is also the founder and owner of SRC Holdings, a family of 10 businesses with more than $1 billion in annual sales and over 2,000 employees. He’s also a philanthropist in Springfield, Missouri. His book, entitled The Great Game of Business: The Only Sensible Way to Run a Company, made waves in 1992 when it talked about a new management system that converts every employee into an entrepreneur.
Jack brings more than 50 years of business ownership experience to The Great Game of Business. The business coaches on staff are also entrepreneurs in their own right, coming from executive and managerial backgrounds from several companies.
Sometimes, small business coaches gravitate toward a specific industry or niche. Others have successful coaching strategies for several types of companies. Choosing the right coach for you can come down to how many success stories they have in your field.
Here’s why.
A doctor’s office, dental clinic, or other healthcare provider will have a specific set of challenges that other industries may not have. How do employees handle burnout? How do they handle when patient outcomes are (far and few between) negative? Are these workers handling daily stress okay? What about high-stress times during the winter when more patients are sick with the flu?
On the other hand, manufacturers may face a different set of difficulties. Is there a looming recession? What happens when orders aren’t coming in like they used to? Are your prices too high? Do you have enough employees to handle the workload? How do you stay competitive with disruptors in your space?
With just these two examples, you clearly want to focus on a small business coach who speaks your language and knows your industry. Your initial consultation should illustrate this quickly enough.
Anyone can play The Great Game of Business. We have success stories from nearly 40 industries, ranging from accounting to warehouse and logistics. We’ve catered to the food service industry, warmed up to HVAC companies, built relationships with architects, and hammered out solutions with metalworking companies.
Experience is one thing. Success stories provide another indication of whether or not a small business coach can help you.
Look for relevant achievements, case studies, client success stories, and industry involvement. Has the small business coach won awards? How many companies have they helped?
The Great Game of Business has transformed thousands of companies since 1992. Our featured case studies are just the beginning of how we showcase practitioners who Play the Game.
Learn what it’s like to play the game with our videos, which give you a peek at how you can help your company transform the way workers think about business.
The Great Game of Business isn’t the only small business coaching model out there. Entrepreneur Operating System (EOS) is another that often works in concert with the Great Game framework.
Our paradigm focuses on educating everyone in the company on financial literacy and how to have an entrepreneurial mindset. They see company numbers, understand what they mean, and what action each individual needs to take to further the company’s goals.
We help your company create a sense of ownership in every employee by teaching how to follow the Principles of the Game with three core foundations:
You might see other methodologies during your research:
The GROW model (Goal, Reality, Options, Will) guides companies, teams, and individuals through problem-solving and goal-setting. Small business coaches help clients define their goals and assess their current situation before exploring possible strategies. Then, it’s up to the company to commit to taking action. This structured approach fosters clarity and accountability among all teams as they move forward.
Solution-focused coaching emphasizes practical solutions rather than dwelling on problems. Coaches encourage companies to identify what works well and build on those successes. The goal of this methodology is to promote a positive mindset and rapid progress by focusing on achievable outcomes.
Transformational coaching focuses on deep personal and professional change in individuals. Small business coaches guide individuals through self-discovery, challenging limiting beliefs, and developing new perspectives. It’s a holistic approach that addresses mindset shifts and personal growth to support long-term success.
Accountability coaching teaches companies, leaders, and workers to be responsible for their commitments and progress. Coaches help everyone set clear expectations and track results, providing encouragement and feedback along the way. This framework reinforces consistency and follow-through on goals.
Systems coaching looks at the entire business ecosystem rather than isolated issues. It examines how different parts of the organization interact and influence one another. The aim is to create sustainable, long-term improvements and steady growth. The Great Game of Business resembles systems coaching in that we encourage everyone in the organization to adopt an entrepreneurial mindset.
Your small business coach should connect with you and speak your language. When you first speak with your potential coach before hiring them, you’ve already looked at their areas of expertise and qualifications. This juncture is all about making a connection.
Does the coach have a direct or assertive style? Is this person approachable? Does this person display empathy and emotional intelligence? Is the coach aligning with your goals and vision?
All of these are important aspects to think about because you want to get the most out of your small business coaching investment.
After meeting your potential small business coach, it’s time to discuss how much hiring them will cost. We’re not going to lie. It’s difficult to assess the return on investment you get from a small business coach.
There are so many factors to consider. A business coach can help set you up for long-term growth and sustainability. Rarely does success or transformation happen overnight. You’ll need to assess what financial goals you meet every year as you grow. More often than not, business owners need to see coaching as a long-term value proposition that leads to sustained growth.
Another thing to consider is the process that sets you up for success moving forward. Do you cut costs by investing in automation or software tools? Do these initial costs lead to hiring more people because you make more sales? Do the added sales justify more staff?
Not every benefit of business coaching comes from financial gain. You and your employees might see the added benefits of better job satisfaction, improved engagement, and enhanced collaboration.
Early in this process, we explained the need to set goals for your business coaching. When having the initial consultation, you should get an idea of how much time, commitment, and money you’ll need to spend to achieve those goals.
Short-term issues, like improving sales techniques or refining a marketing campaign, may only require a few targeted coaching sessions. Long-term initiatives, such as transforming company culture or implementing new business models, might need ongoing coaching over several months or even a year.
Consider how much time you can devote to this. Coaching costs can vary significantly based on experience, specialization, and session frequency. Set a realistic budget that balances investment with expected returns on your investment.
Discuss your needs with potential coaches during initial consultations. Experienced coaches assess your situation and suggest a suitable coaching plan. They may recommend an intensive program for urgent challenges or a more gradual approach for long-term development. Use their expertise to shape your decision, but also trust your instincts about what feels manageable and beneficial to you and your team.
One final note is that you should be flexible with the business coaching process. As you make conclusions and learn more, you may discover that you could need more or less coaching moving forward.
The best small business coaches have free trials, free resources, and free consultations to start. That way, you can explore a bit about what these coaches can do for you and your organization.
The Great Game of Business has a free 14-day trial for several resources. We offer online courses, quarterly webinars, and a community to join where you can ask questions, reach out to those who play The Game, and see how effective a small business coach can be.
Famed chemist Aryeh A. Frimer said, “I'd rather live with a good question than a bad answer.”
Always ask questions. That’s how you grow. When consulting with a potential small business coach, ask questions to see if this coach is for you.
Here are a few queries to help if you don’t find the answers by looking through their website:
You want your company to grow after investing in small business coaching. The Great Game of Business can tailor a program for you based on your needs. Here are 13 ways we can help your company:
We increase employee engagement by turning workers at all levels into active participants in business success.
Every employee understands cash flow, revenue, and profitability. The goal is to encourage employees to make decisions that benefit the company’s overall bottom line.
Playing the Game establishes clear accountability through scoreboards, huddles, and MiniGames. Employees learn to take responsibility for themselves to foster growth.
Companies that win The Great Game of Business often experience financial improvements. This is due to employees who actively contribute to cost savings and revenue growth.
People work together to overcome financial challenges and drive growth. With everyone focused on financial health, companies become more resilient during challenging times.
Rather than reacting to problems, playing The Game turns everyone into a proactive problem-solver. The Great Game of Business empowers everyone to have a stake in the outcome of their work.
Playing the Game encourages cross-training and cross-collaboration between teams. This reduces skills gaps while fostering better problem-solving because people are trained to think like someone else in another department.
This framework encourages every employee to contribute ideas to improve operations, reduce costs, and increase revenue. Some companies might experience better product innovations or more efficient ways to deliver services.
Staying informed about financial performance and industry trends creates a culture of adaptability. You might find your company responds more effectively to economic shifts, supply chain disruptions, or new competition.
Imagine yourself as an employee rather than a business owner. How would you want to be treated? Employees who feel valued and involved in decision-making reduce turnover. Employee engagement and retention are two fundamentals of The Great Game of Business.
GGOB nurtures leadership skills at every level by teaching employees to think like owners and entrepreneurs. Team members take on more responsibility, preparing them for leadership roles in the future
Financial transparency helps to build trust between leadership and employees. You’ll find that transparency matters to everyone at the company.
Engaged employees take ownership of their roles and provide better customer service. You might find workers deliver value to customers, leading to stronger relationships and loyalty.
Success isn’t just a goal. It’s a game you need to win. Transform your company by building a workforce of people who think, act, and feel like owners. All it takes is 10 steps to get in the game while following the three Principles of the Game.
Want more information? Discover the Game with a free virtual workshop. Or schedule a Great Game coaching session with our team.