What Would You Ask a Business Coach?

By Jason Fell

Launching a small business is no easy feat. Entrepreneurs often need to be resourceful, able to solve problems on the fly and ready to spend long hours on a myriad of day-to-day details.

So when small-business owners become overwhelmed by it all, what can they do? A number hire business coaches -- expert advisors paid by clients to help streamline processes and find new avenues for revenue, among other things.

"Small-business owners are often overworked, mired in daily operations and can't focus on strategic initiatives," says Greg Scheingold, vice president of operations at Cincinnati-based Growth Coach, a franchise whose clients are mostly small-business owners.

"Anyone can get stuck in bad habits and lose sight of their goals and how to accomplish them," says Scheingold. A coach can help close the gap.

Top requests among Scheingold's coaching clients involve:

  • time management
  • strategic selling and marketing
  • leadership
  • operational planning
  • people management

Average hourly coaching fees are about $200, according to a 2008 survey by the International Coach Federation, a professional organization, and the large consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers. Full-time coaches can command hourly rates of about $250 and part-timers, about $175.

Coaching for small-business owners is becoming more mainstream, according to Scheingold. "Getting past the economic downturn, more people are seeing the need to do things different," he says. "Business is a new game now with a lot of new rules."

What would you ask a business coach? How much would you be willing to pay for help?

Jason Fell

Entrepreneur Staff

VP, Native Content

Jason Fell is the VP of Native Content, managing the Entrepreneur Partner Studio, which creates dynamic and compelling content for our partners. He previously served as Entrepreneur.com's managing editor and as the technology editor prior to that.

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