A good small business coach is someone capable of helping clients understand how to use the resources at their disposal to perform better. In that sense, business coaching is a lot like coaching a professional sports team. We business coaches work with our clients to identify strengths and weaknesses, develop winning strategies, and handle adversity. But we also coach our clients to pursue change.
It has been said that successful leaders create change. The premise is difficult to argue against. Simple observation shows us that organisations that consistently lead their fields are organisations that also innovate and change. It is true of corporate entities and sports teams alike.
A Focus on innovation
I tend to enhance small business coaching by pointing my clients to examples of larger businesses that have already paved the way to success. To that end, I pay attention to relevant data. According to a January 2016 article published by CIO, a group of more than 100 CIOs surveyed by IDG made it clear that a major focus for the coming year was business innovation. I would suggest the same holds true in 2018.
Focusing on innovation equals focusing on change. By definition, innovation involves change. Here’s why this is important: change is what drives businesses to do better. It encourages them to try new things, explore new avenues, reach out to new customers, and generate additional streams of revenue.
A business that does not embrace change is one destined to stagnation. It’s just how business works. Companies have to continually innovate to stay ahead of their industries and remain in line with customer demands at the same time. It is impossible to be an industry leader if a company is not willing to change.
Change for Small Businesses
The CIO article pertained mainly to large, corporate enterprises rather than small business. However, that doesn’t mean the principles explained in the article don’t apply. They do, just on a smaller scale.
A good business coach understands the inherent limits of small business. That coach will work with a business owner and his/her management team to identify those small changes that can be embraced incrementally. Together, they will implement those changes in order to drive the business forward.
One example of a simple change that could wreak tremendous benefits for small businesses is developing a way to track customer experiences. The customer experience is known as the ‘customer journey’ in the marketing world. Tracking the customer journey gives a business insight into how well it is meeting customer needs. It shows owners and managers what they are doing to create a positive experience for customers. And if the experience is mostly negative, tracking customer journey will show that too.
Change is the stuff that successful businesses are made of. As a small business coach, I can help your company identify key areas of change and then develop strategies to pursue them in a productive way. Please contact me if you want to know more.
Sources:
CIO – https://www.cio.co.uk/it-strategy/2016-cio-priorities-business-innovation-leading-change-3632831/
By Peter Smith.
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