I have had an amazing week of networking and meeting business people in the Northern Rivers. What has been really interesting is the different views of Business Coaching.

I was in a store, in Ballina, that had a shelf full of small business awards. I asked the woman working there what they did so well to earn all of the awards, her answer was that she hired a business coach around 18 months ago. With a fair amount of professional interest, I asked if she would recommend business coaching to other businesses. “Of course I would, the three most successful businesses in this street all have business coaches!”

Also last week, the Small Fish Directors, Jon Dale and Kristian Reiss, attended the annual conference of one of Australia’s best known franchises. The franchisor pointed out to them that they had noticed that some of their franchisees were hiring business coaches on their own. When they looked at the success of their business, the franchises being coached were more successful than those that weren’t. The franchisor saw the opportunity to introduce coaching to the remainder of the business.

Finally, I was at a Home Business Networking Function where there were a number of key note speakers. Unbeknown to me, the marketing business owner that I had been speaking to prior to the meeting was an internationally acclaimed speaker. In his key note speech, he mentioned that he had met me and told the audience, “Those of you here that do not have a business coach, GET ONE!”

In light of all of this happening, I still meet people that tell me that they cannot afford a business coach. If you are currently in that mindset, I invite you to ask yourself; Can you afford not to get a business coach? Where will your business be if you do not act now and your competition does?

Dean Atkins
Small Fish Business Coaching
www.smallfish.com.au