BUSINESS SUPPORT
FEATURE
Telling it straight - A coach will tell you if you’re doing something incorrectly, or rein you in if you are straying from your objectives. Who else is impartial enough to do this?
Push you outside your comfort zone -When there are difficult decisions to be made or tasks to be completed, it’s easy to fall back into our comfort zone. For many business owners, this means working in your business when you should be working on your business. A business coach will guide and support you beyond your comfort zone.
Be your sounding board - It’s a lonely place running a business. Family, employees and friends all have some form of vested interest and it can be very difficult for them to be impartial. That’s where the business coach comes in. A coach can provide that confidential, impartial sounding board to help you solve the challenges ahead. They will not burden you with their own views but listen thoroughly and suspend judgement, while asking powerful questions that guide you to your goals.
Get your ducks in a row - Business owners can be faced with a multitude of tasks, both real and perceived, but where to start? It’s easy to focus on the wrong tasks that take you away from your goals. Real ducklings, of course, walk in a line behind their parent to get where they need to be. A business coach will help you to organise your tasks and schedule so that you are ready for the next step, leaving your business well organised and efficient.
Make you accountable - We’ve all done it. We make promises to ourselves, but then we don’t live up to it. A business coach will challenge you to achieve the objectives agreed and help you to channel your efforts towards achieving them. Sometimes I feel like a school teacher chasing homework but I’m sure my clients appreciate it.
Two heads are better than one - James Surowiecki’s book, The Wisdom of Crowds, suggests that the aggregation of information in groups results in decisions that are often better than could have been made by any single member. Similarly, brainstorming ideas with your business coach can add a different perspective. As the old saying goes, two heads are better than one, but it’s much more than that – a good coach will explore your ideas and question your thinking, often leading to new solutions.
Ask any successful athlete what factors contributed to their success and most, if not all, will cite their coach as a primary influence. So why should business be any different? At Oxford Innovation, we firmly believe that all growing and successful businesses can benefit from using a business coach - that’s why all of our innovation centre customers have access to on-site coaching.
David Smith is the Business Growth Director at Mansfield i- Centre, Newark Beacon and Worksop Turbine. These innovation centres offer an environment tailored to support local start-ups and growing companies with flexible office space solutions in professional and supportive packages. Managed by Oxford Innovation, these centres form part of the UK’s largest network of innovation centres. Oxford Innovation manages Mansfield i- Centre, Newark Beacon and Worksop Turbine on behalf of Nottinghamshire County Council, Mansfield District Council and Newark and Sherwood District Council.
business network December 2016/January 2017 29
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