To those unfamiliar with business coaching services, the title—business coach—often induces eye-rolls or evokes the image of a cheesy motivational speaker in a cold conference room.

In an age when many motivational speakers have been known to “sell hot air,” this stereotype has become a hurdle towards embracing business coaching services.

Is there any truth to these stereotypes?

Let's take a look into the world of business coaching and determine whether it can set you on the path to success.

What do business coaches do?

Business coaches are skilled professionals with a broad range of knowledge. Coaches use their experience and wisdom to help business owners, team leaders, entrepreneurs, small business owners, career professionals, and executives grow within their spheres.

The objective is to develop an entrepreneur, career professional, or business team to rise above their shortcomings and achieve their goals.

Does business coaching really work?

To get on the path to personal and professional growth, business coaches start by helping their clients identify and mitigate their weaknesses to maximize their strengths.

Business coaches go about their practice with the end goal of helping their clients come up with actionable plans.

Actionable plans are crystallized through intensive sessions centered on understanding the client. Once all the blanks are filled in, a business coach will know what kind of support is needed to help them find their own path.

Moving forward, business coaches utilize holistic approaches to enable business owners and employees to know how to effectively tackle their professional and personal issues.

Another critical component of business coaching is the enforcement of individual accountability.

It is never enough to develop sound ideas if they are not implemented. To be successful, clients can rely on their coach to support them throughout their personal development and professional journey.

The ability to keep a founder or an entrepreneur committed to improving their work performance, setting goals, and meeting them is a defining power of every great business coach.

Finally, regardless of one's success or ambitions, business owners or entrepreneurs need someone to challenge their mindset through thought-provoking ideas. They need a thought partner.

A thought partner can add a great deal of value to your business by bouncing off new ideas, challenge your existing paradigms and finding new ways at looking at a particular issue.

Business coaching services to consider

To figure what type of coaching session best suits your needs, it’s important to know that business coaches are only one of many types of professional coaching services.

Executive coaching

Business leaders understand that every decision they make can significantly impact—positively or negatively—their company growth and team. This can be extremely stressful to navigate on their own.

An executive coach can help carry the heavy load by acting as a mentor.

Many executive coaches have been company leaders themselves and possess the wisdom of hindsight, giving clarity to an executive going through a rough patch.

For everyone at the helm of an organization, leadership coaching offers a raised platform to sharpen their leadership skills and create better company goals.

Every top executive and CEO understands that being at the top of a company is demanding, and there is an acute need to keep their mind sharp. These respected executives have made it imperative to have a personal executive coach—to keep them on their feet.

Subject matter experts

If you need more help in a particular area of your business, you need the service of a subject matter expert; these coaches have specific specialties that can directly address your concerns.

Subject matter experts can tackle specific problems within a business or an organization as they have a profound grasp on areas that could be the weak spot of your organization.

They can come in handy for a company or small business that needs better systems and functionality to achieve its goals.

For startup entrepreneurs or business owners who do not want to set off on the wrong foot, a subject matter expert can become an excellent partner to take them to the next level.

Instead of taking a blind stab at a problem, these specialized coaches already have experience dealing with the issue at hand and can shed light on the right approach.

Advisors

Advisors are ideal for those individuals who need help or advice in a specific situation. They can offer strategies and provide a business owner or entrepreneurs with solutions without breaking the bank.

Everyone goes through challenging or difficult stages in life. Some of these situations can be very particular and don't merit signing up for a business coaching program or seeing a therapist.

Navigating difficult situations without any advice can be detrimental, but your problem becomes manageable with an advisor's guidance.

Small business coaching

Building a small business is an incredibly demanding venture; there’s as much room for success as there is for error.

Most successful companies and businesses have humble backgrounds. These companies became more successful because they stayed on the right track and followed their long term plan.

Small business coaches aim to ensure that small business owners and even mom and pop entrepreneurs maintain their entrepreneurial enthusiasm and focus on business growth despite initial setbacks.

Life coaching

Very few people realize how much their personal and professional lives affect one another.

Losing touch with your personal values and needs can impact your chances of professional success.

In addition to business coaching, life coaching can help clients achieve a greater sense of purpose by attaining better self-awareness, navigating big life events, and planning out their lives.

How do I choose a business coach?

When hiring a business coach, you need to consider partnering with someone who has vast amounts of experience.

It takes dedication to choose a solutions-driven expert with a coaching style and program that fits your needs—especially as a first-timer.

One option is to search for a business coach or coaching programs online and scroll aimlessly through countless sites, blog pages, and search engines.

A less time-consuming solution is to search on sites like Cocaptain, where you can quickly find the right coach for you based on the skills and experience you need.

There, you can find curated lists of top-ranking business coaches in your area with whom you can connect instantly.

Most importantly, everything is done through their platform to ensure privacy, confidentiality, and secure payments.

How much does a business coach cost?

We recently published an article which delves into this issue into more detail.

But here's the deal: There is no set rate when hiring a business coach, as rates vary largely among different professionals depending on their skills, certifications, and experience in specific industries.

The cost depends on the type of services you want, the coach's expertise level, and the sessions’ duration.

For example, a small business coach will most likely be more affordable than an executive coach. An advisor is the most cost-effective solution for on-demand professional support.

In the case of CoCaptain, 30-minute advisory sessions start at $25/session.

Finally, each expert's coaching process and strategies are different, and call for customized packages depending on their needs.

Bottom line

Business coaching can be a significant investment if you are looking to grow your business or career.

A business coach can not only provide accountability and order; it can also help you set measurable goals to improve your performance.

Your success lies in your execution, and with the right business coaching service in place, the journey becomes much smoother.

What business coaching services have best worked for you? Leave your comments below and share your experiences with coaching.