You are just a business coach.  Some business owners do not understand what a business coach is or expects them to do more.  Explain that you are just like a football coach.  You will teach your client and other team members plays.  You will practice these plays with them and then watch them perform alone.  At the end, you will provide feedback, just like a football coach does.  Make sure your client knows that action is required on their part.  You will not do all the work.  Otherwise, everyone’s time is wasted.

All employees must be responsible for their actions and held accountable.  You will see the biggest problems with small business owners.  They have developed close relationships with their employees.  They want a healthy workplace environment, so conflict is avoided.  This is good, but many poor performing employees are able to slide under the radar.  Everyone has excuses and sob stories; your client will have one too if they do not start turning their business around.  Stress this point.

Management must handle poor performing employees.  With small businesses, the company owner is typically the manager.  They handle the day-to-day management tasks.  With medium sized businesses, these tasks are delegated to trained professionals.  In these instances, stress the important of management, accountability, and leadership development.  Management should handle all poor performing employees, not let them get away with poor productivity and performance.  Yes, this may involve letting someone go, but management must be trained in and know the importance of putting the company first.

Sales must increase.  To make money, a business sells either a product or a service.  To run a profitable business, sales must increase.  Stress this importance to your client.  Once again, you are a business coach, so feed them ideas.  In a retail setting, encourage multiple sales and a knowledge staff; this should lead to increased profits.  Also, focus on marketing.  No one will buy a product or service if they do not know it exists.  This is important for new business owners, as most mistakenly believe that if they have something for sale, people will automatically buy it.  As a professional in business management, you know this is not true.

Cost must be lowered.  Increased sales generate increased profits.  With that said, it is important to look at the whole picture.  Making $25 from the sale of a handmade toy is nice, but could that profit be higher?  It can and should be.  Stress the importance to your client of low operating costs.  Plainly state it will increase business profits.  Give them ideas to get started, watch, analyze, and provide suggestions.  Make it known that you do not always have to use poor quality building materials or terminate employees to lower costs, there are additional ways.

Be polite.  When working as a business coach, you must first analyze a business.  You examine their profits to see how short they are falling short.  Look at their marketing practices to see what they are doing wrong, and so forth.  Your job is to take the bad, educate a business owner or operating manager, and transform it into good.  Unfortunately, that means criticizing.  Yes, it is your job, but remember that we are all naturally offended.  Insult a business owner and they will get upset.  It is all about delivery, be polite.

Be positive.  As previously stated, your job is to take the bad and transform it into good.  You do so by providing suggestions, showing by example, and by offering feedback.  No business owner is so bad that they never do anything wrong.  Their doors would have closed by this point if that were the case.  You need to focus on the bad, but also focus on the good.  For example, if a retail manager has a well-organized office, but a poor organized sales floor, commend them for their effort.  Let them know they did a good job in their office, but that they should have extended the organization to the sales floor.  You let them know there is a problem, but still provided positive feedback.  Your client will be more receptive.

Offer praise and encouragement.  As a business coach, it is your responsibility to teach business owners and operating managers how to run a successful business.  The keyword is teach.  You do not do the work.  You can display a few examples, but let your clients do the brunt of the work.  Like a sports coach, sit back and watch.  Analyze the situation and provide feedback.  Throughout the task, offer praise and encouragement.  It sounds silly, but some people just need a positive push in the right direction.  In addition, since you are treating your client like a human being, you score extra points.

Offer to work with the entire staff.  When providing business coaching services, business coaches usually work directly with the company owner or manager.  There are others onsite though.  These staff members, their actions, their results, and their productivity are important to the company’s success.  You can educate your client and they can retrain their staff members, or you can offer to do it.  You should charge extra for this service, but offer a low rate or discount and you should get some takers.

Offer to come back and help.  As a business coach, you can spend one day working one-on-one with a client or one week.  No matter what steps you take to educate them on the importance of all business components, your advice may be ignored.  So, always offer to comeback for a review or to answer a few simple questions.  Let them know that advice is free, but retraining will cost extra.

Article directories.  You may be surprised how many people want to work-from-home or start their own business.  You may also be surprised how many people turn to the internet to make that happen.  Each day, thousands of men and women search the internet looking for small business ideas, ways to make money from, home, and so forth.  If you write articles for article directories, they may find your content.  Include a link to your website at the end of those articles and they will find your website.

The key to writing articles for article directories is to write on related subjects.  You want to target new business owners and struggling business owners.  Write articles on how to start a home based business, how to start a small business, how to run a profitable business, and important keys to running a smooth business.  At the bottom of each article, remember to place a link back to your website.  If they can use your services, they will.

Message boards for work-at-home parents.  As previously stated, a lot of men and women want to work from home or be their own boss.  For most, this is because they are tired of having someone else to answer to.  For parents, this is to spend more time with their kids and eliminate the need for costly daycare.  A stay-at-home mom may have a great idea to sell handmade toys online, but there are thousands of others doing the same.  You can help her improve her products, create good sales pitches, and market her website.

To get clients from work-at-home message boards, you need to rely on posts, signatures, and your profile.  Interact in the community.  Even if you aren’t a parent yourself, you are free to join.  Does a parent ask about business ideas or marketing tips?  Offer a few suggestions, but avoid from outright posting an advertisement.  In fact, some message boards have an “Advertise Your Business Here,” section.  If signatures are enabled, create a catchy phrase and make it clickable and leading to your website.  That signature will appear below each of your posted messages.

In addition to targeting work-at-home communities, you can also do the same with small business communities.  There are many online message boards where small business owners get together to share tips and tricks.  Insert yourself in these types of communities.

Online business directories.  If your business isn’t already listed in a number of online business directories, get it.  Perform a standard internet search with the phrase “business directories.”  Those searching with the same phrase will get the same results.  Start at the top of the list and work your way down.  Most are free and you can add your business right away.  When doing so, be sure to include a link to your website.  The search engines and readers will pickup this link.

Search engine optimization.  If you don’t know what search engine optimization, also known as SEO, is, it is time to learn.  You are hurting your business by being unfamiliar with the phrase and practice.  When you created content for your website, did you use a keyword tracker tool to see what internet users are searching for?  No?  Go back and do so.  You will find that people want to learn how to start a small business, how to open a storefront store, how to market and online store, and so forth.  Take these exact phrases and incorporate them into your website content.  The search engines will pick them up and list your website in related search results.

Searching engine optimization is a very important part of internet marketing.  It can help your business or greatly hurt it.  Your goal as a business coach is to teach others how to market their business.  You need to be able to do the same with your own.  If a reader searches for “business help,” “business coaches,” or “business coaching services,” and your website does not appear until the 10th page on Google, you are out of luck.

If you have never created a website before, you may be a bit nervous about the entire process.  After all, you want to get it right and the first time.  You have two main options.  These are to hire a web designer or do the work yourself.  If unfamiliar with HTML, do not fret.  Opt for a web hosting package that includes a site building tool.

Before you get started, you must know some important things.  A website should be professional and easy to navigate.  You run a professional business, so your website should have the same look and feel.  As for navigation, fewer pages are better.  No one wants to visit 10 different pages on your website before finally finding your contact information.  Chances are, they will give up after the 5th and turn to a competing business coach.

As for what you need to get started, you need a web hosting package, good domain name, pictures, and content.  Continue reading on for a further explanation of each.

Web hosting.  Choose an affordable package.  Most hosting companies offer discounts if you pay for a year or two or advance.  Do this.  Remember, if you don’t know HTML, opt for a package that includes a website building tool.  You should gain access to hundreds of templates, colors, pictures, and fonts.

Domain name.  Your domain name is important.  Most clients will find you with a standard internet search, but some may key in your website address directly.  Make sure it is easy to spell and short.  You can use your name, your business name, or a phrase related to business coaching or help.

Pictures.  All business owners should have a picture of themselves on their website.  This is important for you because you will be working one-on-one with clients.  A picture speaks a thousands works.  Make sure it is a professional picture, but that you also look like a real person.  Always smile.  This picture needs to show your clients that they can entrust you with their business and feel comfortable working side-by-side with you.

Website content.  You should divide your content into different sections and pages. 

Start with the main page, also known as the home page.  When internet users type in your address at SAMPLE.com, this is the first page they will see, so make it good.  Your picture should be somewhere on the page, like in the upper right-hand corner.  Welcome visitors to your page and then start with a catchy tag line.

“Have you turned your dream of running a business into a reality, but does that reality feel like a nightmare?  Let me help you improve your profits and get your dream back on the right track.”  This phrase is best if catering to small to medium sized business owners.

Underneath your tag line, use bullet points to highlight how you can help.  This can include team-building exercises, time management exercises, business communication exercises, sharing marketing tips and more.  Make each of these clickable links leading to a new page.

At the new page, focus more on the service offered.  For example, communication building exercises.  Stress the importance of etiquette, listening to clients, and summarize methods of communication.  Then, state the consequences for not having good communication skills.  For example, a customer who doesn’t feel like they are being heard, is likely to take their business elsewhere.

Then, highlight a few examples on how you can help management and employees improve communication in the workplace.  Don’t give away too much information.  For example, state that you can have employees write sample letters to each other and clients.  You can dissect them and give suggested improvements.

At the bottom of each page, you must include your contact information.  This includes your name and business name, business address, phone number, and email address.  Remember, you want to make this easy for potential clients to find.  Put it at the bottom of each page.  Also, have a separate page that you can list on your menu bar labeled “Contact Us.”  Nothing will appear on this page, but your picture and contact information.

No matter what your job is like, it probably does not provide an optimal environment.  Even if you do have a great office with a comfortable leather chair, some of those chrome balls to click back and forth when you are on the phone, and a framed motivational print featuring full-color photography of Mount Everest, there is probably somewhere else you would prefer to be.

No matter where you put in your hours, there are hassles getting there and back.  Scraping ice and snow off a car windshield in February.  Leaning on the horn in rush hour traffic every Friday afternoon.  Maybe you get packed into a subway like a sardine in a can or have to share the bus with a collection of unsavory characters.  It might only take you a few minutes to get to work, but you may also be one of the horde of commuters who spend hours of their lives each and every day just coming to and from the job.

There is an alternative to all of that ugliness.  Wouldn’t it be nice to roll out of bed, click your fingers and be at work?  When the day was done, you could be sitting on your couch or playing with your children in the blink of an eye.  That would be great, wouldn’t it?

And the workplace itself?  Imagine having a bed nearby for a mid-day nap if you needed one.  A full refrigerator stocked with the kind of foods you enjoy would make for a better lunch than your usual brown bag feast, the company cafeteria or another fast food place.  It would be awesome to replace that horrible, dull background music with the kind of tunes you really enjoy.  Oh, and since we are thinking of a comfortable workplace, let us make sure we do away with dress codes, too. 

Well, we have presented two options.  The traditional work environment that has long, and always will, inspire a series of gripes, is the one we already know.  Our fantastic alternative sounds a lot like paradise.  Or home.

It is home.  It is possible to work there, too. 
Thousands of people have given up messing around with traditional jobs and all of the associated discomfort and hassles and have found refuge in running their own at-home business.  They get to enjoy their surroundings, avoid traffic, and make the most out of every day without expending time and effort just to clock in.  Some are telecommuters.  Others own their own businesses outright and operate them from a desk in the den or kitchen breakfast nook.

Those who work from home also gain some other significant advantages.  They control their earnings and the money can be very good.  They control the whole operation, giving them an unparalleled sense of job satisfaction.  They make their own hours–the ultimate in flexibility.  They do not commute; increasing their efficiency and the amount of time, they have available for recreation and family time.  They do not have to kow-tow to anyone and get to establish and implement their own rules and policies instead of relying upon middle managers who do not seem to have an idea of how things really work.

Are you ready to get out of your current workplace and into something a bit more comfortable?  Are you tired of wasting countless hours just getting to and from a job you do not really enjoy?  If so, it may be time for you to investigate joining those who have found working at home to be the perfect solution.  Take the time to find and read some valuable information about working from home and decide whether you are the kind of person who would benefit from having all of the comforts of home as your workplace.

First, you are never in control of your own destiny.  There is a longstanding myth that if you work hard enough and do a good enough job, you will work your way up the corporate ladder to a position of wealth and relative power.  Some people do manage to climb up from entry-level positions to management posts, but most do not.  Somewhere along the line, we decided to pretend as if the exception really is the rule.

What happens if the company’s sales force fails to close enough deals to fuel expansion (or even maintenance of the status quo)?  What happens if your boss decides to model his behavior after Kenneth Lay or the other once-successful heads of Enron?  All of your hard work goes up in a puff of smoke.
That holds true on more “down to earth” levels, too.  If the person in the cubicle next to you decides to play video games instead of finishing his report or happens to come down with a nasty case of the flu, the forty hours of hard work you offered will not be enough.  You will be on-site Saturday afternoon picking up someone else’s slack.  You will be telling yourself these extra hours are greasing the promotion track, but you have no way of knowing if that is true.
That is because much of that will depend on the personalities and attitudes of those who outrank you.  You are at the mercy of middle managers who may or may not like you or who might have an inaccurate perception of your value relative to other employees.  Your future becomes a matter of corporate politics.  That is not a reassuring thought.

Second, you will always be capped off.  Unless you rise to the top, amass a huge fortune, and then somehow buy out the company, you will always be an employee, serving at the behest of a boss who can release you at any time.  You will never really get to be in charge.  You will never truly control your future.
Sure, you might have authority over some aspects of your division.  You might get to hire and fire a few people.  Who knows, you might even get a company car, good benefits and a gold-plated watch at age sixty-five when you finally decide you have punched the clock for the very last time.  You can gain little pieces of control, but you will always be at the mercy of people and powers that outrank and control your financial and professional future.

Third, you will never know what you might have really been able to accomplish.  You only get one chance at life, and it seems almost sad that you can spend it without ever really testing yourself, your ideas or your skills.  Nonetheless, that is what happens to those who remain employees. 

When your working days are over, do you want to know that you were part of a company that did well or performed poorly based on the actions of many other people and forces over which you had virtually no control?  Some people are comfortable with the idea of being a good cog in a successful machine, but others want more.  They want to know that they were capable of building something that mattered to them.

Of course, the right person can shed those limitations.  The right person can decide to start their own business.  They can slip away from a dead-end, low-paying job or a nice comfortable corporate existence and take a chance to work without externally imposed limitations and hindrances.  There are varieties of ways to do that.  One of the most popular and successful is by escaping the workforce and establishing a home-based business.  It can be a wonderful way to reach for something more.

There is no simple way to determine whether you could successfully operate your own home business.  You cannot take a test that will reveal the answer in the form of a numerical score.  No one can look into your eyes and somehow sense your chance for success.  There are, however, a few things you can do to get a better idea of your abilities and whether or not they match up with home business success.
The perfect candidate for a work at home career has a few character traits.  Take a look at these three personality characteristics often associated with successful work at home entrepreneurs and see how you measure up.  There may not be an easy answer to the “can you do it” question, but evaluating these traits might give you a good idea of your ability to be your own boss.
A willingness to work is essential.  Running your own business, especially in the early phases, will require more time and effort than being someone else’s employee.  The rewards are greater, but they only arrive after a great deal of diligence.  If you do not consider yourself a hard worker already, you need to decide whether having personal ownership over your career future would inspire you to become one.  Those who are not willing to put forth a serious and extended effort may not be able to make it as an at-home entrepreneur.

Those who succeed have a willingness to learn.  One of the most exciting things about running your own business from home is the learning opportunities it presents.  In order to succeed, you will need to learn and develop a series of new skills.  Those who do well with their own enterprises are the kind of people who relish these challenges and look forward to the financial and personal growth opportunity that learning provides.

Running a successful work at home business also requires a burning desire to succeed.  This is probably the most important shared characteristic of those who have excelled while working from home.  They did not just feel like running their own operation and working from home would be a nice idea.  They felt a strong need to come up with a solid business plan and to implement it.  Their desire carried them through challenging days and made the moneymaking days even sweeter.

If you are thinking about starting a business from home, ask yourself a few questions and answer them honestly.  Are you willing to put forth an effort?  Are you willing to learn new things?  Do you feel strongly about taking control over your own professional life?

If you answer those three queries in the affirmative, you are a prime candidate for running your own home business.  Three “yeses” don’t guarantee a million in net profits six months later or a long successful future after three or four days of sweat, but they do show that you have the kind of make up that can produce significant positive results.

As much as we might want to believe otherwise, running a home business may not be for everyone.  It is, however, a great choice for those who want it badly enough and are willing to work and learn to make their home business a success.

As a small business, you are inevitably facing some challenges that larger companies don’t.  You are also uniquely positioned to do some things they cannot.  Your budget is smaller.  Your margin for error is slimmer.  Your ability to instantly access an extensive network of experts in any given field is limited in comparison to larger corporations.  Using their tools and their ideas is a classic case of trying to pound square pegs into round holes—and we all know how well that usually works out.

A small business-friendly marketing model will emphasize the strengths inherent in smaller operations.  Greater speed and an ability to work outside the traditional “box” will be recognized as key elements to a successful plan.  Reliance on large staffs, hedging against risk and other big company traits will be ignored.

It’s an understandable sentiment.  The small business owner may be working out of his or her garage, wearing jeans and working the phone while trying in vain to repair a broken fax machine.  The small business owner might spend late nights worrying about whether his or her new company will ever take off and become profitable.  Meanwhile big corporate CEOs are sleeping in their private jets en route to lavish parties thrown by other tycoons on the Riviera. 

The small business owner worries about having the money to make that next car or house payment.  The mega-corporation’s CEO is busy negotiating an extra few million in stock options to for her eventual retirement.

If you ever start to feel that way, don’t chastise yourself for being a little green with envy.  Instead, retrain your thoughts on some of the unique advantages you have as a smaller player and how wonderful it will feel as you use your “invisible” position to make rapid gains.

When the large competitor wants to tailor its offerings to consumers, they rely on time-consuming focus groups and large-scale market research projects to inform them of the changes they need to make.  The decision makers often haven’t seen or interacted with a product end-user or actual everyday client for years.

You, on the other hand, know your customers.  You know how to reach them.  You know what they liked and the things about which they had complaints.  You can custom-tailor your offerings to meet their exact needs and expectations—and you can do it much faster than the folks in the high-rise can.  Your adjustments can be implemented before they interview their first focus group panel!

When the big shots decide they need to make a change in their advertising strategy, they call the ad firm upon which they rely, their in-house marketing team, a dozen division heads, their media expert and assorted others together in hopes of eventually hammering out an alternative.

Meanwhile, you can have an epiphany while driving to the grocery store and put a new test advertisement into the rotation by the time you go to bed.  When you see an opening, you can take it without having to fill out requisition forms or consulting with higher-ups.

You may not have your own jet (yet).  You may not have a silk parachute, nonetheless a multi-million dollar gold variety.  Your concerns may seem a bit pedestrian compared to those at the so-called “top.”   However, your opportunity for rapid growth and improvement swamps theirs. 

The small business owner can be faster and more creative than the big boys can.  With size comes bulk.  With bulk comes delay.  You are able to run circles around the competition in terms of flexibility and responsiveness.
All it takes is the ability to keep your eyes and ears open and to combine that attentiveness to the market with a proven marketing strategy designed with a small business in mind.  Once those elements are in place, you will be on the fast track to a new fax machine right away, and a lot closer to vacationing on the Mediterranean coast than you might think.

Don’t develop an inferiority complex.  Of course, it’s unrealistic to compare your small operation with an established player right away.  Yes, it is true that the big boys do have some significant advantages over the upstarts.  However, not all of the news is bad.  Instead of focusing on the areas in which you feel deficient, recognize that your position gives you some very exciting opportunities in the areas where your lack of size actually makes you quite superior.

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