Group Coaching

The One Resource to Put You Over the Top

So you have your own business.  Congratulations!

  • I wonder, though, is it what you expected?
  • Have you faced challenges you didn’t anticipate?
  • Are there things you wish you’d known before you started?

If you’re like most home and small business owners, you answered “YES,” to each of those questions.  The truth is …

Most people have very little training before starting their own home or small business.

Oh, you may have read some books or taken a few classes.  But over all, there was a lot you didn’t know.

Then once you started your business, you found there was much more to know than you realized.

Having a business is much more than having a great product, or being trained to provide a needed service.

There’s:

  • Marketing
  • Bookkeeping
  • Taxes
  • Paperwork
  • Sales

… and much more.

To be in business for yourself means wearing lots of hats.  The smaller your business, the more hats you wear.  It’s often lonely at the top – knowing all the decisions are yours, and the ultimate success or failure of your business is in your hands.

And just when you think you’ve got the rules down, something changes:  The economy, new competitor, your number one customer goes out of business.  There’s always something.

Sound familiar?

One question business owners often ask is,

“Where do I get the help I need without it costing me too much?”

Well, you can try the internet, but there’s so much information there, it can be hard to sort out what you need and you succumb to information overload.  Plus, that information is often out dated or not specific enough.

You can use a consultant, but finding one who’s able to really help AND is cost effective can be incredibly time consuming.  And even when you find someone, how many areas of your business can they help with?

You can ask your partner or a friend, but do they really know enough about your business to be able to help you? And are they willing to tell you the truth or are they more afraid of hurting your feelings?

Or are you the kind of business owner who is unwilling to admit  things aren’t going the way you want or that you don’t have all the answers.  Maybe you don’t want to admit to anyone there’s something you don’t know.  Or maybe you don’t even realize there’s someone who could help you be more successful.

According to statistics from the Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Advisors (AIRA), the majority of business failures (67%) are caused by internally-generated problems within the control of management – not by bad luck and external events like an economic recession.

That means you, the owner, could be your own worst enemy.  If you had better perspective or better information, you could both save your company and achieve the level of success you want.

So again the question is, “Where do I turn to for expert help?”

More and more business owners are turning to coaches.  But what is a coach?

It seems there are lots of people out there calling themselves “coaches”.  The reality is, many of them are counterfeits.  They don’t understand the coaching process, they haven’t taken any coach specific training, or they’re just really good salespeople who think that just because they like to talk to people, they can be a coach.

The reality is something very different.  A coach needs to know how to:

  • Listen for, and challenge, assumptions
  • Help you see from different perspectives
  • Speak directly and without fear of upsetting their client
  • Help you find answers that fit for you, not answers that fit for the coach
  • Encourage you to settle for nothing less than your absolute best
  • Make sure coaching sessions are focused on you and not the coach’s agenda

When you find this kind of coach:

  • You go from having nice conversations to discussions that actually lead to beneficial action.
  • You find answers to your questions that are customized for you.
  • You discover new ways of thinking and acting so you have more ways to respond to situations.

That’s where we come in:

We are Laura Hess and Philip Cohen, both Master Certified Coaches through the International Coach Federation, the largest independent coaching association in the world.  In fact, we are both founding members of the organization and have served in various leadership positions since it’s inception in 1995.  Philip is a current member of the Coach U faculty, and Laura is a past member.  Coach U is one of the largest and oldest coach training programs in the world.  We both have extensive training hours and thousand of hours working with clients.  Before becoming coaches, we were both CPAs and business consultants.  We’ve each had our own businesses and have had our coaching business since 1994.

What does this mean to you?

We know how to effectively bring out the best in our clients and assist them in making the best decisions so they can achieve their dreams.  We know how to talk with our clients so the discussion focuses on the core of a topic, not just on the surface.

One-on-one coaching is one way we work with clients.  We meet on a regularly scheduled basis so there is continuity and accountability.  Every conversation is focused on what’s most important to you, our client.

Another way we work with clients is in small groups.  These groups have a common thread connecting all members.  Through the Home Based Business Authority that means you’ll be with like minded business owners so you can tap into their wisdom with a senior coach there to guide you.  This is a great advantage … Napoleon Hill wrote about Master Mind groups in Think and Grow Rich.  Another advantage of group coaching is cost – The fee is less for groups than for one-on-one; often 50% or less.

Groups typically have no more than 10 people and meet twice a month for 90 minutes at a time.  All group coaching sessions take place by phone making geography a non-issue:

  • You don’t lose any time to travel to and from group meetings.
  • If you’re away from home you can still participate by calling in from any phone.
  • Calls can be recorded so you can re-listen to a call later or listen in to a call you may have missed.
  • Many people like the bit of anonymity that comes from groups by phone and will often share information or ideas they might not if they were face to face.
  • Your group can be global in nature so you get a world perspective.

The key to making group coaching work is having a coach who knows group dynamics and knows how to use a conference line.  We’ve been doing this since 1995 and have logged thousands of hours conducting group coaching and teleclasses.

The format of any group depends on the wishes of the particular group.  As your coach, we may have suggestions, but we want the group to serve the needs of the individuals.  Discussion might be on a topic of the group’s choosing, it could be focused on one or more of the participants and their situation, or there could be an outside expert with useful information.  The conversation is moderated by your coach with participation by everyone.  That’s the reason for keeping the group
small.  As needed, your coach will do hot-spot coaching with one or more of the group members.

What you get by participating in the group is:

  • Coaching by Master Coaches trained to stand in your corner and keep you moving in the right direction
  • Other people dedicated to your success as well as their own – willing to share, learn, and grow together
  • An atmosphere for telling the truth while being confidential.
  • Accountability and continuity to help you stay focused on what’s important and to complete those tasks that will truly make a difference for you and your business.
  • The knowledge and security of knowing you’re not in it alone – you have a team around you.

This is not a group for people who are just looking for a place to hang out.  Our groups are for serious business people committed to creating success in their business.

If you want to treat your business as a hobby or aren’t willing to make commitments and follow through, then this isn’t the place for you.

If you’re interested in joining a group, or want more information, click here.

We are committed to your success … Home Based Business Authority Designs Success for Start Up and Beyond.