Tue 29 / 04 / 14
5 minute mentor
Welcome to the next installment of the “5 minute mentor”. As mentioned before, my hope is if you spend 5 minutes reading these posts you will learn something useful that you can apply to your business. This month we are going to discuss the areas of your business that a coach can assist you with.
Fundamentally, coaching supports your business in 2 core areas, and both are as important as each other: Commercial and Cultural.
Lets start with the commercial areas
Creating a clear vision for your business gives you focus and direction. It’s a tough thing to do thoroughly yourself so having a coach guide you through the process using templates and their experience, really expedites the process. This is true and just as important whether you run a 10,000-person company or are 5 staff.
Looking at the structures of your business (so you can deliver your vision) is another key commercial area. This could be roles & responsibilities – creating clarity around who does what, it could be looking at your organisational structures or the capabilities of your people.
Sales and marketing
A big challenge for many businesses is to understand how best to market themselves and then create a solid sales pipeline that is continually being filled. Many people who start a business are great at whatever it is their business does but that doesn’t necessarily make them great at marketing and sales! A coach should always be focused on your bottom line and marketing & sales is a good starting point.
Now lets look at some of the Cultural areas
Culture looks at the behaviours in your business. It can also explore and help shape your values and culture itself. It’s crucial to get this right so you hire and retain the best people who buy into, and have a similar set of values as the business.
Another cultural element is communications. This could involve facilitating and forming the management team or looking at how the company communicates to the staff, how appraisals are run and so on.
As I mentioned earlier, getting both the commercial and cultural elements of your business right are equally important. Getting some external support to (a) ensure you spend the time working on your business and (b) to guide you through the process, is an invaluable asset.
Next month we are going to explore why a business vision is so important and so much more than just a business plan that your bank asks you to produce!
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If you want to contribute to the Chamber blog, contact us on hannah@brightonchamber.co.uk