How a coach can help you simplify your business and save time
It’s been about 8 years since I started my documentary family photography business. While I didn’t have a coach (or have any kind of help) in the first few years, I eventually hired a coach.
And because of that experience, I knew when I started this coaching business that I want to work with people who can help me make faster progress from the start.
I thought I’d share how working with a coach can help you simplify your business and save time.
1. A coach might see opportunities that have gone overlooked
When you’re bogged down in the day-to-day of your business, checking off never-ending to-dos, it can be hard to see the big picture stuff and the small shifts that could make a big difference.
Especially if the change you want feels SO BIG and unattainable, it can feel like it would take a lot of time and effort to get
more time freedom
work-life balance
growth without putting in more hours
less chaos and scrambling behind the scenes
Often only a handful of key shifts have helped my clients cut back on their work hours and feel more at ease with their businesses – all they needed was a fresh perspective and ideas for how to implement the changes.
It could mean that by changing just one part of your business that feels draining, you could experience more ease and free up energy for more positive changes.
2. A coach can help you simplify
As we’re starting out, we tend to try a bunch of different strategies to get visible and grow our client base. And when those aren’t enough, it’s easy to pile on more when we still have the time.
And there’s no shortage of ideas for what marketing activities to try – because every business expert and their uncle is handing out “shoulds” on the Internet.
When your business finally starts to gain traction, excess marketing activities and other behind-the-scenes tasks are taking up time you’d rather spend serving your clients or customers. Or time you’d spend doing things you love outside of your business.
If you’ve tried simplifying, or aren’t sure what to simplify because literally everything feels equally important, I can help you figure out which tasks that make the biggest impact and which ones you could let go of.
3. The coach may have been where you are
Many coaches pick their focus depending on their personal experiences; what they’ve struggled with and how they overcame those struggles. This makes them hugely empathetic to where you are now.
I overworked and stretched myself way too thin in the first few years of my photography business, and once it took a toll on my health I had to figure out ways to work less without losing out on revenue. The surprising thing was that even though I eventually cut back my photography work to 20h/week for all of 2019, I still made almost the same amount of sales that year as the year before.
I still don’t have all the answers, and I still struggle with focus and managing my time sometimes. How we show up for ourselves and our businesses better is a life-long quest – but you can make big strides pretty quickly.
4. A coach can be a sounding board as you experiment
You could 100% look for information online, and simplify your business on your own. But when you work with a coach who’s collected information for years, you get the benefit of information distilled down into actionable information and ideas in relation to what your business and life looks like.
My coaching packages come with messaging support, because aving additional support beyond a coaching call means that you can ask questions and get advice as you’re implementing your new strategies. This way you can get in touch when it’s convenient for you, instead of waiting until a coaching call at a later date.
5. Follow-through support
When you have someone who keeps providing support when you hit snags or when things feel hard, you’re more likely to stick to the changes you wanted to create in your business and life.
Though things don’t always go to plan.
While I do keep my clients accountable, it’s in a human-friendly way.
It’s important that we approach your capacity as a business owner by appreciating that you have wants and needs that extend beyond making your business work. Along the way you’ll (hopefully!) cultivate more understanding towards yourself, and decrease self-judgment.
Sometimes we just need to lean on someone who gets this whole business thing in a different way than our friends and family.