With all the responsibilities you shoulder as a business owner, sometimes it helps to get a second opinion from a business coach who has been in your shoes before. A coach you click with can be a valuable source for advice, helping you grow your business, make important decisions, and overcome challenges along the way. Since every coach offers something different, what’s most important is finding someone you get along with and who has a proven track record of success.

Problems You Need Help Solving

You can find a business coach to help you with just about anything related to your company. It’s all a matter of narrowing down exactly what you want a coach for. To figure this out, consider the stage your business is currently at and the challenges it’s facing. Maybe your business is just starting out and you need advice on efficient product development. Perhaps you’ve reached a plateau, and you’re trying to fix your business so that it continues growing and thriving.

The best strategy is to look for a coach who has a deep understanding of whichever areas your business needs help, whether that’s sales, marketing, team management, building a brand or something entirely different.

How to Find Business Coaches

Once you know what you’re looking for in a business coach, you need to know where to look. Two popular resources for finding coaches are the business coach directory Noomi and the International Coach Federation of Toronto.

Noomi offers a few options to help you find coaches in your area who fit your needs. The fastest method is to search for coaches using your postal code, or you can view all the coaches in your province. If you want a hand in selecting a coach, Noomi has personalized coach recommendations. All you need to do is fill out a short form about you and your current business goals, and Noomi sends you between one and three coaches to consider.

The International Coach Federation has its own database of coaches covering a variety of focuses, including small businesses, networking, and leadership. When you search for coaches, you can click on any of the results to open a coach’s profile, which has their contact information and more details about them.

What to Look for in a Business Coach

Good communication skills are a must, as you and your coach need to be on the same page at all times. The best business coaches are natural problem solvers who can analyze situations and explain different potential outcomes to you.

Compatibility is key for business owners and coaches, and your interview with a potential coach is the perfect time to judge how comfortable you are with them. For the coaching to help your business, you need someone who you trust.

A business coach fills an important role at your company. When you know what you want and the signs of a quality coach, you can find one who brings your business the results you want.