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TAB Small Business Pulse: Business Coaching

This is a high-level summary of our key findings from the September 2015 Small Business Pulse Survey. This

survey concentrated on the value of business coaching. The survey was taken by 305 business owners. It’s

important for readers not to confuse a Business Coach with a Business Consultant. Consultants are meant to

provide the answers to challenges a business is facing. Coaches, on the other hand, are meant to help owners

arrive at the best answer themselves. As a result of effective business coaching, the business coach should

become a better business owner.

Key Insights from the Survey

Business Coaches are the second-most trusted advisor for business owners (24%), with Fellow Business

Owners being the single-most trusted advisor (31%). Combined, over half of the respondents rated

Business Coaches and Fellow Business Owners as their first or second-most trusted advisor. The only

other category receiving a double-digit rating is Family Member at 18%.

For those business owners that had utilized a Business Coach in the past, 71% rated the coach’s impact

on their business as a 7 or higher.

However, only 18% of those respondents that have never used a Business Coach rated the potential

impact on their business as 7 or higher. There is significant opportunity for Business Coaches to educate

prospects about the potential impact of coaching.

Respondents by far rated Strategic Planning as the area that a Business Coach could have the greatest

impact on their business (31%). The other areas receiving a double-digit response are

PR/Marketing/Social Media (14%) and Leadership (11%). Other significant impact areas are Succession

Planning (9%), Managing Change (8%), Profitability (8%), Productivity (7%) and Employee Relations

(5%).

In terms of which benefits of business coaching, respondents rated the following three benefits as being

significantly greater than other potential benefits:

o Accountability: I have someone to hold me accountable to get things done. (31%)

o Growth/Profitability: I will generate a return on investment by growing revenue and/or reducing

costs. (30%)

o Discuss Business Concerns: I will have someone to voice my business concerns to. (26%)

Business owners see the value in retaining a Business Coach both in a healthy business climate and an

unhealthy one. 54% were more likely to retain a Business Coach when the market is weak vs. 46% when

the market is strong.

By far, the respondents would rely on a Personal Referral as the best way to find the right Business

Coach for their business. They would like to be able review Testimonials or Case Studies from other

clients who have utilized the Business Coach’s services.

Three key areas stood above the rest when respondents were asked about what attributes they would

value most in selecting a business coach:

o Coaching style and philosophy (35%)

o Areas of expertise (27%)

o Character and integrity (25%)

Other key expectations that business owners have of coaches are:

o To ask the right questions (31%)

TAB Small Business Pulse: Business Coaching

o To focus on measurable change (26%)

o To conduct a thorough business assessment (18%)

o To tackle the tough issues (15%)

Other key qualities that respondents identified as being important for a business coach are Insight

(49%), Experience (24%) and Trust (18%).

Business owners do place a value on Business Coaches. The mean response to how much they would be

willing to pay per hour is $132.

Profile of Survey Participants

80% of respondents have used some form of Business Coach in their career, with 41% having utilized

one in the past 6 months.

86% of respondents have been in business for at least 8 years. 44% of respondents have been in

business for more than 20 years.

53% of the respondents have annual revenue of $1 million or more.

44% of respondents have 2-9 employees and 32% have 10-49 employees. The mean number of

employees is 18.

The most common industry sectors are Professional Services, Manufacturing and Construction.

Respondents came from the US, Canada, the UK, New Zealand and Ireland.