BUSINESS COACH FRANCHISE?
I’m Not Buying It.

Coach>n 1. an instructor or trainer in sport.

Guide>n 1. a person who advises or shows the way to others.

Leader>n 1. a person or thing that is most successful or advanced in a particular area.

Based on the above definitions for the corresponding words what order would you put your choices for the one who will help you build and develop your business?

When I think of a coach, I think of a whistle-blowing, side-line yelling observer. Many coaches and/or instructors who have never even been a ‘player’ in the event they are coaching. Some coaches do not deserve the title, but deemed qualified by a whistle, clip-board and certificate from a weekend clinic. 

However, when I think of a guide I think of someone right there with me leading the way. They are right inside of the white water raft, hanging from the rope-line above me, cutting the way through an over-grown forest or cutting a clear path for the growth of my business. I put my trust in them because they have done this before.

A leader, I think, is a  person who stands out as the one who will make the best guide and the one I can trust to take me to my destination.

Contrary to what I think, or the way I word things, there is a boom in the industry of business coaching. Industry reports show that ‘we are only right at the very beginning of this industry,’ and that ‘business coaching is currently the same place that financial planners, accountants and attorneys were a decade ago.’ Apparently the attitude is if one doesn’t have a business coach they had better get one before their competitors do. Such thinking, of course, opposes my thought process of avoiding common ways of thinking and developing original ways of thinking that directly reflect the achievement of a company’s goals. However, the first line of thinking should be that if you don’t need a repair man, don’t’ hire one and not every business needs a ‘coach.’

Don’t Be Dumb - Invest in Knowledge

I am not surprised at the demand increase for a business ‘coach.’ I am however, surprised and appalled at where some of the supply is coming from. Specifically speaking, the ‘business coaching franchise packages’ available for sale. In fact, one business coaching ‘package’ is listed in Entrepreneur Magazine as one of the top 50 new franchises of 2007.

So if I am getting it right, people who want to market themself as a business, in the business of coaching others on how to build a better business are doing so with the coaching from a packaged product on how to do it. Hmmm? Refer to
Robert Redford saying:

“The more I got involved in business, the more I got shocked at how dumb a lot of businesses were."

So essentially the customer paying for this assistance from a packaged-prepared coach is learning the same things as a competitor who may have purchased the same packaged coaching from another packaged-prepped coach. What a great deal! - For the seller of the franchises.  

This seems, forgive my use of a terrible cliche’, literally to be ‘thinking inside a box.’ A prepared and sold as a franchise box.

Consider all of the people or perhaps even yourself who charged out of an AMWAY meeting with a car full of cleaning products to sell to the world, only to later see that once hyped- up and convinced-of-success person with a lifetime supply of toilet cleaner they can’t sell. These pre-packaged business coaching franchises are about the success of the franchise owner and not the people in need of a good business coach. Just like AMWAY or any other multi-level marketing product is not about the product, but about promising riches for the sales people within the pyramid.

Earlier in this article I referenced the statement that business coaches are where financial planners were 10 years ago. Have you ever known someone completely unqualified to plan even their own finances become a ‘financial planner? I have. I once had a friend who was thousands of dollars in debt and living in his father’s garage become a financial planner for a month and was upset when I didn’t ‘sign on.’ This same person is now a real-estate agent, an insurance salesman and a -  business coach.

Of course, I could expect one of the founders of a packaged business coaching franchise to point to their bottom line and laugh at me all the way to the bank. It will be here I will add one more
Robert Redford statement:

“You have to think not only revenue, but the quality of that revenue.”

The founders of these franchises are clearly smart, savvy business people, but in no uncertain terms does that mean the people who own one of the franchises share that same business smarts and savvy. Attending a course on how to sell a business coaching philosophy does not make someone a good business coach. Just like a whistle and a clip board doesn’t make a coach out of someone who attended a weekend clinic on how to kick a ball.

According to an ad for a business coach franchise, ‘you don’t have to be a Guru to succeed,’ and that is right, but if I am going to pay someone who claims they will help my business achieve more success I’m sure as heck going to expect them to be a Guru. That same company say they base their ‘coaches more on their heart and passion than their knowledge.’ When it comes to an investment in your business I would suggest you pay for knowledge and get the heart and passion from a loved one. 

You want fries with your McProduct?

When purchasing a pre-packaged philosophy, doled out by a salesman, you should expect your business to have the originality of a McDonald’s hamburger. Think about it. All McDonald’s managers attend Hamburger University to learn how to make the same hamburger so they can return to their shop and teach everyone else how to make the same hamburger. As a result every McDonald’s in the world provides the exact same product. That approach works for McDonald’s and their market, but would you pay $10 for that same burger at the tavern around the corner?

Everything I read about business coaching franchises is only about the ‘coach’ and none of it is about the people a business coach supposedly has a ‘passion for helping.’

Business Coaches Are People Too:

Don’t misunderstand me, enlisting the services of someone a bit more savvy and experienced than you are is a great idea. It can be a great investment to call on the expertise of someone who has already traveled the road you are traveling and draw from the knowledge they have already gained. However, choosing the individual to include in your professional development plan should be a bit more strategic and involve a very careful selection process. I don’t see the process similar to buying a new shirt. The product you are buying is a human and we all belong somewhere on the irregular rack.

You are paying for someone’s vision, creativity, experience, knowledge, wisdom, ethics, discipline, level of responsibility, innovation, personality and integrity. If these qualities are somehow instilled into the attendees of a ‘want-to-be-a-business-coach’ seminar than it must be run by God. In which case I will be going to Hell for writing this article.    

There are Major League Coaches and there are Little League Coaches:

It would not be very hard to establish why one person coaches in the NFL and another in the Pee Wee League. The fact is simple. If a person has the natural ability and necessary knack for providing quality guidance and leadership to others they do not need a pre-packaged philosophy on how do it. Nothing within a pre-packaged coaching product will mean anything if it is recited to you by a person who lacks the necessary creative abilities and all of the abilities I listed in the last paragraph, to effectively differentiate your position in the market place. -And that is precisely what it is about - being different not the same.

Perhaps I am placing too much emphasis on the word ‘coach.’ As I said, seeking guidance from someone qualified to help you is a smart thing to do. We all need good leaders in our life. My problem is not with the idea of a business coach, books or tapes providing good information. I rely on such information every day and include it as a service within my company.  My problem is with business coaching being sold as a franchised product sold to a generic coach who in turns sells it to unsuspecting business people.

The people qualified and worth the financial investment to work with you on developing your business don’t need to purchase a franchise. They don’t need to be versed in how to do it. They are already confident in their abilities and have that intangible knack for developing strong ideas and strategies that effectively differentiate your business in the market place. -And again being different is what it is about.

More importantly that person needs to have already done what it is you are trying to do. How will they be able to help you if they haven’t already done it? In that case they will be relying on a cookie-cutter plan they learned from ‘quickie’ franchise training.

Demand the Best In All Aspects of Your Business:

If you feel that working with someone to help guide you through the development and growth of your business seek out someone who do just that - guide you. Expect them to be a Guru. Expect them to climb ‘in’ and actively lead you. Expect them to have already done what you want to do and were successful at doing it. It doesn’t matter if they call themself a coach or a guide they should be working with you to clear a path and be willing to hang on the rope with you. What you are ultimately seeking is a leader and by definition that is ‘a person or thing that is most successful or advanced in a particular area.’ You should expect nothing less.   Before a doctor starts analyzing and dissecting me I want more to know more than just seeing a framed diploma on an office wall. I want credentials. I want experience. I want proof.

Lastly remember that you might not need a business coach and just because every other business is getting one doesn’t justify the ‘need.’ 95% of those businesses will eventually fail with or without a business coach. It is your business. You own it and therefore it will be your choices that will ultimately be what determines the success of your business. So when someone comes knocking on your door holding a framed certificate screaming ‘business coach’ take the time to see credentials, experience and check their references.