How to Find the Right Small Business Coach
If you are thinking about hiring a small business coach, you are probably in one of two places. Either your business is stuck and you cannot figure out why, or your business is growing but it is consuming your life in the process. Both are good reasons to consider coaching. But finding the right coach matters more than most people realize.
The coaching industry is unregulated. Anyone can call themselves a business coach, put up a website, and start charging for advice. Some are excellent. Some are mediocre. Some will waste your time and money. The difference between a great coaching experience and a terrible one often comes down to whether you asked the right questions before you signed up.
I am a business coach. I run a coaching practice called The Intentional Business where I help overworked business owners earn more while working less. I am going to be honest with you in this post about what coaching is, what it is not, what to look for, and what to avoid. I am also going to be transparent about how I approach coaching so you can decide whether my style is what you are looking for, or whether a different type of coach would serve you better.
What a Business Coach Actually Does
A business coach is someone who works with you one-on-one to help you improve your business and, in many cases, your quality of life as a business owner. The relationship is built on strategy, accountability, and outside perspective.
The strategy part means your coach helps you see your business clearly, identify what is working and what is not, and create a focused plan to move forward. Most business owners are too deep inside their day-to-day operations to see the patterns and opportunities that are obvious to someone on the outside.
The accountability part means your coach helps you follow through. It is easy to set goals. It is much harder to consistently execute on them when you are busy, distracted, and dealing with the daily demands of running a business. A good coach keeps you honest about your commitments and pushes you when you are avoiding the hard things.
The outside perspective part is often the most valuable. When you run a business by yourself, you make every decision in isolation. You do not have a board of directors. You do not have a CEO to report to. You do not have colleagues at your level to bounce ideas off. That isolation leads to blind spots, and those blind spots are usually where the biggest opportunities and biggest problems are hiding.
A business coach is not a consultant who does the work for you. A coach is not a therapist, although some conversations will touch on mindset and personal challenges. And a coach is not a guru who hands you a magic formula. Good coaching is a partnership where you do the work and your coach helps you do the right work.
When You Actually Need a Coach (And When You Do Not)
Coaching is not the right solution for every problem. Before you start searching for a coach, it helps to get honest about what you actually need.
You probably need a coach if: You are working too many hours and cannot figure out how to scale without working more. You are stuck at a revenue plateau and do not know what is holding you back. You feel overwhelmed by the number of decisions you make every day. You know what you should be doing but are not doing it. You have hit a point where working harder is not producing better results. You feel isolated in your role and want someone who understands what you are going through.
You probably do not need a coach if: You need someone to do specific work for you, like building a website, managing your books, or running your marketing. In those cases, you need a contractor or an employee. You are looking for legal or financial advice. Go to a lawyer or accountant. You are in the very early stages of starting a business and do not have revenue yet. Free resources like SCORE mentoring or local small business development centers may be a better starting point until your business has some traction.
The sweet spot for coaching is when your business is established and generating revenue, but you are either stuck or growing in a way that is not sustainable. That is where a coach can have the biggest impact.
What to Look For in a Business Coach
Not all coaches are the same, and the right coach for someone else may not be the right coach for you. Here is what actually matters when you are evaluating coaches.
Real business experience. Your coach should have built and run businesses themselves, not just studied business in a classroom or read about it in books. There is a difference between understanding business theory and understanding what it feels like to make payroll, manage a difficult client, or decide whether to hire when cash flow is tight. When a coach has lived through those situations, their advice carries a weight that purely academic knowledge does not.
A clear coaching process. A good coach does not just show up and ask how your week went. They have a structured approach to identifying your challenges, setting goals, and moving you toward results. Ask any coach you are considering to walk you through their process. If they cannot clearly explain how they work with clients and what the typical arc of an engagement looks like, that is a warning sign.
Relevant client results. Look for specific, concrete outcomes their clients have achieved. Not vague testimonials like "my coach changed my life." Look for results you can measure: revenue growth, hours reduced, team improvements, specific business milestones reached. The more specific the results, the more confidence you can have that the coach actually delivers.
A philosophy you agree with. Every coach has a set of beliefs about business that shapes their advice. Some coaches believe growth should be the top priority at all costs. Some believe in hustle culture and grinding. Some focus primarily on marketing and sales tactics. Some focus on operations and systems. Some prioritize the business owner's quality of life alongside business results. There is no universally right answer, but you need to work with a coach whose philosophy aligns with what you are trying to build. If your coach believes you should be working 60 hours a week and you want to work 35, that is a fundamental misalignment that no amount of good advice can overcome.
Someone you trust enough to be honest with. Coaching only works if you are willing to be open about what is really going on in your business and your life. If you hold back because you do not trust your coach or you are worried about being judged, you will not get the full benefit. During an initial conversation, pay attention to how you feel. Do you feel comfortable being direct with this person? Do they listen well? Do they seem genuinely interested in your situation, or are they running through a sales script?
Red Flags to Watch For
The coaching industry has its share of bad actors. Here is what should make you hesitate or walk away.
No business experience of their own. If a coach has never actually run a business, they are giving you advice from the outside looking in. That does not mean they have zero value, but it is a significant limitation. You want a coach who has been in the trenches, not just someone who completed a coaching certification.
Guaranteed results or income claims. No ethical coach can guarantee specific revenue numbers. Anyone promising you will "make six figures in 90 days" or similar claims is selling you a fantasy. Real coaching produces real results, but those results depend on your specific situation, your effort, and dozens of other variables that no coach can control.
A one-size-fits-all program. Some coaches sell a rigid curriculum that every client goes through regardless of their situation. That is not coaching. That is a course. Real coaching adapts to your specific business, your specific challenges, and your specific goals. If a coach cannot explain how they would tailor their approach to your situation, they are probably selling a template.
Pressure tactics in the sales process. If a coach pressures you to sign up immediately, uses artificial scarcity ("I only have one spot left"), or makes you feel guilty for wanting time to think, those are sales manipulation tactics, not coaching. A confident coach will give you space to make a decision and will respect your process.
No testimonials or case studies with real detail. Vague endorsements do not mean much. Look for testimonials that include the client's name (or at minimum their industry), their specific challenge, and the specific outcome they achieved. If a coach has been working with clients for years and cannot point to concrete success stories, ask yourself why.
How I Approach Coaching (So You Can Decide If It Fits)
I want to be transparent about what I believe and how I work so you can decide whether my approach is right for you.
My philosophy. I believe your business should support your life, not consume it. I help business owners earn more while working less. That does not mean I am anti-growth or anti-ambition. I have helped clients build 7-figure businesses and I am currently helping clients scale toward 8 figures. But I believe growth should create more freedom, not less. If your revenue is going up but your quality of life is going down, something is structurally wrong with how your business operates. That is what I help fix.
My process. I use a framework I call the Intentional Growth Method: Strategize, Solve, Simplify, Systemize, Scale. We start by creating a clear 90-day growth plan. Then we solve the biggest bottlenecks holding your business back. We simplify your schedule so you have capacity. We systemize your operations so the business is less dependent on you. And then we scale once the structure can support it. Most business owners try to jump straight to scaling, which is why they burn out. The order matters.
My clients. I work primarily with established service-based business owners who are generating revenue but feeling stuck or overwhelmed. My typical client is doing well by most measures but is working too many hours, has hit a revenue plateau, or knows there is a better way to run their business but has not been able to figure it out alone. In 2025, 5 of my 25 clients doubled their revenue without working more hours.
My background. I have built and run multiple 6 and 7-figure service businesses, including businesses in consulting, home services, and coaching. I am not someone who went straight from a certification program into coaching; I’ve coached over 300 businesses over the last 10 years. I have experienced burnout firsthand. I have made the mistakes. I have also built the kind of business I help my clients build: one that generates strong revenue while giving me the time and freedom to enjoy my life. I work 25 to 35 hours per week, take 2 months of vacation per year, and do not work nights or weekends.
What I do not do. I do not teach growth hacks or push clients to scale at all costs. I do not use high-pressure sales tactics. I do not promise specific revenue outcomes. I do not believe that working harder is the answer to most business problems. And I do not work with clients who are not willing to make changes. Coaching is a partnership, and it only works if both sides are committed.
How to Start Your Search
Whether you end up working with me or someone else entirely, here is how I would approach finding the right coach.
Get clear on what you want to change. Before you talk to any coach, write down the top 3 things you want to be different about your business and your life in 12 months. This gives you a filter for evaluating whether a coach's expertise and philosophy match your goals.
Ask business owners you trust for referrals. The best way to find a good coach is through people who have actually worked with one. Ask what they liked, what they did not like, and what specific results they achieved. A referral from someone whose judgment you respect is worth more than any amount of marketing.
Have real conversations with 2 or 3 coaches. Most good coaches offer a free introductory call. Use it. But do not just listen to their pitch. Ask about their experience, their process, their client results, and their philosophy. Pay attention to how they make you feel. Do they listen more than they talk? Do they ask thoughtful questions about your specific situation? Or do they spend the whole call talking about themselves?
Trust your gut on fit. You are going to share a lot with your coach: your financials, your fears, your frustrations, your goals. If something feels off during the initial conversation, it is probably not the right fit. That is okay. Keep looking. The right coach will make you feel heard, challenged, and supported all at the same time.
Evaluate the investment honestly. Good coaching is not cheap. Expect to invest several hundred to several thousand dollars per month depending on the coach and the level of support. But evaluate it as a business investment, not an expense. Ask yourself: if coaching helped you add even one or two clients, reduce your hours by 10 per week, or avoid one costly mistake, would the investment pay for itself? For most established business owners, the answer is clearly yes.
Ready to Explore Coaching?
If what I have described resonates with how you want to run your business, I would be happy to talk. I offer a free growth strategy call where we can discuss your situation, identify your biggest opportunities, and determine whether coaching is the right next step for you. There is no pressure and no obligation.
Book a free growth strategy call and let's see if we are a good fit.
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