As I sit down with my 20-month old grandson at mealtime, we have a little “confrontation”. He wants to eat completely by himself and I want to feed him. If I let him win, half his meal winds up in the catch pocket of his bib (great invention!) and he winds up with another percentage of food smeared all over his face. Some of it actually winds up in his mouth. He’s stubborn – pulls the fork right out of my hand, insisting he’s up to the challenge and he can really do it himself. 
As entrepreneurs we certainly do act like an independent and defiant toddler! We feel strong, confident, and independent. We want to grow our business and succeed on our own. And it may happen – but just as my grandson drops quite a bit of food on his eating journey, we as business owners often let things slip away out of our control.
Being independent is what got us to entrepreneurship but that will get us only part of the way. To fulfill our mission, our vision, our dream of success, every single business owner needs guidance and support in some way.
There are so many avenues to accomplish that, and you can find something that fits your specific needs and style. But however you decide to grow your business, find a guide, follow a process, work a plan.
As a business owner since 2004, I have spent more years than I’d like to count figuring out how to get to where I wanted to be. Years of being the toddler dropping the mac and cheese all over her tray! When I finally said yes to working with someone, I specifically chose who I wanted. I made my choices of guides over the years based on their personality over their “number of wins’. I already knew they were smart and creative, but I was also looking for someone who would communicate easily with me and be on my same wavelength. And someone who wasn’t afraid to tell me the truth when I needed to hear it. A fit in personality and personal style is crucial! After all, your relationship with your coach, mentor, or guide will likely be active for at least 6 months, and typically a year or more.
Beyond choosing someone with a compatible personality, you’ll want to be ready to get down to work: step one always involves clarification of where you are today and where you’d like to be a year from now. This is no time to hide your financials or be vague about your results. If you’re pulling in $8,000 of gross revenue monthly now and want to be at 12,000 per month a year from now, your guide needs to know that up front.
Your challenge – lay it all out right now. Don’t even look for a coach until you have your facts and figures clarified and written out. Print out some QuickBooks reports and go over the numbers. Be confident when you discuss this with your guide.
Envision where you want to be in the near future and be ready with ideas of the paths you’ll take to get there. This is no time to sit back and say, ‘tell me what to do’.
In short, before you begin working with a guide, a coach, a mentor, do some up front work to get ready. Be mentally prepared and positive, be accepting of assistance and honest feedback, be clear about your financials.
Then list the elements of your coach’s personality you’re looking for. Now you’re ready to search for the right fit for your business growth.