I receive a long list of questions from people when they are looking to invest in business coaching, but this is the one I try to dive deep into so they know why the fiscal investment matter. Personally, I know what the difference between a business coach and a mentor is because I have had them both in my life at the same time. In 2014, I wrote about Road To Mentorship, discussing my relationship with Lisa Price, the founder of Carol’s Daughter.
What Is Business Coaching?
First and foremost, business coaching is an investment that helps you scale to the next level. You are invested your time and money with someone you have selected based on their expertise. The last part on expertise is the most important aspect of the equation. Don’t pay someone just because they have 100K followers or dress nice. What business have they run successfully? What have they done to achieve the goals you’re aspiring to? Or did they take a course and said: “bet I can teach them after I invested $499”. You see, the issue is they haven’t been in your shoes. Before I started consulting, I had a clothing boutique and did the leg work to scale that online business. I had to learn how to create ebooks, programs, and more with my consulting firm. What I teach clients I have personally lived. Dependent on the business coach you hire, they will either help you launch a business or scale it. I do both for my clients.
What Is A Business Mentor
A business mentor is someone in your industry that has reached a height you aspire to someday. They can chat with you a couple of times ago, so you can “pick their brain” and give you some insight into how they got where they are and things you can do better. A business mentor should not come with a fee attached at all, but more so you show appreciation though maybe flowers or gifts at the end of the year. When chatting with Lisa, our calls were less than an hour, and it was more on surface-level stuff that I was dealing with at the time. We did deep dive into moments of having investors, the cost of scaling, and things of that nature. You can have mentors for different aspects and join mentorship programs on a local or national level where you are paired with someone.
Difference between Business Coach and Mentor
First, it would be the financial aspect that is a huge difference with a business coach vs. mentor. A business coach you are going to pay monthly to advise you on your business to scale it. As for a mentor, they are a free resource that you are meeting with on their time to help gain you some insight. The next thing is the time aspect; my clients have access to me via our monthly call and then via text message or email. There are times they need to chat with me before or after our monthly call, and I hop on the phone. I am here to make them better. This is why I only take on 5-10 clients a month as a business mentor; you only have access to them when they are free and can schedule with you. I talked to my mentor every three months or so; as for my business coach, I have access to them when I need help.
Personally, I believe both are very necessary when wanting to learn more and scale your business. There are things Lisa shared with me almost seven years ago that helped me in this present moment. I can vividly remember certain calls and topics today that I always keep close to my heart. Business coaching has helped me see areas of my weakness and how I need to scale in other areas. Regardless of which one you chose for this season, make sure you find the right one for you. Shared how to find the right business coach a couple of years ago, if you need some help.
Photo by Nastuh Abootalebi on Unsplash
