What is the difference between business consultants and business coaches? And how do you use them differently?
Entrepreneur Bryan Nolan put it this way, “A coach is for you, a consultant is for your business.”
A consultant is usually called in to work on a specific project or to address a problem. A coach is there for you, to improve your business skills over a long term.
“Tiger (Woods) has five coaches,” entrepreneur Agi Lurtz pointed out. “My business coach, the very first meeting, made it real clear to me, ‘I’m going to be your friend, but I won’t be nice.'”
“I thought I knew it all after seven business,” Agi said. “I knew nothing. Nothing.”
“Get a business coach, period,” she said. “I don’t care how much money you have or don’t have.”
Agi and Bryan spoke at the Innovation Interactive Oklahoma Entrepreneurship Conference. Agi Lurtz is founder of Online Med Source, and Bryan Nolan is founder of Technology Mavericks.
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Becky started Small Biz Survival in 2006 to share rural business and community building stories and ideas with other small town business people. She and her husband have a small cattle ranch and are lifelong entrepreneurs. Becky is an international speaker on small business and rural topics.
Seems like they are synonyms more than anything. I guess it all depends on how close your business and personal life are.
For a sole practitioner, a business consultant and business coach are exactly the same; even by your definition.
I guess you could say “business coach” is more personal but then what’s a “life coach”?
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Chris O.
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“Your Trusted Referral Network”
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Becky,
It’s interesting that you brought that up. There is a business coach that I met via social media and we had a phone conversation a couple of months ago. During that call, I asked that question. His response was that “business consultants do the work and business coaches advise of the work to do”. Seems similar to your definition.
Thanks for the post.
Jeremy @ RefocusingTechnology.com