620: The Difference Between Coaching and Consulting

 Over the course of meeting with hundreds of business owners about their coaching needs, we will be asked this question from time to time — What’s the difference between a business coach vs. a business consultant? And do I need to hire one of each? Coaching and consulting are different, and there is value in both. What’s the difference between a business coach vs. a business consultant While these phrases are sometimes used interchangeably in everyday conversation, this is actually a misnomer. A business coach's role (much like an athletic coach’s role) is to constantly research and study the “game” of business, work to develop playbooks, roadmaps, and techniques that each business owner and key leader (players) can follow, and then show up enthusiastically and repetitiously on a predetermined schedule to create the necessary push and conditioning through accountability and implementation.   A coach will push the stagnate, temper the overenthusiastic, motivate the exhausted, learn from defeat, and celebrate growth. A business coach works with the business owner and key leaders, both in season and out of season, and their outcomes are tied directly to the goals set out through long-term vision casting. For a business coach, it is more important that they study and coach the foundation of business than it is that they have specific industry knowledge. Business coaching by definition will be ingrained across all systems of the business.  Of course, there are situations where a business coach may drill down into specific niches of the business, for instance, a marketing coach, or a sales coach. Business coaching tends to focus more on the accountability and implementation of long-term systems and processes, and less on short-term strategies that could change quickly. Coaching is a long-term relationship that runs through the broad scope of emotional seasons of a business.   The business consultant is typically a current or retired industry-professional with decades of experience within their given field.  If you own an ice cream shop, then you would hire an ice cream shop consultant.  If you own a steel rigging and erecting business, then you would hire a steel rigging and erecting consultant.   The business consultant tends to bring a portfolio of best practices from their industry into a specific area of your business (i.e. accounting, or operational efficiency) and then advises on how to integrate those best practices into your day to day process.  Both coaches and consultants analyze existing performance and trends, the consultant compiles findings with suggested solutions, the coach creates a game plan from studying the analytics and then creates a repetitious accountability schedule to push the owner towards results.   Business consulting tends to focus more on mapping out a strategy of ideas and advising on those strategies, and less on the accountability of execution.   Business consultants tend to work more on a “fly-in, fly-out” contractual agreement where they come in for a defined period of time, say 6 months or 12 months for example, and then their contract is fulfilled. Business coach and a business consultant can work closely together, and both are invaluable to the growth and maturity of a business owner and their key leader(s). We’ve found consultants to be more prevalent in larger companies (100 employees and above), and coaches to be more prevalent in small businesses (under 100 employees). A third-party voice in your business is an irreplaceable resource that can provide you with clarity, lend you courage, and re-motivate you and your team back to the mission and vision that you once had.