The Driven Woman

With the dramatic growth in the number of female experts starting knowledge-based businesses in the past few years, it is no surprise that there has been an equally dramatic growth in the number of people offering to help them to reach their business goals. There are business coaches, consultants, and strategists marketing their services for every stage of business from launch to legacy, and for every possible niche and goal. 

With a seemingly endless number of options, it is any wonder that many of us hire the wrong kind of help and either blame the person we hired or ourselves when we fail to get the outcome we expected.  Or maybe you know you need help but are so confused by all the options (or feeling skeptical because you’ve heard one too many horror stories.  If either of these descriptions fit, this episode is for you. 

When I first made the change from being a licensed psychotherapist to being a coach, I got asked at least once a week to describe the difference between the two, but now that I have been helping female solopreneurs for the past few years, I find the conversation has shifted to people wanting to know the difference between the various types of help we might need at various stages of our business and how to hire the right person at the right time. 

So, let’s start with a few definitions from the dictionary and Wikipedia…

Definition of a business strategist 

According to Wikipedia: Business strategy involves answering the question: How shall we compete in this business? Said another way, business strategists help you answer the big meaty questions of what your business does, for whom, how, and why and they help you develop plans to make those things happen.

Definition of a business consultant 

The Merriam-Weber online dictionary defines a consultant as one who gives professional advice or services. A business consultant is typically an experienced professional in a specific field and has a wide knowledge of the subject matter. Due to the speed of change in the online world, someone might market themselves as a consultant who has less than 2 years of experience, but in that time has worked with a high number of clients or high profile clients or both.

Definition of a business coach 

Wikipedia defines coaching as a form of development in which an experienced person, called a coach, supports a learner or client in achieving a specific personal or professional goal by providing training and guidance. Business coaching can then be described as partnering with clients in the process of maximizing their potential as business owners, which includes mindset work as well as skill development. 

So, In a nutshell:

If you need to figure things out or make decisions either on the big picture or something specific, hire a strategist. If you need knowledge or support to execute in a particular area of your business, look for the appropriate consultant.  If you need to work on your mindset or behaviors to better reach the goals you have set in your business, a business coach is what you should be looking for. 

Best times to hire a strategist: 

• You’re trying to make sense of all your creative ideas, and opportunities for your business and how they fit together (or not) 
• You want to launch a new program, service, or offering or you want to eliminate your complicated product suite and niche down to a specialty area 
• You’re really not sure what your purpose is, the specific target market you should pursue, and how to package and price your programs and services. 
• You are feeling kind of burned out in your business or things just aren’t working as expected and you don’t know why or how to fix it. 
• You want to completely rebrand or reenvision your business and want...