Hiring a business coach is one of the most controversial investments you might make in your business—and the online business community doesn’t like to let you forget it.
In fact, if you headed to Threads and asked “should I invest in a business coach?” you’ll get two sets of responses:
- The people who swear by their coach and that the experience is the best thing ever and helped them scale to $X amount or do this thing.
- The people who swear business coaches are scams and it’s an utter waste of your money—money you should spend instead on literally anything else.
But I’m neither AND both of those people—or rather, I’ve been on BOTH sides over the last year and after investing just under $10k into business coaching. And yes, I’m about to share all the ups and downs, what was great (and what was not so great), and the results.
And, to answer your question, you should invest in a business coach when and if it feels right to you. Not just “good vibes,” but that their style of coaching works for you, the results/journey they’re providing is what YOU need, and that you’re both willing to take accountability for your actions—and speak up for what you need and experience within the program.
Let’s get into in:
Heads up: I use affiliate links for my fave products that I use and trust. If you click and purchase, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you!!
What is a Business Coach? (And the Programs/Services They Offer)
A business coach is a professional mentor who supports, educates and motivates business owners (at least, that’s what they are according to LinkedIn). And it’s not a bad definition. The coaches I’ve had and met are essentially professional mentors—hands-on mentors, but mentors nonetheless.
Business coaches work in different capacities with their clients (mentees?), the usual being 1:1, group programs, and the occasional membership or one-off consult.
Most also have some type of specialty like systems, sales (who I’ve worked with), skills (based on the industry, like copywriting, operations, etc.), pricing… you get the picture.
Personally, I’ve mostly worked with coaches in group programs.
What it’s REALLY Like to Work With a Business Coach
Remember when I said I’ve been both a “YAY! That’s my coach” person and a “Coaches are a no-go” person? It’s allll because of the experiences I’ve had.
The First Group Program
First, let’s talk about October of 2024—coach no. 1, a sales coach I hired for a one-time VIP day ($750.00 for transparency) and hired to work within a group coaching program ($1,000/month for 3 months). Good person, okay program—but self-led, which wasn’t what I needed (at the time) and offered no curriculum.
This was a Voxer only with a 60-minute call once per month and a weekly group call or “office hours.”
Things I loved:
- Offered high proximity to the coach, which was great.
- Feedback on her specialities were good and truly did shift my thoughts on some processes (like discovery calls).
Things I didn’t:
- Very much selling in one specific way (get ‘em on a call), which isn’t the main way my clients like to conversate (I actually pride myself on “cozy communicating”)
- If you’re not in the “I know what I need” stage of business, it can feel like a waste of time—since this was my first coaching experience and it was very self-led, I didn’t utilize the Voxer chat since I didn’t know what I didn’t know.
- Holiday season! She was overbooked and OOO three fourths of the time (for example, November she had < 5 days to get support.
- Voxer—great for 1:1 messages, terrible for the community. Insanely easy to lose your thoughts and the coach’s responses.
On the downside, I lost a lot of trust in the coaching industry because of this experience—I’d always been a little skeptical ($$$ isn’t something that just ‘comes’ in my world) and investing $2,750 and not being able to get in touch with my coach 9/10 was rough.
My least favorite phrase became “you’re so coachable.” It’s what she told me 24/7, but I didn’t FEEL or see any changes.
The Good: Group Program #2
I really thought I’d sworn off coaching—especially sales, which is what I wanted coaching in—but it wasn’t but a month later I connected with another coach. I didn’t invest right off the bat. In fact, it took me almost 3 months of building trust to invest.
First I joined her membership, designed to help you scale to $5K, but one week-ish in I was mid-launch Pod to Blog (my group program teaching podcasters how to get found on Google) and I was in over my head and decided to join her full program to get help.
While I’m writing this, it’s officially the start of the sixth month of the program ($1K/month) and I loveeee it. Honestly, her as a coach matched my pace and need for flexibility soooo much better.
Her program is hosted in Circle, offers one 45 minute 1:1 each month, and a group office hours once a week—plus the community.
What I’ve loved:
- I’m not the biggest fan of the Circle platform, but it’s very much designed for the community so it’s easy to see and get responses.
- The curriculum!! She offered a lot of self-led curriculum that provides a great starting point.
- Material review—aka submitting anything and everything to get feedback (honestly this is cool, but I def underutilized it).
- There was no “one” way to do it. Everything was catered to MY business during our calls and check-ins.
Things I didn’t:
- Nothing really!
Her name is Meghan Lamle, the program is Mission Income, and during the program I went from $5-6K months to averaging $10K months AND being just $50 short of my first $20K month!!
Lessons Learned: What to Consider Before Investing in a Business Coach
The moral of the story is that hiring and investing in a business coach is a bit of a personal decision—one that, like any other investment, has it’s own risks and possible payoffs. But, if you’re taking anything from this, let it be this:
#1. Ask About Their Results (and Even Speak to Past Clients)
Before I hired my first coach, I didn’t talk to anyone they’d worked with before and I truly think doing so would have given better insight into whether or not they were right for me. When I joined Mission Income, I DM’d a past student (or really, two) to get their honest thoughts and their own transformations in addition to chatting with the coach herself for a good long while.
#2. Consider What You Need
Do you need a lot of accountability? Maybe you need a second brain? Maybe you just need some clarity on your next direction—or maybe you just wanna stop feelin’ fucking confused (same). Start thinking about what you need before joining, if your problem is x but the coach helps solve for y, it’s gonna feel like a bad fit even if the program is amazing.
#3. Be Honest. Like, Really Honest
This person is gonna be allll up in your business so putting on airs before you join the program is a bullshit start. Just be raw and honest in your conversations with the coach before investing. Tell ‘em what you hope to achieve, what your hesitations are, potential fears, etc. If they’re not willing to spend a few minutes in the DMs or your email talkin’ it out, they’re probably not the best fit.
^^also, a good coach will tell you if their program is actually right for you if you give them all the deets.
TL;DR Should You Invest in a Business Coach?
Like I said, I can’t make that decision for you, but if you think a business coach is what you need right now, I have soooo many recommendations (just shoot me a DM on Instagram 😉
I do kinda have a preference for Mission Income—but pick what fits you!! And if you have any questions, that’s what I’m here for!
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