Business Coach vs Business Mentor vs Business Advisor vs Business Consultant
Compare these professions and consider the best option for you.
With such similar names and often a similar offering, it can be near impossible to differentiate between a Business Coach, Business Mentor, Business Advisor, and Business Consultant. This article will give you a complete overview and help you to decide what profession you may want to become, or the professional you want to help you in your business.
Let’s start with a little be about me, David Thexton. Officially, I started a Business Consulting in 2005. For the 10 years prior to that, I ran a breakfast group where I provided business guidance to close friends while running my own corporate company grew to revenues of $100m. During my time as a Business Consultant, I consulted with the world’s largest Business Coaching Franchise, Action Coach. Over the years, I’ve gained a deep understanding of what it takes to improve a business and the difference between the types of people who can help.
Business Coach
Corporate Business Coaching was conceived in the 1970s, by successful tennis coach Tim Gallwey who adapted his sports coaching methodology to help a number of larger businesses such as Apple, AT&T, The Coca-Cola Company, and Rolls Royce. It wasn’t until the 1990s when the modern concept of business coaching on a wide scale to small & medium-sized businesses took off.
What is a Business Coach?
According to The Alternative Board, a “business coach will assist and guide the business owner in running a business by helping them clarify the vision of their business and how it fits in with their personal goals. Business coaching is a process used to take a business from where it is now to where the business owner wants it to be.”
How does Business Coaching work?
A Business Coach works with a Business Owner to set business and personal goals focussing on the future, sitting at the intersection between Consulting and Therapy. It then becomes the role of the coach to drive the performance of the business owner by holding them accountable and allowing them to discover a path that suits them, by asking questions and changing the behaviors of the owner.
How long does a Business Coach work with a client?
The intention of a Business Coach is to work with a client over the long term. Despite their best efforts, we typically find that a Business Coaching relationship doesn’t last long term. This leads to the Business Coach needing to consistently spend un-chargeable time finding new clients.
Does a Business Coach monitor performance?
A Business Coach monitors performance in relation to any goals that are set by the Business Owner. In our experience, the goals set by the Business Owner aren’t typically the most critical for the improvement of the business. The performance of the business (financial and non-financial) is commonly overlooked in favor of working toward objectives the Business Owner feels will be good for them.
Business Mentor
What is a Business Mentor?
A business mentor provides one-on-one assistance to business owners, who want to grow or need help to solve specific business challenges. They have business experience that they use to provide guidance, act as a sounding board, and provide another perspective.
How does Business Mentor work?
A business mentor shares their own business knowledge and experience. The business owner has the opportunity to ask questions and bounce ideas off the mentor in a passive manner. Business mentors offer their services at a very low, or no cost, and it is seen as a way for them to give back and contribute to the business community.
How long does a Business Mentor work with a client?
Most mentors work with mentees on a monthly basis for a fixed period, often 1 year.
Does a Business Mentor monitor performance?
A business mentor doesn’t typically monitor performance as their role is to offer hands-off guidance and knowledge sharing.
Business Advisor
The term ‘Business Advisor’ is commonly used in the Accountancy field, where an accountant will offer advice to Business owners and managers beyond the scope of a traditional ‘Tax & Compliance’ Accountant.
Let’s take a deeper dive into the term ‘Business Advisor’.
What is a Business Advisor?
The world's largest accounting and bookkeeping software provider, QuickBooks states “A business advisor is a strategist who works with your company to help with planning, finances, marketing, and even development.” Put simply, they give advice based on past performance to improve the future.
How does Business Advisor work?
A Business Advisory is another passive service, where the professional gives advice to the business owner. The backward-looking nature
ConsultX Business Consultant (Business Success Partner)
After being exposed to all of these professions, I decided to design my own system to help improve businesses. One that takes the best parts of all the above and eliminates any of the negatives. Although I designed it for myself and my own clients, I quickly realized it could help many other people and a huge number of businesses, so I started ConsultX.
In constant development, we coined the title ‘Business Success Partner’ at one of our annual conferences, because a Consultant, Coach, Advisor, and Mentor simply don’t paint an accurate picture of what our ‘Conultants’ do with a client.
Let’s take a deeper look into a ConsultX Business Consultant, that we refer to as a Business Success Partner.
What is a Business Success Partner?
A Business Success Partner works with business owners and their management team to improve the profit, growth, and value of the business.
How long does a Business Success Partner work with a client?
A Business Success Partner works with a client for the long term, with this expectation put forward at the beginning of the relationship.
ConsultX’s methodology is designed to ensure that a business owner sees such significant value in a Business Success Partner, that keeping the partnership going indefinitely is a no-brainer.
The average client lifetime within our network is 3 years and a 10+ year lifetime becoming more and more common.