Finding a business coach/mentor

[Cofaki]

I've got what I think is a great business idea but I want to talk it over with someone who knows about business and who can give me ongoing support/accountability. I tried looking for coaches but they aren't quite what I'm looking for, what should I be searching for or can you recommend anyone? I want someone who knows how to start up a business and can guide me as to what I need to be doing.

Is it a product or service based business?

Have you looked at Enterprise Nation? I've been running my own business for just over four years and have only just found them so I can't truly recommend them, but they do seem to run a lot of virtual courses.

I want someone who knows how to start up a business and can guide me as to what I need to be doing.
Do your Council or library run courses / events / clinics?

Service based, to businesses.

I'll have a look at that but I don't really want a course, I want to pay someone for a personalised service and accountability.

That's not really what I'm looking for. I want a one to one service that can help me and hold me accountable.

That sounds expensive.

Yes I agree with this. It's fine if you can afford it. But much of starting a business is about doing your own research / learning via doing etc, and also you do need to be able to hold yourself accountable, imo. It takes a lot of resilience and tenacity. Not meaning to patronise you. Perhaps I've misunderstood what type of support you want.

With my business I do everything myself at the moment (bar making my products, which are made in the UK). I wouldn't outsource anything until I at least understood enough about it to know who/what I needed in terms of help and to make sure I wasn't being taken for a ride.

But then I absolutely love the variety this gives me (mostly! Unless it's SEO 😫).

I'm not talking about outsourcing. I'm neurodivergent so I need a bit of support in knowing what I need to do (I've read loads of books and done webinars but I need something personal and ongoing) and I benefit from knowing I'll need to account for what I'm doing. I don't like working entirely alone although I'm used to working mostly alone and autonomously as I've been self employed for most of my career.

I'm aware it will cost, I was just looking for recommendations of people who might be good but it looks like maybe people here aren't aware of the type of thing I'm looking for and so can't recommend anyone.

Are there any universities near you that do business incubation/ start ups? They might offer support. Are you a graduate? If so you can often go back to your university and use their services.

Absolutely agree with @AlwaysColdHands - your local university is a great place to start. So many inexperienced people think they can set themselves up and business coaches and just don’t have the experience at all, the best and most reasonable support I’ve found has been from the local uni and a big plus for you is that they will be used to working with people who learn and think in all different ways

Have a look on coach.me (under "habit coaches", not "traditional coaches"). Affordable text (or video but that's more expensive) based coaching, if you need a bit of a sounding board and someone to chivvy you a bit at times. It's much cheaper than traditional coaching. As an ADHD person, I've found it works for me at certain times of my life and not so much at others (ie I just ghost the coach lol), but the coaches are mostly pretty dedicated.

@Cofaki I've no personal experience but I follow Amanda Perry on insta. She's had a number of successful businesses, has ADHD and now coaches other business owners who are neurodivergent.

https://www.instagram.com/amandaperry

Not to knock your suggestion, but while it's great to use free resources from such "gurus" (eg I can see that Amanda Perry has a free community), I feel like £300/hour is too much for people just starting out who just need a little motivation and a little chat. That's why I like coach.me sometimes bc essentially that's what it provides – a lower level of service for a lower price.

There are also accountability groups and communities for finding accountability buddies online

Oh I can see her paid community which is cheaper provides accountability too! That's great

There are affordable & interactive paid communities/platforms for business owners in my niche too so I recommend specific searches

I am a Chartered Accountant with lots of experience of business start ups (I am in my sixties and have been doing this all my life!). I have done this for plenty of other people and often it involves me providing a lot more than just financial advice. Please message me if you want further information.

What I think you need is a Board of Directors or at least one Non-Executive Director, they are key to helping you see the forest for all the trees, choosing one is the hard part but you can try and move on if not working. There are agencies and there are those you may know or get to know who would help (for pay).

What exactly is it you need?

For example, an accountant is best place to advise on the finances, forecasts, projections, deciding if finance raising is necessary, book-keeping, creating invoices, time charging systems, debt collection, setting up business bank accounts, etc.

A solicitor is best place for drafting legal contracts/terms of business between yourself and your customers and also for considering aspects of employing staff or contractors, evaluating risk, etc.

A decent insurance broker would talk you through the different types of insurance.

A designer would talk you through developing a website, branding etc.

No individual "guru" would know all this in enough detail - the best they'd do is to have generic conversations with you and then sign post you to these people, charging you a small fortune along the way for probably telling you what you already know or what could easily be researched via Google!

It might be worth searching for a business coach on LinkedIn to find out if there is someone who specialises in the type of business you are thinking of. Most coaches will offer a free initial call where you can explain what you are thinking of and they can explain how they can help. I think Action Coach have a number of business coaches too who may be able to help. Good luck!

There are specific ADHD business coaches - one that I follow is Ari Scott (she's on YouTube) which initially might give you a bit of help to begin with. I've had coaches in the past and I mentor people myself so my biggest advice to you would be to find someone who understands your vision and that you're not afraid to really say what you mean (even if that's negative!) From your previous posts I think potentially a mentor might be better than a coach: a coach is there to help you get to the solution, but they're not necessarily going to give you the answer (you have to work that out for yourself), a mentor uses their own experience to advise you on what they think is best for you (and you decide if you take it or leave it).

I realise this is nearly a year later, but I'd be very interested to hear what you found that worked. I'm a neurodivergent business owner, and I'm a coach and organisational psychologist. We work in organisations and with individuals to help people to grow smoothly and authentically. I'm not punting for your work - I am a coach, but not for entrepreneurs per se, at least not until they start to build a team. But I am going through setting up a business with neurodivergence.

I don't know about you, but I come across odd barriers. Anything to do with money is always incredibly problematic - it scrambles my brain to insensibility. Then, some systems suit me perfectly - making my own website felt very doable - while others are a nightmare because all the tutorials are videos. I utilise ultra focus every day to get stuff done and the imposed pace of video tutorials is very discombobulating. I have to be very disciplined and it slows me down horribly.

I have a neurotypical colleague who sort-of holds us back until things are clear enough, but doesn't stop me taking a small leap at the end before she is 100%. Without that, I would probably have done nothing at all because there would have been too many ideas. She trusts me, but not too much!!!

Did you get the support you needed? How is it going now? What do you still need? A lot of us entrepreneurs are neurodivergent - it is why we diverge from being employed - but it is tough in spikey ways. I'd love to hear how things have gone and, if you still need something, I'll do my best to make useful suggestions. Apologies for being 10 months late with a response!

Hi @Cofaki Wondering how you got on with your search for a business coach that specialises in supporting startups, including accountability? That so happens to be my area of expertise, incase you'd still like to have a chat.
Otherwise, hope all is going well.
Best,
Gamu

Oh, that sounds really interesting! I’ve helped lots of people set up businesses, including many who are neurodiverse. I also trained as a life coach, though I haven’t taken on clients in years beyond my training and case studies.
I totally get the need for accountability—I work with a coach myself because otherwise, I spiral and lose focus!

Have you looked into Access to Work? If you’re neurodiverse, the government can help cover the cost of work coaching. I’ve written about it on my website, including how to apply:
https://www.inkie.ink/access-to-work

Hope that helps! Let me know if you have any questions.

Hi OP, did you find anyone? Im a new business coach and I'm ND, so can hopefully help you. I have 20 years experience in business and so does my epic colleague. I'm from a HR background and she is from finance and accountancy. Between us we know a lot about setting up, running and growing a business. We have taken the leap of faith and set up our own business together! DM me if you would like to chat 🙋

I could use your help

Looking for business mentor to guide me in building a @home based business. @ActioncoachBuckingham