What is a business coach, anyway?

I've mentioned in a couple of posts that one of my clients is a business coach, but I'm not sure if I made it clear exactly what that means.

So, what exactly is a business coach? What does a business coach actually do?

A business coach is someone with knowledge and experience who can look at a business with an outside perspective and find areas to improve that the business owner might not have seen. Often, a business owner is skilled in a particular field, but has no business training at all. A business coach helps to fill that gap. The business coach can get the business set up with easy to use accounting software, get the software set up correctly, and teach the owner and employees how to use it. The business coach will also implement accountability systems to keep everything running smoothly. Monthly follow ups are often used to monitor and adjust a strategy.

Business coaching is often thought of as something for struggling businesses, but any business can benefit from the expertise and understanding of someone who's made a career out of helping businesses to prosper.

Of course, I'm talking about Cynthia Alloway of Common Sense Business Solutions.