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How much does business coaching cost?

How long does it take to implement business coaching, and how much is business coaching?

Are you exploring hiring a business coach and curious to know more about investing time and money?

In this piece, Dominic Monkhouse will explain his thoughts on the time investment and cost of hiring business coaches in the UK or internationally. It is not the first question he gets typically asked, though, that’s usually “can you help me?” or even “What does a business coach do?” However, eventually, before someone becomes a client, they ask, “How much time does it take to implement the Scale Up tools and techniques?” and “What investment is Scaling Up going to cost?” His answer, he explains, depends on five key factors:

  1. How inherently disciplined are the CEO and the senior team? No company OUTPERFORMS its leadership team.
  2. Do you have a PLAN? Are you going to self-implement or hire an experienced business coach?
  3. Are you DRIVEN to do what it takes? How quickly do you need to reach your goals?
  4. Do you have previous EXPERIENCE of implementing other methodologies across the business?
  5. Have you had previous experience working with a BUSINESS COACH or attending a peer board such as Vistage?

There are additional key indicators of success that he has identified:

  • The CEO leading the client engagement is actively involved from the beginning to the end of the process. Our commitment is to work exclusively with CEOs.
  • CEOs turn to us when facing significant hurdles or critical transitions that deeply concern them. These challenges often disrupt their sleep, signalling a shift in their role towards sustaining the business instead of meeting their unique needs. It might also involve changes in engagement or future plans, demanding a thorough transition examination.
  • Successful clients are typically open to allowing us to take the lead in the following key areas:

    1. Determining Relevant Symptoms: Clients are willing to entrust us with the responsibility of identifying which symptoms are pertinent to the situation at hand.

    2. Accurate Diagnosis: They have confidence in our ability to accurately diagnose the root problem, drawing from our expertise and experience.

    3. Suggesting Optimal Solutions: Clients value our recommendations for the most effective solutions to drive real change.

    Moreover, our clients typically approach our services without hesitation regarding fees. They are acutely aware of our assistance’s potential impact on their firm’s performance and are willing to invest accordingly. There is often no request for special terms, as they understand the value of our guidance and expertise.

What does size have to do with it?

You might think that a small business or start-up would be able to implement Scaling Up more quickly than a larger firm. However, they often do not have the spare capacity or the leadership depth to implement the system and find themselves trapped in a cash/execution cycle that is hard to break free from. Larger, well-established firms have the leadership team and resources to create and execute a strategic plan with the necessary vigour.

Startups and small SMBs typically find CEO mentoring or executive coaching beneficial. On the other hand, business coaching is typically relevant as firms with rapid growth scale up from around 50 employees to more than 250 employees. The number of team members holds more relevance in business coaching than revenue, as it is people who drive complexity, not turnover.

There is a broad range of possible costs for organisations seeking to implement the Scale Up tools, with or without a business coach. For example, if the desired business outcome is a gross profit increase of £5 million or more, a reasonable approach could be allocating 10% of that potential upside, which equates to up to £500,000 over multiple years.

I have worked with Dominic in the UK for nearly 7 years and he is an exceptional coach and importantly a fun person to be around. Leading an organisation can be a lonely task and having someone like Dominic to bounce ideas, problems and opportunities off with the experience he has, is both invaluable and comforting. We have introduced a methodology into our UK business with Dominic’s help that has created a growth and measurement engine that we are proud of. In the time we have worked together our UK business has grown quarter on quarter revenues 40 fold and in the last five years at a larger scale, we have grown fivefold. In an organisation where we are all students of leadership, and the learning process never ends, it helps enormously to have a talent such as Dominic in your corner.

Paul Cosgrave​, Chief Strategy Officer, New Signature

The annual investment

After participating in one of our dynamic business coaching sessions, either publicly or privately, clients often progress to a full-fledged business coaching engagement. This begins with a two or three-day strategic off-site workshop for the executive team, followed by quarterly one to two-day sessions. In subsequent years, the focus shifts to a two-day annual planning session in the fiscal fourth quarter, supplemented by three additional quarterly sessions. To cater to the evolving needs of rapidly growing businesses, we can offer monthly sessions instead of the standard quarterly ones. This comprehensive approach is further enriched by monthly CEO mentoring and executive coaching, ensuring consistent leadership development and business growth.

Monkhouse & Company operates on an annual retainer model, with the investment ranging from £4,400 to £12,500 per month following the initial planning session. This fee varies based on several key factors: the duration of the initial kick-off days required, the preferred frequency of subsequent sessions (monthly or quarterly), and the number of executive team members participating in executive coaching. This flexible pricing structure is designed to align with the unique needs and scale of each client’s business journey.

 

The one-off investment

Public Scaling Up Workshop

Numerous CEOs recognise the need for external support in their business, while others initially attempt a DIY approach only to find themselves at an impasse. The next logical step for both is to engage with a business coach through a public workshop. Monkhouse & Company hosts these vital business coaching sessions as half-day workshops at The Management Lab in the New Forest every few months. Priced at £450 plus VAT per executive, these executive coaching workshops are intentionally conducted in person rather than virtually. Our experience shows that face-to-face interaction significantly enhances our audience’s learning speed and effectiveness.

The public workshop is especially beneficial for companies seeking to delve deeper into specific business tools or to navigate through particular challenges or sticking points. It’s not uncommon for a CEO to bring team members along, aiding them in overcoming any hesitance about commencing their business growth journey.

Many of our clients have embarked on their journey with a business coach starting from these workshops. They offer a chance to experience our approach firsthand and witness our business coaches in action, guiding them through various tools. This initial step often serves as a deciding factor for CEOs and their teams, helping them gauge the fit and effectiveness of our business coaching methods.

We consistently gather feedback from every participant; to date, over 100 CEOs have attended our workshops. Remarkably, we maintain a perfect track record, with each workshop receiving a 10/10 rating for value.

Private Hybrid 8-Week Business Coaching Programme

Are you facing challenges in progressing or implementing your business strategies due to a lack of accountability, support, guidance, and direction? Our business coaching programme is here to change that. In the last year alone, we’ve successfully delivered this hybrid business coaching programme to over 150 CEOs and executive team members. Developed in collaboration with the Growth Institute and Verne Harnish, a leading business coach and author of the bestselling book “Scaling Up”, this programme is designed to transform your business.

Verne’s renowned Scaling Up Methodology has propelled over 70,000 businesses globally towards substantial growth and success. Our programme offers you personalised business coaching from our expert team – Phil, Karol, Hugh, and Dominic. As your business coaches, they will guide you and your team in creating a bespoke One-Page Strategic Plan. This plan is a crucial tool for ensuring effective implementation and achieving your business goals.

In the market, you’ll encounter coaches who charge by the hour or day, focusing on time or activities rather than concrete business outcomes. Consider hiring a business coach as akin to engaging an architect to build your dream home. Just as an architect translates your vision into actionable designs, a skilled business coach helps strategise and craft a blueprint for your business success. This personalised approach in our 8-week programme is tailored to meet the unique needs of your business, steering you towards tangible results and strategic growth.

The small investment route

Do It Yourself Scaling Up

This approach is what you might call the self-reliant, no-business coach method. To embark on this journey, acquire a copy of Scaling Up: How a Few Companies Make It…and Why the Rest Don’t (Rockefeller Habits 2.0) from Amazon or Waterstones. This book, a cornerstone in business coaching literature, is an invaluable guide packed with eight open-source, one-page tools crucial for implementation. Exploring Verne Harnish’s first book, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits: What You Must Do to Increase the Value of Your Growing Firm, is also beneficial, a staple in the business coach’s toolkit.

Additionally, we recommend a selection of core texts from acclaimed authors Jim Collins, Patrick Lencioni, and Brad Smart, all integral to the business coaching field. These books contain everything you need, but harnessing their value requires the motivation for change and the grit to persevere through challenges.

 

At Monkhouse & Company, we generate weekly content to aid your DIY business coaching journey, even without a professional business coach. Our weekly blog features tools we employ in our business coaching sessions, practical advice for overcoming common business hurdles, and insights into our clients’ challenges. The newsletter offers further support, with reviews of books, podcasts, and articles selected to accelerate your business growth or maintain momentum.

    The Melting Pot with Dominic Monkhouse, our top business podcast, caters to a global audience of CEOs eager to scale up their businesses faster and with less drama. The show features guests like Verne Harnish, Alex Osterwalder, Kim Scott, Francis Frei, Michael Bungay Stanier, David Marquet, Gary Ridge, and almost 3000 other authors, entrepreneurs, and thought leaders, all contributing valuable insights to the scale-up conversation.

    A Proven Expert in Self-Guided Business Implementation

    Dominic Monkhouse has trodden your path, mastering the DIY implementation of Verne Harnish’s Rockefeller Habits tools at Rackspace at a time when Scaling Up coaches were not yet a concept. In 2004, just a year after Fred Reichheld’s seminal article The One Number You Need to Grow was published in the Harvard Business Review, Dominic was instrumental in implementing the Net Promoter System (NPS) at Rackspace. The executive team was early adopters and implementers of Patrick Lencioni’s The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, released in 2002.

    Dominic’s book, F**K Plan B: How to Scale Your Technology Business Faster and Achieve Plan A, is a vital resource for business leaders. It guides readers through the primary barriers to successful scaling, drawn from his extensive experience. The book, a trove of insights for CEOs alike, is available on Amazon in paperback, Kindle, and audiobook formats.

    The real test in the DIY approach lies not in starting but in sustaining the momentum, focus, and discipline required for successful implementation and accurate execution. Weigh the cost savings of not engaging a business coach against the potential missed opportunities and delays in achieving your goals. If time is not a pressing factor, then forgoing a business coach might well suit your needs.

    We worked with Dominic last year at a turning point in the business to help restructure the sales team. In the next 12 months, we have smashed it. Revenue is up by 156%, new order intake is up 136% (with fewer people) and we have engendered an amazing culture. If you need help you should call him!

    Ryan Mee, Group Commercial Director, Eco2Solar

    Private Scale Up Growth Sessions

    Integrating a do-it-yourself (DIY) approach with professional guidance, you can opt for a 2-day kickoff or a 2-day annual strategy off-site led by a skilled business coach. This blend offers the autonomy of the DIY method, supplemented by the structured expertise and strategic insights of business coaching, ensuring a comprehensive and effective approach to your business’s development.

    This exclusive session, led by a seasoned business coach, is tailored to be a strategic combination of an off-site retreat for the CEO and leadership team, along with comprehensive business coaching sessions focusing on the Scale Up methodology. Participants will emerge with a range of outcomes: a fully realised One Page Strategic Plan (OPSP), a refined understanding of your business’s unique strategic proposition, a well-defined core culture, enhanced leadership team development, and clearly defined 90-day objectives for both the individuals and the business as a whole.

    Opting for a private Scale Up workshop with a business coach is an effective strategy to accelerate the implementation of these principles. These private sessions are conducted at The Management Lab in the New Forest, spanning one to three days. The investment for this intensive business coaching experience ranges from £10,000 to £30,000 plus VAT, encompassing all aspects except for accommodation.

    Written by business coach and CEO mentor Dominic Monkhouse, read more of his work here. Read his new book, Mind Your F**king Business here.

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