Why You Can’t Afford a Cheap Business Coach

This evening, I was on a call with a business coaching prospect, and when I disclosed my price, she came back with, “Another coach told me that they could help me set my business up for $100.”

Really?

Maybe I'm just getting old and lazy, but I'm not getting out of my cozy bed in the morning for $100. Not unless you lure me out with some bacon anyway.

If you throw in some bacon, we might have a deal…

She went on to say that the other person who said they could help her set up her business for $100 wasn't getting back to her. I'm sure they aren't because they are probably flooded with clients at that price if they are any good (which is highly unlikely), or more likely out of business.

I gave her a few pieces of advice, wished her luck, and sent her a link to IncFile as they make it easy to set up the legal portion of a business.

My kids aren't going to starve even if I coach for free, that's not the point. It's the fact that I know that if you aren't willing or resourceful enough to find a way to invest more than $100 in your business, our success will be limited.

It's like when I served on the board of directors at a bank, we would never approve someone for a major loan where they didn't have skin in the game. If there isn't any risk to you, you're not going to take it nearly as seriously. Good coaches know that.

The older I get the more I value what others bring to the table. If you're looking for a partnership with someone to grow your business, you can't afford cheap.

Price isn't the only consideration, and there are plenty of people scamming people for thousands of dollars out there. But if you find an experienced business partner, you should expect to pay quite a bit.

After all, if a person is capable of running their own successful business, why would they be hopping on a call with a stranger unless you make it worth their while?

Rachel, a CPA I'm friends with, put it this way:

“My coach helped me double my income this year, and I paid my coaches about $35K for ONE year. People tell me.. you paid your coach.. $35K??? Yea.. he helped me DOUBLE my income!! So it's worth it! Coaches get bashed all the time and it's not fair. Almost all of my clients who make more than $300K HAVE a coach- especially the ones that are really young!”

If you go to the dollar store to buy a suit, you'll probably come out with a Halloween costume. You don't need to buy a Kiton suit to look good; a suit from JCPenny will work fine. But skip the dollar store.

You don't need to pay a million dollars a year for a celebrity like Tony Robbins to help your business. But if you want a decent business coach, don't pay $100 or it'll be like coming out of the dollar store with a Halloween costume instead of a nice suit.