Business Coaches for Entrepreneurs: How to Find the Best Business Coach or Mentor in the UK

Has had to win their own clients, so knows marketing; sales experience varies.

Taught sales by the franchise; relies on the franchise for its marketing.

Not a marketer; logic-based sales from their practice.

Some PR or podcast experience; less on building a sales team.

Worked alongside sales and marketing teams, inside a big brand.

Tends to have experience only from their role in their career.

Taught a one-system-fits-all approach to use across all businesses.

No need to have been operational in their previous role.

Tends to be motivational and leadership-based rather than robust systems the business can be built on.

Ran processes and teams at scale.

Coaches have very few overheads and little cost of goods, so they don't need to live and breathe the numbers like a business owner does.

With such a variety of coaches, the franchise needs a generic model that every coach can deliver.

They are accountants and the best at reading the accounts; however, they don't always look at future growth, because their previous job was past compliance.

Often good on KPIs, less on the P&L, tax, cash flow and loans.

Managed budgets, not an owner's own cash flow.

Varies by coach.

Tied to the franchise's own system and tools.

Tends to prefer a people-only approach to AI and automation.

Varies by coach.

Often used good systems, set up and run by an IT team.

Their own contacts.

A large network within the franchise: coaches, clients and events across the country.

Banks, lenders and other professionals.

Often a network from their sport and events.

Contacts from their corporate career.

Sometimes runs workshops or networking events.

Regular group events and workshops for its clients, with lots of businesses in the room.

Not their focus.

Often runs group sessions and events.

Sometimes runs workshops.

One person, but coaching is their full-time job.

A big network, so there's always a coach available.

Often part of a practice with more people.

One person, often with group programmes.

One person, coaching full-time.

Many take on start-ups and solo founders.

Often has programmes for start-ups.

Often helps set up the company and the books.

Often works with new founders on mindset and habits.

Varies; often prefers established teams.

Often the lowest price.

Set packages, mid to high price.

Often bundled with accounting fees.

Group programmes keep the price down.

Often charged at a day rate.

Some will do parts of it.

Coaching only.

Often also does your accounts.

Coaching only.

Coaching and training only.

Varies by coach.

A one-size-fits-all system, used the same way in every business, because it's a franchise.

Built around your accounts and the numbers.

Often a structured programme, used with every client.

Corporate frameworks, adapted.

Often flexible with their time.

Trained to stick to the coaching hours; some coaches do support more, but not in the system.

Tends to work office hours.

Often available, motivation-led.

Tends to keep office hours.

Often relies on personal experience and stories.

A generic one-system-fits-all model used for many years (often outdated); lots of stories shared about the companies it worked for, few about the ones it did not.

Works from the numbers.

Often motivational rather than evidence-led.

Frameworks from corporate life.

Sometimes.

Prices are often only shared in the sales process.

Transparent on fees when asked.

Sometimes.

Sometimes.

Very few overheads and costs of service, and hardly any payroll or HR to manage.

The business they own is the franchise licence: very few overheads and costs of service, and hardly any payroll or HR to manage.

May still own an accounting business.

Most have never owned a business that isn't the coaching business.

A career in employment; rarely owned a business.

Genuinely wants to help people, but may not fully understand how a business really pays off for its owners.

Answerable to the franchise for KPIs based on revenue.

The focus is on the company's numbers, not always the owner's personal numbers.

Good at KPIs, but lacks knowledge of real-life owner numbers (P&L, tax, cash flow, loans).

Focused on company performance and leadership, not the owner's personal payoff.