How to Determine if You Should Hire a Career Coach

In 2006 I maxed out my credit card for the last time. At 22 years old, I was new to real estate and I had absolutely no idea what I was doing.

I was literally willing to do ANYTHING to kickstart my career. At one point I had tried dropping business cards on the ground in hopes that people would pick them up and call me. Spoiler alert: it didn’t work.

Around this time a friend invited me to a business seminar. When it was over, I lined up with the rest of the suckers and purchased a year’s worth of career coaching (hence the whole credit limit business). None of this month-to-month crap; I knew I had to go all in or I would completely flake out.

So I got this career coach. You may have heard of him. Brian Buffini. Buffini gave me the tools I needed to put systems in place to grow my network and manage my time so I didn’t feel so overwhelmed. No longer was I, quite literally, throwing my name to the wind. I was actually doing business with effective and proven methods.

Hindsight is 20/20, isn’t it? I look back now and I think what I learned is the bare minimum you should be doing to run a successful business. The ideas weren’t revolutionary. Maybe I needed to put my money on the line. Perhaps I needed someone to lay out a plan for me. Whatever it was, it worked. I put Buffini’s ideas into practice and the business started rolling in.

Did I need to drop thousands of dollars to do it? No, probably not. But I can’t knock it because, at the time, a coach was exactly what I needed.

So here we are, ten years later, and business owners have so many more options. First of all, there are plenty of career coaches to chose from. Secondly, the internet is a much vaster and more wondrous place. It’s full of blogs and forums and templates and videos that can help entrepreneurs succeed.

One of the questions that I get asked over and over again is, “Should I hire a coach?” And my typical answer is, “It depends.” Can you afford to drop some G’s? Do you struggle to hold yourself accountable? As in, do you need someone to regularly check in on you? How self-sufficient are you? Are you actually coachable?

If you think a career coach sounds appealing, there are a few pros and cons to consider before throwing down your hard-earned money.

Pro: Get Unstuck

One of the biggest advantages of hiring a coach is the tools and resources they provide to get you moving. You might have a great strategy or a goal in mind but figuring out how to execute can be really overwhelming. A coach can help you get from point A to point B. In addition to guiding you in the right direction, they also validate your ideas and give you a confidence boost when you are struggling.

Con: Cost

If you are just starting out, you may not be able to afford the cost of a coach. A good coach comes with a pretty hefty price tag. And you get what you pay for. Remember when I told you I maxed out my credit card? That’s a true story. Investing in a coach is like buying a lawnmower. You purchase the equipment but you still have to mow the lawn. It’s not like hiring a landscaper. No one is going to do the work for you.

Additionally, after the initial introductions and niceties, you may feel buyers remorse rear its ugly head. A coach is not a magic pill that instantly fixes all of your career problems and turns you into an overnight millionaire. Again, you have to do the work. If you are averse to the hustle and you want instant gratification, don’t waste your money (and maybe consider a career change… I’ve heard data entry is pretty chill).

Pro: Accountability

A coach can be the alarm clock that you don’t have to set. A great coach will consistently touch base with you to make sure you are executing on your commitments and obligations. They also help you figure out what those commitments and obligations are. Regular check-ins can be just the motivation you need. Plus, the guilt that is associated with letting someone down is real! I found I was more likely to follow through because I didn’t want to let my coach down. But more importantly, as time went on, I didn’t want to let myself down.

Con: Outdated

Career coaching has seen some success in the past decade due to the employment downturn (remember 2008?) but has the industry really evolved? Like real estate, there hasn’t been a lot of progress in the field of professional coaching. Coaches are still offering the same applications and solutions with the same high price-tag or lackluster results.

We have so much more access to information. All you have to do is google “get motivated” or “how to accomplish career goals” and you will be flooded with articles full of tips and tricks that you can implement. Most of these resources, while usually fairly diluted or simplified, are completely free. And if you dig deep enough, some of them are even creative and unique.

There’s a better way

But what if you be motivated without scouring the internet? And what if it was less expensive than hiring a coach?

Online learning has seen a huge growth in the past couple of years. Online courses can be incredibly effective and much more affordable. Maybe you don’t need someone calling you once a week. Perhaps you just need to learn processes and routines.

I became so much more organized when I learned a few strategies. And I no longer needed anyone to hold my hand. The best part was once I started to implement the systems, I began to see immediate results. And eventually, those results turned into a million dollar real estate business.

Even more frequently than being asked, “Should I hire a coach?” I get asked, “How did you create a million dollar business?”

In an effort to answer the question, I compiled everything I did as a successful Realtor, applied current marketing techniques and created an online course that’s accessible to anyone. My goal is very simple: to give back to an industry that I love. I want real estate agents to provide real value to their clients and then reap the rewards (I’m talking about tons of referrals from a loyal network).

Real Estate gets a bad rap. And agents feel bogged down and stressed. It doesn’t have to be that way! I want to bring the fun back to real estate and I want agents to love what they do.

Check out my course give it a test drive and if you don’t find value, I’ll give you your money back no questions asked.

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