Life Coach vs. Business Coach: Which One Do You Need?

Life coach and business coach; nowadays, we are increasingly coming across these two terminologies. As a business owner, you might wonder, with whom you need to seek guidance. Owning a company doesn’t mean that you will always need a business coach and have nothing to do with a life coach. These two different consultants have overlapping roles, and it’s you who can decide better with whom you need to consult.

The practice of hiring a business coach is getting popular; now it’s no longer a luxury afforded by corporate executives only, but small businesses are also looking forward to them. No matter whether you are an entrepreneur or have been running a business for years, seeking help from a business coach has benefits for everyone.

However, there are many cases in the business world where the person seeking consultancy needs more life coaching than just business coaching. Learning about the differences between their two specialties will make it clear which one to contact in a certain scenario. Hence, in this article, we are highlighting the roles and responsibilities of a life coach vs. business coach. 

The Role of a Life Coach

Your life coach is the person who guides and supports you at a personal level to help you better deal with life challenges. They help you refine your attitude and the way you react in a particular situation.

A life coach acts as a personal trainer for you, helping you with setting goals, devising a plan to achieve them, and holding you accountable to stick to the track. If you feel stuck in certain areas of your life that are the cause of your business regression, you need a life coach rather than a business coach.

You better see a life coach if you have any of the following:

• You are feeling stuck and unable to find your pathway forward.
• You have the potential, but there is something that pulls you back from achieving your goals.
• Making any decision in your life independently is a struggle for you.
• Not thinking of yourself as worthy of love and respect.
• Saying no to others is not in your dictionary.
• You rely more on others’ decisions for you rather than making your own decisions.
• Expressing your feelings or speaking up your mind is hard for you.
• You have a sense of dissatisfaction or emptiness.

In any of the above-mentioned scenarios, you need more of a life coach. A life coach can help you gain clarity on your goals, stay focused on them, and overcome any hurdles that get in your way.

A life coach should not be mistaken for a counselor or therapist, as a life coach is not clinically trained to treat a condition like anxiety, depression, etc.

Rather, they have experience in a field that makes them capable of dealing with it. Unlike a therapist who deals more with mental issues, a life coach helps you develop skills and use them as your weapons to achieve your goals.

Some key benefits of seeking help from a life coach are:

• They make sure you have attainable and realistic goals for your personality.
• They tactfully push and support you where needed to achieve your goals.
• They hold you accountable for achieving your goals; you know how much work you need to do exactly each week.

Business Coach Tasks and Roles

To some extent, all coaches are the same as they help you set goals and then achieve them; however, a business coach works with you on a professional rather than personal level. Instead of helping you deal with your life, a business coach tells you about the ups and downs of business. In this way, business coaches polish your professional and business well-being.

An efficient business coach knows how to use the latest technologies to market you and your services and make the most of them. Marketing or sales, finding new clients, or earning more profit—a business coach helps you with all.

Precisely, a business coach helps you with:

• Setting business goals and devising a plan to help you achieve them.
• Stay focused in every situation, from the best scenario to the worst crisis. Through their support, accountability, and feedback, you stay focused on a long-term vision rather than simply accomplishing routine day-to-day tasks.
• Support you to make tough decisions or try new opportunities.
• Provide resources that save you time and money.

How to Select a Life Coach vs. Business Coach

Most of the time people want either one of the two, a life coach or a business coach, but sometimes you may need both. An effective business coach has a key focus on your business, helping you increase profitability and efficiency and make it flourish.

However, if you are unable to stay on track despite having all the resources or unable to tap into your true potential due to something missing in your life, you need to see a life coach first.

A life coach primarily fixes your life, which may be affecting your business too. For instance, if you are unable to cope with your challenging life, it will ultimately affect your business too. Well, in that case, you may need to see a business coach too, but after having life coaching. A life coach is trained to help you rediscover your hidden potential, know your worth, and use your powers to make your business excel.

Where Do Life Coaching and Business Coaching Overlap?

In an ideal scenario, life coach vs. business coach are two different specialties. Sometimes the lines between these two different types of coaching may seem blurry. A business coach may also be able to deal with and fix your life issues while dealing with your business, and vice versa.

For instance, if you want to start up a successful business, a good business coach will guide every aspect of running your company, including marketing, hiring employees, dealing with social media marketing, etc. In all this, they do your life coaching too, one way or another.

On the other hand, sometimes all you need is someone to help you better deal with your life issues; here, you need to see a life coach only. Nevertheless, if you are not sure or unable to decide whom you need— a life coach vs. business coach—get professional help in this case. We at PivotSimply do both life coaching and business coaching. You can learn more about us by booking a free discovery call.