If you have been wondering which would be the right solution for your business, consulting or coaching, look no further – this quick guide will explain the key differences between these two kinds of services in order to assist you in deciding which type of service will be most beneficial for your unique business.

Let’s begin with the definitions found in the Oxford dictionary:

• Consulting is “the business of giving expert advice to other professionals”
• Coaching: is to give (someone) professional advice on how to attain their goals”

From the above definitions, we can infer the following differences:

Business Consulting

Business consulting is a process of providing expert advice to owners and/ormanagers with regards to achieving their business and/or organization goals.

By definition, the consultant should be a professional; someone who possesses the knowledge and experience needed to allow him or her to give advice. The basic assumption is that the consultant will be able to identify the weaknesses and strengths of the business and to build a program and tools to improve on the weakness and leverage the strengths in a balanced way. The recommendations, if applied by management, should significantly increase the likelihood of the business/organization achieving their goals.

Business consulting can focus on many different elements: organizational structure and culture, management skills and style, employee knowhow and productivity, marketing and sales, customer analysis, cash flows, profitability and costing methods, among many others. The consultant is required to communicate with the owner/manager to identify the needs as well as the scope of work and deliverables.

The consultation process is complex but at the end it should give the owner/manager concrete solutions and unequivocal answers regarding the path to move forward to achieve their business goals. It is a process built on a number of stages tailored to the unique long and short term goals set by the client and consultant at the beginning of the process.

At the end of the process the owner/manager can retain the consultant for the implementation? services or conduct it internally.

Business Coaching

Coaching is a process that aims to increase the ability of the owner/manager to achieve the business goals. In business consulting, the advisor develops the tools and solutions, while in business coaching the idea is that the trainee has the solutions within him or her and the coach is there to help find them. For example, Usain Bolt runs much faster than his coach, but his coach can identify and point out to him what he needs to change so that he can achieve his full potential.

The purpose of the training is to make the necessary adjustments  by the trainee, such as changing beliefs, perceptions, and business and life philosophy so the trainee can narrow the gap between the situation in which he or she is at and the situation in which they wants to be. The goal of the coach is to expose and discover the obstacles and barriers and thus to develop a fundamental change in the trainee’s conduct. The coach can “teach” but the actual change is by the trainee overcoming the obstacles that are holding him or her back. The ability is with the trainee; the coach’s role is to get the trainee “in shape” so he or she can obtain the best results.

The coaching process places the owner/manager in the centre and not the business. The assumption is that permanently changing habits and beliefs will lead to change in behavioural patterns and this will benefit both the personal life goals of the client as well as drive the business in the right direction.

In conclusion:

Business coaching assumes that the owner/manager has the ability to obtain and improve skills and adopt behavioural changes that will allow the manager to become a better leader. On the other hand, business consulting can provide information and tools as well as an unbiased view of the operations.

Consulting and coaching are complimentary to each other – both serve to achieve the personal and business goals of the client.

A combination of both services may increase the effectiveness of the suggested solutions. Consulting provides the concrete tools to change, while coaching enables and supports the client in the tools’ implementation