Kingdom First – Business Second – Faith Always

How to pick the best Christian entrepreneur coach for you?

Picking a good Christian entrepreneur coach is a tough one when you first get started.  Many people will ask within their church tradition, but that may not be the best direction.  Here are some helpful questions you should ask:

1. Does the entrepreneur coach have business skills outside of being a coach?

I have seen courses where someone can pick up a book, download some forms and call themselves a ‘certified business coach.’  It is interesting to see the systems they have in place, and many things are necessary such as developing your mission, understanding your customer, etc.  However, if they have never been in a business how can they help you when you have an actual situation come up in your business.  Seriously, you have employees that need to be paid and families that need to be fed.  You want someone who knows more about business than just what they learned from a book.

Let me share a story.  I worked with a couple who opened a coffee shop.  They worked with a franchisee.  After a few grueling months of their location not being able to be opened, they decided to buy another location as well as the one not open.  Long story short, they started working with a business coach.  He told them that ‘paper goods’ were not part of the cost of goods for their business.  He literally told them not to account for the cups, straws, sleeves and napkin in the cost of their coffee!  That is a quick way to make margins look good, but cost you a ton in lost profit.  He did not understand that a cup was part of the product they were selling.

2. Do I want a business coach that really knows the Bible or one that just quotes certain verses to sound spiritual?

When selecting a Christian entrepreneur coach, it’s highly important they know the Bible.  I’ve seen some coaches who have their favorite three verses that they throw around, but when you ask if they read their Bible, they answer by saying they go to church.  Let me be real with you for a second, if the only time you are reading the Bible is when you are at church, you are missing a huge blessing.  You are missing the God of the universe talking to you in His 66 book love letter to the world. You want to have a  Christian entrepreneur coach who ‘rightfully divides the word of truth’ (2 Tim 2:15) and doesn’t just use godliness as means to financial gain. (1 Tim 6:5)

I met with a ‘Christian’ business coach.  This guy spent 5 minutes listening to me before he jumped in with his pitch for his thousand dollar coaching plan.  Not once in the entire 30 minutes we were on the phone together did he even mention being a Christian.  I literally asked him, “Are you a Christian business coach like your website says?”  His answer was, “Oh, yeah, I’m a Christian and I coach people.”  Being a Christian who coaches people is slightly different that being a Christian entrepreneur coach.  A Christian entrepreneur coach has a firm biblical foundation to what they do. Christianity is not a marketing ploy to make money, it is a focus to give the most honor to a Most Holy God.

3. Do I want an entrepreneur coach who prays with me and for me between meetings?

I know it sounds weird, but surely a Christian entrepreneur coach will pray with me, right?  Maybe?  There are lots of different kinds of prayers.  On one side are energetic power prayers that speak prophecy over you.  On the other side are prayers the speak deep within your soul to make changes.  How do you want your entrepreneur coach to pray with/for you?

I was in a Christian coaching group one time.  Each week they would dive deep into prayer.  At first, I was enlivened with the prayers.  As time went on, the prayers became repetitive.  They were saying the right word and had the right inflection, but there was no depth in the prayers.  They were in a Christian group of Christian coaches, but spent so much time praying about all the bad things going on, there was not room for growth to take place.  Each week felt like a revival as far as energy, but left me wanting more meat and less milk in the long run. (I Corinthians 3:1-3)

4. Do I want a one-on-one experience with an entrepreneur coach, or will I be OK with group coaching or a mastermind setting?

In biblical times, you had wait for a teacher to walk through your town.  Then, you had to leave where you were to follow that teacher in order to learn from them. In our digital world today, there are so many options.  Some are more affordable than others and some will allow for quicker growth.  As you are growing as a Christian and as a business owner, you’ll want to assess what the best way is for you to learn and don’t forget the above questions when considering a setting as well.  For instance, is it best to meet someone in your town or are you OK meeting online?