Affordability
A fee of Rs 8,00,000 ($16,000) for a 6 month assignment was not seen as a showstopper, for a good coach. All the entrepreneurs saw that the right coach could add tremendous value, so the fees paid was relatively little for the gains that could accrue “I paid and attended a workshop by Robin Sharma, the motivational guru, in February and I really got a lot out of just that one day, which I am implementing. If I could get that more often, I am sure it would be worth it.” (GJ)
4.6 Other needs:
Entrepreneurs found that dialogue with like-minded or like-state entrepreneurs was a HUGE help and release. This indicates the huge potential of peer- coaching for start-ups
4.6 Voice of the Venture Capitalists/ Investors:
Despite the fact that their investment was in the hands of the entrepreneur, VC’s were unsure of the practical feasibility and the potential success of coaching for start-ups. “In the US, when a start-up moves from stage to stage, we usually change the entrepreneur or CEO as there are specific people there for specific stages. But in India, entrepreneurs sometimes resist this…” (AM)
“Normally, we cannot insist that the start-up takes on a coach. We have to leave the development of the entrepreneur to him/ her. That’s why VC’s prefer to change entrepreneurs when the business outgrows them” (SS) “We have placed a coach on the Board of two of the companies we have invested in.
And it has worked. But we can’t insist on this with everyone” (KS)
Conclusions
5.1 Coaching for Start-ups is a definite business opportunity and can contribute greatly to make more new businesses successful
5.2 The key target group is Start-ups entrepreneurs themselves; VC’s/ Investors are only a secondary target group
5.3 The needs for coaching at different stages are different. Responding directly to these needs should be an effective way of Marketing. For example, bootstrap companies need more cost-effective, short coaching bursts with an emphasis on “peer coaching” and “group coaching”. Early and mid stage entrepreneurs are more a target for sustained coaching
5.3 Developing relationships with a large number of Start-ups and then pairing them up for peer coaching, based on relatedness and fit, could be a great, cost-effective value add, allowing for better pricing flexibility
5.4 The key promises are (1) Trust, (2) Ability to really understand and help the entrepreneur make rapid progress; the customer proposition should be built around these ideas
5.5 In some cases, offering “blended coaching” or coaching + start up consultancy can
be an added benefit.
Recommendations
6.1 Start a coaching business in Bangalore that focuses on Start-up’s as a niche
6.2 Two Key Customer Propositions need to be tested to see which will work better:
Proposition 1: “I-Power: Empower your self to drive your Start-up to the next stage”
Proposition2: “Entrepreneurs’ Sanctuary: create your own path in an environment you can trust.”
6.3 Develop minimum 3 products/ services:
a) PeerCoach: develop a database of entrepreneurs, develop a model to find out who
are in compatible or similar situations, and pair them up; offer them basic coaching skills
(e.g. listening, questioning) and let them coach each other, with some (paid) input from
us.
b) GroupConnect (affordable group coaching for early Start-ups):
c) NextStage: specialized one-to-one transformational coaching for entrepreneurs
whose companies are transforming from one stage to another.
6.5 Provide forums through Facebook friends and articles of inspiration (this is already
being done, but is a must-have to develop continuous connect)
Study Limitations
7.1 Sample size was small and selected
7.2 Respondents may have been biased as I was administering the questionnaire and
they knew that I was interested in coaching
© Copyright 2006 International Coach Academy Pty. Ltd.
8.0 Bibliography
1. “ Illusions of Entrepreneurship: The Costly Myths that Entrepreneurs, Investors, and
Policy Makers Live By” (Scott Shane, 2008)
Ann. 1
Questionnaire for Start-Up Entrepreneurs
Dear_______________,
Thank you for taking part in this short survey. As I mentioned to you, I’m looking at the area of providing Start-ups with a huge leverage to improved performance….through business coaching. Your thoughts will help me develop ideas that could perhaps benefit several entrepreneurs like you in the future to move more rapidly towards profitable scale-up and eventual massive success.
So here goes:
1. Can you tell me the nature of your business? Is it start-up, early stage, mid stage, later-stage? Have you yet moved from one stage to another?
_______________________________________________________________
2. As your business has grown, have you found the challenges it has given to you as a person and therefore the skills you need to manage these has changed? If yes, how so?
_______________________________________________________________
3. In your interaction with entrepreneurs and your own experience, what are the main emotional challenges faced by an entrepreneur in his/ her journey from one stage to another? How often does it happen that these emotional challenges are so big that they have impacted the success of the start up?
_______________________________________________________________
4. Have you heard of business coaching? Business coaching is about giving an entrepreneur like you the support to transform yourself as your company moves from one stage to another, so that you retain skills that are good and critical, you drop what are no longer relevant for the new stage and you pick up new skills to manage the new environment.
© Copyright 2006 International Coach Academy Pty. Ltd.
Great business coaching has been known to multiply business success more sustainably and for giving significantly increased happiness to the entrepreneur.
If it could indeed deliver on this promise, do you think many start-ups would benefit from engaging with great coaching?
_______________________________________________________________
If yes, why? If no, why not?
_______________________________________________________________
5. What do you think might be some of the main barriers that entrepreneurs of Startups would have to start coaching? What would be some of the best ways you could think of to overcome these barriers?
_______________________________________________________________
6. A 6-month engagement with a great coach may cost Rs 6-8 lakhs. If it could increase the effectiveness of a start-up entrepreneur substantially, and thereby justify an RoI many times the cost, do you think Start-ups will feel interested in engaging a coach? If yes, or maybe yes, why?
_______________________________________________________________
If no or maybe not, then why not?
_______________________________________________________________
Thank you so much for the discussion.
Ann.2
Questionnaire on Coaching for Start-ups
Name______________________________________
Designation_______________________________
Company__________________________________
1. What kinds of entrepreneurs do you fund?
By size________________________
By sector______________________
2. What is the typical profile/s of the entrepreneurs in who you invest, if there is one?
1.
________________________________________________________________________
2.
________________________________________________________________________
3. What are the three main factors internal to an organization that you feel are critical
for the success of a venture that you invest in?
1_______________________________________________________________________
2_______________________________________________________________________
3_______________________________________________________________________
3. In your opinion, what are the key human/ emotional qualities required for the entrepreneurs that you invest in for them to be successful?
_______________________________________________________________
4. How critical do you feel are these qualities for the success of the venture?
_______________________________________________________________
Very critical
Important
Neither important nor unimportant
Not so important
Not at all important
5. As a Start-up grows from start up to tiny to mid size to large, do you feel the
leadership, managerial and human qualities that an entrepreneur needs to have at each
stage as critical capabilities are different?
Yes/ No
If yes, why?
_______________________________________________________________
If no, why not?
_______________________________________________________________
6. List the top 3 critical human capabilities required of a start-up entrepreneur
1 2 3
-at the start-up stage?_________________ ____________________
____________________
– at early stage _________________ ____________________
____________________
– at mid stage __________________ ____________________
____________________
– at large stage __________________ ____________________
____________________
7. Talking of human, emotional, social, managerial, and leadership qualities, are there any clear gaps that you see between what is required and what entrepreneurs have as they move from stage to stage? If yes, what are the most important gaps?
Yes/ No
If yes
1. _______________________
2.________________________
3.________________________
8. What is your understanding of business or executive coaching? Do you hire or do any
of the organizations that you fund hire coaches?
_______________________________________________________________
9. Business or executive coaching is about supporting a person to be better able to deal with issues that come in the way of enhancing his performance and the performance of the organization. The issues could be personal, emotional, or relationship challenges as well as business challenges. In a recent study, business coaching has proven to improve organization performance in larger organizations. According to a Manchester report, while half of executives who received coaching reported improvement in organization strength, 77% reported an improvement in working relationships.
Do you feel that effective coaching to start-ups or the kind of organizations you invest in can improve their ability to perform and thereby benefit organization performance?
Definitely feel it can improve performance
Most likely it will improve performance
Can’t say
Not likely to improve performance
Will definitely not improve performance
10. What are the areas where you think that Business coaching can benefit and improve the performance of start up entrepreneurs or their teams?
11. A typical, effective coaching engagement of about 8 months (32 weeks) would cost about Rs 4.8 lakhs. The impact would be a significant capability enhancement of the start-up entrepreneur. How willing would you be to support the idea of the entrepreneur taking coaching in that case?
I would almost insist on his taking coaching
I would be very willing to support coaching
I would not be willing to support coaching
I would discourage him from taking coaching