Coach, Consultant, Advisor?

The most recent issue of Choice magazine (published by my buddy Garry Schleifer, focused on coaches and the coaching industry) focused on the concept of coach vs. consultant.  Got me thinking about which I am.  I call myself a Business Coach, but it is probably more accurate to say that I am a Small Business Consultant.   Or maybe an Advisor.  Something that is a hybrid, but probably leaning toward consulting.

A very fine line, but my understanding of the difference is that a coach does not offer solutions to problems, but instead encourages the clients to find answers on their own.

Seems to me that my clients want my actual help and insight into solving the problems by using my creativity and business knowledge and acumen so they can leapfrog ahead.  For entrepreneurs it can be  costly and time-consuming to muddle through until they reach the Aha Moments.  If the person they are paying to help them can get them where they want to go faster…why wouldn’t they want that help?

I totally get that in a Life Coaching type of situation, you must reach your own conclusions and figure out how to navigate personal issues and human relationships yourself…so coaching makes perfect sense in that context.  But business is about making money.  (Isn’t it?!)  So there are principles and proven strategies that an entrepreneur can implement without reinventing wheels.

Maybe it’s time to rebrand as a Consultant/Advisor?