MBA1085 Q&A Wednesday: Should I invest in a $10,000 business coaching program?

Hey O. Welcome to the $100 MBA Show. Whether you're on your daily commute or at the gym pumping iron, we got your back in your ears every single day with our daily 10 minute business lessons for the real world. I'm your host, your coach, your teacher, Omar Zenholm. I'm also the co founder of the Hundred Dollar MBA I A complete business training and community online. And today's episode is Q and a Wednesday. On our Q and a Wednesday episodes. I answer a question from one of you, one of our listeners. If you have a question you want to ask, just email me over@omar mba.net Today's question is from Felicia and Felicia asks, should I Invest in a $10,000 business coaching program? Solid question, Felicia, and a timely one because I, I just completed a coaching program for marketing and it was at a similar price point. And to answer your question, I'm gonna show you or I'm gonna walk you through the criteria I had to go through to find out if this was worth my money, if I was actually gonna get a result. Because that's basically what you wanna know, is it worth the ten grand? So I wanna walk you through what to look for, what to ask, how to make sure that this program is worth your hard earned dollar. Or maybe you'll find out it's not. But at least in the process, you know what you're looking for. Trust me, I know it's a lot of money to put down. It's a big investment. So let's make sure you get a return on that investment. So let's get into it. Let's get down to business. Support for today's show comes from the Sideline app. With Sideline, it's easy to add a second number to your smartphone so you can separate your work and personal numbers on one device. This is absolutely brilliant. Sideline comes with calling, texting, picture messaging and more, giving you the value of a second phone for a fraction of the price. Right now, 100 RMBA listeners can download Sideline for iPhone or Android for a free seven day trial or learn more at sideline.com trial. Again, that's sideline.com trial. So Felicia asks on today's Q and a Wednesday, should I invest $10,000 in a business coaching program? So I don't know much about this program that you're interested in, Felicia, but what I do know is how to vet a program, how to vet a coaching experience to make sure you're getting what you want. So like I mentioned, I just went through a coaching program for our marketing and I asked a lot of questions. What I'm actually going to get? What kind of plans am I going to have on my hands? What can I use to improve my marketing and my business? What are the results that I'll get after the coaching is over? I do this all before I sign on the dotted line. And you should be able to have the opportunity to ask questions, whether it's via email or hopping on a call. If you can't for some reason ask questions before you buy, that's a red flag. I would definitely not sign up to a program. This doesn't allow me to ask some questions specific to me. Again, this is a coaching program. You need to find out what you're actually going to get for your 10 grand. Now, to make it easier for you to get some answers, it's going to be a good idea for you to know what you actually want to achieve from this program. Why are you interested in this business coaching program? Do you want to start a new business and you just don't know where to start? Do you have a new business and you want to improve sales? Are you unhappy with the team you have and you want to shake it up? What exactly are you trying to achieve? Why are you interested in investing this 10 grand? Write it down, actually have it in black and white. And you should know it very well because when you're having this discussion with the coaching program or the coaching person, I guess that's called the coach, right? You need to have this handy. You need to make sure that it's super clear to you and to them, hey, I'm interested in this program because I'm trying to achieve X. Will this program help me achieve X? Now if they say yes, then you need to keep asking questions. You need to say, okay, how? How will it help me achieve X? What are the steps you're going to take? Me? How is very important because you need to understand what kind of support you're going to get along the way. So, for example, before we took a deep dive and invested in our marketing with a coaching program, they explained to us exactly, step by step, what the program will include and what we're going to do in the next few months, they outlined how many calls we're going to have, what's going to be discussed on each call, what we're going to cover, what tasks I will have to do, like as homework, what tasks they will have to do, and what are the milestones along the way. You need to have some definition of what the overarching plan is if they're not willing to give you that, that is weird. That is strange. I would be worried. This is not the actual information, this is just telling you, this is the modules. This is exactly what you're going to go through with my training. If you're learning how to do anything else, like say for example, I want to learn how to ski and I take a week long coaching program with a private tutor. That private tutor is going to give me an outline of what's going to be covered in those seven days. What are the modules, what are the steps, what are the lessons, what are the lesson times, how long each lesson is going to be, what's required of me, what do I got to bring? Is there any kind of work I'll have to do on my own? This is standard and a pro will have this ready for you. So if it's all looking good so far, you know this coach is providing this information for you. You know exactly what you're trying to achieve, you know how they're going to get you there. The last thing you need to ask is what will I actually have at the end of the training? So for example, if you're starting a new business and you're taking this coaching program so you can start this new business, they should be able to tell you, hey, by the end of this program, you will have a website that's live, that's selling your products and services, something that you actually can see for yourself, something that is actually created for our marketing. It was you're going to have your email marketing automations all set up, your assets on your website. Everything's going to be done so you can just turn it on and start marketing your business using the game plan that they implemented or helped us implement. You also want to have a way to measure your success. How well is what you're implementing working? How well is the marketing working? How well is the sales working? Some way to, you know, pull out stats and track your results. So those are the real three things you need to understand before you sign on the dotted line. And if you feel good and you like the answers to these questions, then you're going to ask yourself one question. So just as recap real quick that the three questions are, will this program help me achieve my goal? The goal that you have defined for yourself. Number two, how, how will this program get me there? And number three, what will I get? What will be the result after the program's over? Those three questions pass with flying colors. The last question you need to Ask yourself, is, is the value you're getting out of this coaching program equal or greater than 10 grand? This is a whole lot easier when it comes to business because you can quantify with money. Will you make 10 grand or more after this coaching program, after whatever this coaching program will implement in your business? If after those three questions the answer is yes, then you have a deal, right? You have a great coaching program that you can sign up for if it's a maybe or a no. If it's a maybe, like you don't know if this is going to give you a return on investment. I would ask the coach or the program organizer to get you in touch with somebody that's taking this program before, has been coached before, so you can ask them about their results and their return on investment. Now you might be thinking, wow, I'm going to ask that from the coach. Is that too much? No, it's not too much. You're dropping 10 grand theft. They want you to sign on the data line. So they're going to give you what you need, give you the information you need to make a decision. And if they're good, if they're an expert and they're a great coach, they would be proud to give you a referral or a testimonial or introduce you to somebody that has taken their coaching and was successful. Now, obviously, if the answer is no, 10 grand is not worth it, I will not get a return on investment. Then it's time for you to look elsewhere for that coaching or a different program that's out there. Now, I know a lot of times these coaching programs are presented to you in a high pressure situation, whether it's at a live event or it's a special offer. And you need to make a decision quickly. How do you deal with that situation so you can get an answer to your question, is this worth it? While you can still grab that deal, I don't want you to rush your decision. I want you to get these answers, these answers to the questions that we discussed before you make a decision, before you pay for this program. So how do you make sure you get those answers when you have a limited time? I'll get into that in a moment, but before that, let me give a love to today's sponsor. Support for today's show comes from Microsoft Surface. I'm a big believer in making sure you're as productive as possible when working on your business. One productivity hack that really has worked for me is creating an environment of focus. Sometimes when you work in the same Place day in and day out. Like your home home office, you slip into bad habits that derail you from your to do list. A good way to shake it up is to change your location. If you feel like you're getting distracted, get up and go to a cafe. Go to a co working space. Change your environment so you can get refocused. That's why I'm so pumped to share with you the all new Surface Go, the smallest Microsoft Surface ever. At just over a pound and with a 10 inch touchscreen, the Surface Go gives you laptop performance performance and tablet portability. From running office to taking care of your everyday tasks, the Surface Go easily adapts to all your needs, no matter where you are. And with prices Starting at just $399, it also adjusts to your budget. So what are you waiting for? It's time to go. So you're offered a coaching program, but you have a limited amount of time to make a decision. You have these questions you need answers to. So what do you do? This often happens at a live event. Uh, you're at an event and they're offering a coaching program at the end of the event. Sounds appealing. Sounds like something you may be interested in, but you're not sure. Well, the first thing you need to do is obviously answer that question. The first question, what is your goal? What are you trying to achieve with this program? You need to answer that question for yourself. So just take 10, 15 minutes on your own at the event and brainstorm. Think about this answer. After that's done, ask one of the event organizers. Hey, I have a few questions that I need to ask the person that's going to coach me. This is going to take 10, 15 minutes max. But the answers to the questions will be the defining factor to me making the decision to buying this program. Now what this does is that it frames a discussion. You're letting the organizers know that, hey, you're interested in buying this program, but you can't buy until you get some answers, some answers to your questions. So they're going to be eager to get those answers to you. So they're either going to tell you, hey, here's a good time. You can meet the coach during lunch or after the event is over for the day, or they'll give you an extension to the offer. This often happens where they say, hey, we'll give you an extension to the offer, we'll reserve your spot and we'll set up a call for you when the event is over. You want to make sure you have some One on one time with the actual person that's going to be coaching you. So that way you can ask some questions that's applicable to your business. All those questions we talked about are applicable to you. Specifically if they tell you, hey, I'm sorry, we can't answer any questions, you take it or leave it. I personally say leave it. It's not worth the risk. You need to make sure this program's right for you. And if they're not allowing you to make sure of that, then this program is not right for you. If they're legit, if they're a great program, they're great coaches, then most likely they're going to accommodate you and make sure you get the answers to your questions. Well, there you have it, Felicia. There is my answer for today's Q and A Wednesday. I wish you all the best with your choice in a coaching program. I'm a big believer in coaching and education. I feel like it really, really can take your business to the next level if it's right for you. If you go through this vetting process I described today, really what you're investing in with the money is avoiding mistakes that are going to cost you. Money is kind of fast forwarding and taking a few little leaps forward so you can get that return on investment for that program. Thank you so much for listening to the A Hundred Dollars MBA show. We love having you here every day listening to our show. Make sure you hit subscribe so you don't miss any episodes. And when you hit subscribe, you automatically get access to all of our backlog episodes, our whole back catalog, meaning that over a thousand lessons for you to sink your ears in. Right. You can only have access to it when you hit subscribe, otherwise you won't see it in your feed, in anything you use or any app you use to listen to podcasts, whether it's Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Overcast, whatever it is. Before I go, I want to leave you with this. One of the things I like to look for in a coach is honesty. I like it when somebody says, actually, I can't do that, or no, I can't promise that. But what I can do is this. I like it when somebody is upfront with me when they say, I don't know the answer to that, but I'm gonna find out for you and get back to you. I find it very, very rare to meet somebody who is an expert, who's a coach that knows everything. If everything's a yes and no problem and there's an answer to every question. I get worried. I like honesty. I like people that are upfront with me. I respect that more. And I know where I stand. Well, there you have it. I'll check you in tomorrow's episode. I. I'll see you then. Take care. Of.