Are you a business coach or a consultant and does it matter?

Written By Andrew Ford

Six years ago I wrote a blog titled 'What's the difference between a business coach and a consultant?' (you can see the original blog here  https://www.andrewford.com.au/blog/2023/1/31/whats-the-difference-between-a-business-coach-amp-consultant-7tp7b)  

I was struggling with what my role in the business was exactly and reached out to my network for advice and found that a lot of other people had the same issue. 

Fast forward to 2024 and I feel confident about my identity. I coach, I consult and I advise. These are very different roles so let me explain how I wear these different hats with my clients and why.

If you don't know our business, for context, Social Star is a personal brand agency that specialises in helping professional services firms e-ttract more clients, staff and partners using compelling content marketing. 

Dealing with very smart and busy people I often advise them of the best marketing strategies for their particular phase of growth and niche offering. This isn't your normal 'what to put on social media', this is real marketing including all of the 4 P's. What Price structure to offer and how to charge, what Products can we package up and release to our clients for maximum value, what Places should we market to expand the business and what is the best Promotional avenue to gain both staff and clients.  Having 20 years of professional marketing experience plus teaching at university and a two-time author in the space, I will take the Pepsi challenge with most people. Therefore I am confident to call myself a consultant and lead my clients in this area of their business. 

A lot of experts in their field would consult, so how do I coach?

I work very closely with my clients and we often become friends as that's my personality.  Most of these leaders can't vent to their teams or life partners, so they lean on me. I have helped clients through divorces, large challenges in business, family conflicts, deaths, health concerns and more. This isn't a marketing agency role, it's a human one. This is where I coach them from my personal experience and they often find it useful just to have someone to talk to. As a business owner, I get this need to have someone external who isn't connected to their daily lives to open up to and be real. I am not a life coach, far from it, but I can be your friend.

I don't have to become close to my clients like this, but I choose to as it gives my relationships more depth. At first, I resisted calling it coaching but it seems an accurate term, especially if they value my feedback and listening skills then I am happy to offer it. I don't promote it, but it's there for my clients if required. 

This leads me to my original question, does it matter if we consult and coach with our clients or should we stick to just one? 

Andrew Ford
Marketing expert Andrew Ford, the founder of Social Star, has discovered the secret of ‘Powerful Branding’. With a fire for unleashing people’s inner brand and developing business models to generate profit from an individual’s passions, Andrew leverages ground-breaking digital and social media marketing techniques to create digital strategies for clients to attract maximum opportunities. Having established a strong name for himself in the field, Andrew blends traditional business techniques with now-necessary tools for entrepreneurs to achieve scale, quality, and influence in their niche. Andrew’s comprehensive business background and qualifications consist of a Bachelor of Business (Marketing) (RMIT 2003), a Graduate Certificate in Management (MBA Executive Program, University of Sydney 2005), and a Masters of Entrepreneurship and Innovation (Swinburne University 2011). Continually on the cutting edge of his own education, Andrew has tested his marketing theories in forums such as the BCG Business Strategy Competition, which he won in 2005 against all Victorian MBA schools, and the Venture Cup Business Plan Competition (Swinburne University 2003), which he won in the Masters category. With experience working at Hewlett-Packard, Sensis (Telstra) and IBM, Andrew also has mentored dozens of junior staffs to help them achieve their professional goals. Meeting and influencing high-profile public figures helped Andrew to realise just how many professionals require more understanding and control of their public brands or appearance, and need help with the skills to use the many amazing free tools at their disposal to generate success. At Social Star, Andrew consults with clients to uncover their personal brand – both where it is today and where it can be tomorrow – and refine and define how that should be displayed in social media in order to attract their perfect target audience. Andrew mentors his clients to rapidly grow their business’ audiences, resulting in larger potential client bases and higher revenue. Applying formulas that integrate over twenty years of Andrew’s business experience and fifteen years of formal business education, Social Star specialises in building clarity and velocity for clients’ brands using the ‘Understand, Build and Leverage’ methodology. ‘Having a Personal Business enables people to have an authentic, congruent connection with their valued clients and partners, using their brand as the bridge,’ says Andrew. ‘I’m highly driven to work with the new breed of entrepreneurs and small business owners – people who have a passion for making the world a better place. Traditional business models are stepping aside as people follow their innermost dreams and my role is to see them operate within their values while creating wealth. Some people think you have to sacrifice what you love to be successful in your business, yet it is actually the opposite. Follow your passion and success will come.’ Lecturing at Swinburne University from 2009 to 2011 on brand dynamics and digital marketing, presenting at numerous conferences, and consulting to hundreds of clients, Andrew has seen his philosophy work that if you follow your unique path, based on your skills, experience, values and goals, you will automatically attract the opportunities you desire and achieve the success you deserve. Living his mantra, Andrew has created a successful business and attracts high-profile clients including musicians, athletes, authors, models, entrepreneurs, professionals and small business owners, helping them find their ‘why’ in their business and fulfilment in their lives. Business for Andrew is more than work, it’s personal. Running a personal business means that he is able to fulfil all of his values rather than separating his life from work. It supports his two boys while providing social opportunities, educational development, fitness opportunities, spiritual fulfilment and many valuable friendships. Social Star has now become the vehicle for Andrew to crystallise his mission in the world, to help people love what they do, supporting his ‘why’, that if more people loved what they did, the world would be a better place.
http://www.andrewford.com.au/
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