Some of the best advice you get will come from the people who are sweating over the same problems you are.
That’s why the Greenville Chamber’s Minority Business Accelerator (MBA) recruits entrepreneurs to serve as coaches in the intensive, yearlong program. Beth Veach, a serial entrepreneur and professional business coach, is the MBA team member who recruits and trains new coaches.
“Part of the entrepreneurial spirit — I think it's in our DNA — is that having gone through the joys and challenges of growing a business, we just want to turn around and help somebody else,” Veach says.
In the MBA program, help often means asking the right questions.
“The coach’s job is really to drive home and help the participant make more real what they’re learning in class and prep work,” Veach says. “It’s not a matter of telling people what to do, but asking what are you learning? How are you applying it to your business today? How does it apply to your three-year growth plan?”
That said, if you stayed up all night worried about a problem in your business, your coach may set aside the curriculum for a moment to help them work through it.
“There’s a real level of respect for the people in our program,” she says. “They’re already running successful businesses, and the coaches are just helping them grow bigger and be more successful.”