What makes a great Business Coach?

A great ActionCOACH first and foremost has a passion for business, as well as a passion for helping others. All our successful coaches love business. They love the mechanics of business, how it works, finding ways to improve it, fixing broken pieces, breaking unhealthy old ways, learning about different types, creating new ways of doing things, and having fun in the process. For more info contact: Claudell van Eeden, claudellvaneeden@actioncoach.co.za

Harry Welby-Cooke

09 September 2025

Summary

When engaging with new potential ActionCOACH candidates I’m often asked: ‘What are the requirements for becoming an ActionCOACH?”  The answer is always the same.  “It depends.”  It depends because the answer is less of a checklist, to tick-off, and more of a combination of the right factors.  The decision to award any new franchise will also include a combination of the following ‘right factors’:

 

1. Educational background including ongoing education, reading, courses, etc.
2. Business and professional experience
3. The heart and personality for this business
4. Track record of past success 
5. Passion and a sense of purpose

 

However, those are just the criteria we use as part of our final assessment before awarding a new franchise.  That only gets you into the ActionCOACH business coaching franchise.  That still leaves the question: “What makes a great ActionCOACH business coach?”

 

On the 28^th of January 2007, Pieter Scholtz and I, separately from each other responded to the same advert in the Sunday Times newspaper.  It was on the inside front page of the Business Times section.  The headline is what grabbed our attention and is today still at the core of what we do.  ‘Are you passionate about business and helping others?’  That advert is today framed at our offices in Stellenbosch and serves as a great reminder of why we’re in this business.

 

A great ActionCOACH first and foremost has a passion for business, as well as a passion for helping others.  All our successful coaches love business.  They love the mechanics of business, how it works, finding ways to improve it, fixing broken pieces, breaking unhealthy old ways, learning about different types, creating new ways of doing things, and having fun in the process.

 

Most, yes most not all, of our successful coaches love people.  Business is fun but they are run by people; and people can be complex.  Whilst, not all love people, they definitely love the growth they facilitate in people, the energy and excitement they see returning, the impact the ‘fixing’ of the business has on people.  That is like a drug for a great ActionCOACH.  It keeps them coming back for more and aids in working through the complex nature of the people they coach.  Like it or not, people run businesses.  For our clients, their businesses are often their only route to success, wealth, fulfillment, and legacy.  The same businesses are also often the cause of their greatest stress, the cause of their health issues, relationship problems, disappointments, financial stress, and so on.

 

If you want to know if you’d be a great ActionCOACH business coach, ask yourself these questions:

 

1. Do you truly have a strong passion for business and for helping others?
2. Do you have a deep sense of purpose and a desire to make a difference?
3. Do you have the discipline, focus, and structure to do what needs to be done – no matter what?
4. Do you have a healthy competitive streak in you?
5. Are you a positive person and already seen as a leader by those around you?
6. Are you inquisitive, love to learn, and ask a lot of questions?
7. Are you truly Proudly South African?

 

A great ActionCOACH business coach answers yes to all of these.  A great ActionCOACH business coach constantly works at improving these and never stops.  A great ActionCOACH business coach is committed to success, theirs, and the success of their clients.  A great ActionCOACH business coach is not only a great ActionCOACH, but more importantly a great human being. 

 

To all the great ActionCOACH business coaches: I salute you!  If you’re the next great ActionCOACH business coach … let’s stop messing about and let’s talk!  Take ACTION today!

Visit our website to apply: https://southafrica.actioncoach.com/