Creating and maintaining a commercially viable executive coaching practice in South Africa

Southern African Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management

 
 
Field Value
 
Title Creating and maintaining a commercially viable executive coaching practice in South Africa
 
Creator Terblanche, Nicky H.D. Jock, Rajesh J. Ungerer, Marius
 
Subject executive coaching; business strategy; small business management Executive coaching; business models; small business management; commercial viability; coaching practice.
Description Background: The executive coaching industry is growing internationally and in South Africa. As is typical of small businesses, many struggle to survive. Factors contributing to small business success have been researched, but research in the context of the executive coaching industry in South Africa is sparse.Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the factors that contribute to creating and maintaining a commercially viable executive coaching practice by examining executive coaching businesses through the lens of a standard business model template consisting of value network, value architecture, value proposition and value finance dimensions.Method: A qualitative methodology was followed to gather data from executive coaches in South Africa. Data from two focus groups (eight participants) and four semi-structured interviews were analysed using deductive content analysis to ascertain the nature of executive coaching practices in terms of a standard business model template.Results: The most significant factors contributing to a successful executive coaching business include forming alliances, leveraging previous experience, employing multiple income streams and evolving as business owner. Significant factors that present challenges include the lack of a business strategy, finding clients and underestimating earnings potential. These findings could assist aspiring and established executive coaches to plan and structure their coaching business. Executive coach training providers could incorporate these findings into their curricula to prepare new coaches for the realities of running a coaching business.Conclusion: Empirical evidence of factors that contribute to successful executive coaching businesses may help guide coaches to a more realistic view of the profession, in the process contributing to the maturing of the growing executive coaching industry in South Africa.
 
Publisher AOSIS Publishing
 
Contributor
Date 2019-04-17
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — —
Format text/html application/epub+zip application/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/sajesbm.v11i1.192
 
Source The Southern African Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management; Vol 11, No 1 (2019); 10 pages 2071-3185 2522-7343
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://sajesbm.co.za/index.php/sajesbm/article/view/192/271 https://sajesbm.co.za/index.php/sajesbm/article/view/192/270 https://sajesbm.co.za/index.php/sajesbm/article/view/192/272 https://sajesbm.co.za/index.php/sajesbm/article/view/192/266
 
Coverage — — —
Rights Copyright (c) 2019 Nicky H.D. Terblanche, Rajesh J. Jock, Marius Ungerer https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
ADVERTISEMENT