What should a first conversation with a business coach feel like?

A first conversation with a video business coach should be mostly questions about your business, not a pitch for theirs. A good coach asks about your numbers, what you've already tried and what standing still costs you before giving direction, and checks whether you're a fit.

Field Guides / Coaching

How to choose a coach for your video production company

Start with your own constraint, then check each coach against five things: whether they've run a video production business, whether their proof can be checked, whether the full terms are in writing, whether the format fits how you work, and who else is in the room. Choose on fit, then use the first month to test it.

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Why start with your own constraint before you look at coaches?

Starting with your own constraint matters because the right coach is the one who is strongest where your business is weakest, and most owners shop for help with the problem they enjoy working on.

If nothing comes in the door, the weak spot is marketing or sales. If plenty comes in and little reaches the bottom line, it's pricing and the numbers. If the business works but only through you, it's delivery and team, and underneath that, how you see your own role. Write yours down before you read a single sales page.

Copy and paste: three questions to answer in writing before you speak to any coach

1. The problem that keeps coming back in my business is: [one sentence].

2. If nothing changes in the next 12 months, it costs me: [hours, money, health, family]. It has to be different by: [date].

3. The time I'll give to work on the business between sessions: [hours a week].

If the second answer won't come, wait before you buy. Coaching works for owners who can feel what standing still costs them. Without that, the work gets done when it's interesting and dropped when it isn't.

What are the five checks for comparing video business coaches?

The five checks for comparing video business coaches are experience running a production company, proof you can verify, terms in writing, a format that fits how you work, and the standard of the room.

Have they run a video production business? Run one, not marketed to them. Ask for how long and at what size. Someone who has priced a two-day shoot, or watched a $10K quote lose money by delivery, spots the leak in yours faster.
Can you check the proof? Look for client results with a business attached, figures with a method behind them, and a retention number. Retention is the hardest figure to fake, because owners don't keep paying monthly for years for something that isn't working.
Are the full terms in writing? Monthly price, minimum term, anything paid up front, and how cancellation and refunds work. Add the minimum term and the up-front fee to the monthly rate before you compare, because a low monthly rate with a long lock-in can cost more than a higher one you can leave.
Does the format fit how you work? Group calls, one-to-one, a course, in person, or a mix. Pick the format you'll turn up to every week. If your work takes you offline for weeks at a time, during events or long shoots, ask how the coaching runs around that.
Who else is in the room? In group coaching, the room is the product. Ask whether members work to a written standard, and what happens when someone doesn't keep it.

Copy and paste: a side-by-side sheet for up to three coaches

Coach: [ ]

Has run a video production business: [yes or no], for [years], at about [size]

Proof I checked: [what, and where I checked it]

Average client retention: [months, or not given]

Monthly price: [$]. Minimum term: [months]. Paid up front: [$]

Cancellation and refunds: [terms]

Cost of the first 12 months, including the minimum term and anything up front: [$]

Format and how often: [group calls, one-to-one, course, in person]

The room: [who's in it]. Written standard: [yes or no]

Strongest on: [marketing, sales, delivery, finance, team, technology, mindset]. Matches my constraint: [yes or no]

What should a first conversation with a coach feel like?

A first conversation with a video business coach should be mostly questions about your business, not a pitch for theirs.

Diagnosis comes before direction. Notice whether they ask about your numbers, what you've already tried and what standing still costs you before they tell you what to do. Notice too whether they're checking that you're a fit for them. A coach who checks fit is protecting the standard of the room you'd be joining, and it's a good sign when it happens to you.

How do you decide between two coaches who both pass?

Deciding between two coaches who both pass comes down to whose strength sits on your weakest system, whose sessions you can attend every week, and which terms let you test the fit soonest.

Shorter terms put the onus on the coach to keep earning the place each month, and on you to keep choosing it. Whichever you pick, commit fully for the period you've agreed. Half-attending to see if it works tells you about your attendance, not about the coaching.

Who the VBA Elite Boardroom isn't for

The VBA Elite Boardroom isn't the right choice if you want a private weekly one-to-one call, a course to work through on your own, or someone to do the work for you.

Coaching happens on a weekly group call, with Den on Signal between calls. It's built for owners moving from operator to CEO, with a baseline of around $150K a year in revenue (the baseline, not the test). If you're still getting the first steady work in the door, the free Field Guides are the better place to start.

How the VBA Elite Boardroom answers the five checks

The VBA Elite Boardroom puts its answers to the five checks on the page rather than behind a call.

Den Lennie spent three decades in production, starting in broadcast TV, and about a decade running his own production company. Over eight years, VBA clients have generated more than $52M in additional revenue, and members stay an average of 27 months. The terms are $1,700 USD a month, flat, with no onboarding fee, no minimum term, cancel anytime and no refunds, and month one is the fit test for both sides. Members sign up to a written code of conduct. To see the field compared in one place, or to prepare for a first conversation, use the questions to ask before hiring.