Every business owner eventually hits a ceiling. You’re working long hours, solving problems all day, yet progress slows.
You feel busy, but you know you could achieve more: more effective scaling, higher profits, greater discretionary time or a clear succession plan.
That’s usually when leaders start searching for outside help, typing into Google “business coach” or “landscape business consultant.”
But what is the right answer for you? Do you need a consultant or a coach? It depends on where you feel stuck. Do you feel stuck in yourself or in the business?
Consulting: The need for clarity and alignment
Consulting is focused on the business and the leadership team as a whole. It’s the process of getting key leaders in the same room and asking, “Where are we going, what must change, and how will we align to make it happen?”
Consulting creates a road map that the entire team can execute. The process often includes:
- Defining the long-term vision and near-term strategy.
- Uncovering the opportunities buried in your financials.
- Redesigning the organizational chart and clarifying responsibilities.
- Fixing bottlenecks and structural friction that slow down the business.
- Creating an actionable plan toward your goals.
Consider a company run by two partners. They shared responsibility for sales and operations, which sounded collaborative, but in reality created confusion. The team wasn’t sure who owned decisions, which led to missed accountability and slowed progress.
Once we clarified the vision, defined responsibilities and aligned the structure, everything changed. Growth accelerated. Team confidence rose. The partnership became stronger because each person now had a defined lane and operational objectives.
They didn’t need more motivation — they needed architecture and a road map.
Coaching: The need for focus, confidence and follow-through
Coaching is different. It is centered on the owner, the person responsible for making the road map real. This is where the rubber meets the road: difficult conversations, delayed decisions, emotional weight and leadership habits that must change.
Coaching helps the owner:
- Prioritize instead of juggling.
- Make decisions when the stakes feel high.
- See blind spots before they cost time and opportunity.
- Stay accountable when distractions pile up.
- Upgrade their leadership approach.
Business is never static. People quit, stars emerge, opportunities arise and crises appear unexpectedly. Coaching provides ongoing support and alignment in real time.
A client sent me a message recently after he reviewed our early coaching notes and reflected on how he crushed his BHAG — big, hairy, audacious goal.
“We achieved our BHAG of tripling the business, expanding our facility, building the infrastructure to pull me out of the day-to-day sales and operations and creating a far more enjoyable and fruitful life for myself as owner,” he said. “What I learned through coaching still impacts my business, my team and my family every day. Thank you!”
His road map didn’t guarantee the end result — his consistent action did. Coaching helped turn strategy into momentum.
Consulting or coaching?
Do you need consulting or coaching? Here’s the simplest filter to help you decide:
- Lack of strategy, structure or alignment? Consulting.
- Lack of accountability or decision support? Coaching.
- Unclear plan and inconsistent execution? Consulting first, then coaching.
Your challenge, then, is to create immediate action. Write down one important decision you’ve delayed for the last 90 days. Now ask yourself whether you’re stuck because the company lacks the structure to support change or because you personally lack the clarity to act?
That answer tells you exactly what you need. Either way, clarity followed by decisive action changes everything. Consulting builds the plan. Coaching builds the leader.
At Jeffrey Scott Consulting, we can help you with both. Visit here to learn more.
