Coaching vs. Consulting vs. Doing: Which Support Do You Actually Need?
Running a business is like building a house.
At the start, you can get by with a hammer and a handful of nails. You make do, patch things up, and get the walls standing.
But as the structure grows, so do the decisions. Do you need an architect to design the next stage? A project manager to keep the moving parts aligned? Or just another pair of hands on site to get the work done?
That’s the same question business owners face when they look for support. Do you need a coach? A consultant? A doer? The lines are blurred, and the wrong choice can leave you with more stress, not less.
So let’s clear it up.
Coaching: the architect of your thinking
A coach is like the architect. They don’t build the walls or swing the hammer — they help you imagine what’s possible and draw up the design.
A good coach will:
Ask sharp questions that make you step back and see differently.
Help you reconnect with why you’re building in the first place.
Hold you accountable to your own goals.
Coaching is powerful if you’re stuck in vision or direction. But if what you really need is someone to lay bricks tomorrow, coaching alone will feel frustrating.
Consulting: the structural surveyor
Consultants step in with expert knowledge. They examine the house, spot weaknesses, and tell you what needs reinforcing.
A consultant will:
Analyse how things are built today.
Benchmark you against best practice.
Recommend what should change to make it stronger.
The risk? You can end up with a brilliant report that sits on the shelf. Unless you or your team can act on it, advice doesn’t become structure.
Doing: the extra pair of hands
Sometimes you don’t need blueprints or analysis. You just need another pair of hands on site.
Doers — assistants, implementers, freelancers — bring capacity. They follow the plan, handle the tasks, and free you to focus elsewhere.
Doing works brilliantly when there’s a clear process to follow. Without one, it’s like asking a labourer to build without instructions: you’ll get activity, but not necessarily the outcome you hoped for.
The messy middle: where most businesses live
Here’s the truth: most small businesses don’t neatly need just one type of support.
You might need the architect’s perspective for big-picture planning. The surveyor’s eye to spot gaps. And a capable pair of hands to keep the work moving.
That’s why roles like OBMs or operations partners exist. They blend thinking with doing — creating the scaffolding, refining the systems, and making sure the building doesn’t collapse while you’re dreaming up the next extension.
It’s not about fitting into a neat category. It’s about getting the right mix for where you are right now.
How to choose what you need
Instead of asking “Who should I hire?” ask yourself:
Do I need someone to design with me? (Coaching)
Do I need someone to assess and advise? (Consulting)
Do I need someone to carry out the work? (Doing)
Or do I need someone who can hold the scaffolding across all of these, and make sure the build doesn’t wobble? (Ops / OBM)
There’s no shame in any answer. What matters is picking the support that matches your stage of building.
Why I tell you this
Because the fastest way to waste money — and energy — is to bring in the wrong kind of help.
At Achievist, we don’t believe in selling support that isn’t right. Sometimes that means coaching. Sometimes consulting. Sometimes rolling up our sleeves and building systems with you. And sometimes, it means saying honestly: you don’t need me yet.
The goal isn’t to keep you dependent. It’s to give you the right mix of guidance, structure, and support so you can move from chore to flow.
That’s The Achievist Way.