Business Coaching vs Training Courses: Which Delivers Better Results?

You’ve bought the courses.

At Building Great Businesses, we help Sydney business owners build businesses that work without them.

$1,500 for the hiring masterclass. $2,000 for the sales system. $997 for the marketing program.

Total spent: $4,500. Total implemented: Maybe 15%.

The content was good. Actionable. Valuable.

But it’s sitting there. Incomplete. Another digital asset gathering dust.

Now you’re considering coaching. $2,500/month. Seems expensive compared to one-time course fees.

But is it?

Different Tools for Different Jobs

Training courses and coaching aren’t competitors. They’re different tools.

Training: Knowledge transfer. Information delivery. One-to-many. Time-limited.

Coaching: Implementation support. Accountability. One-to-one or small group. Ongoing.

One teaches you what to do. The other makes sure you actually do it.

What Training Courses Do Well

Let’s be fair. Courses have real value.

Efficient knowledge transfer: Expert shares framework once. Thousands learn. Scales beautifully.

Lower cost: $500-$2,000 one-time versus $1,500-3,000 monthly ongoing.

Learn at your pace: Watch when you want. Pause. Replay. Convenient.

Broad topic coverage: Deep dives on specific subjects. Technical skills. New methodologies.

Team-wide deployment: Buy once, train whole team. Cost-effective for skills training.

For knowledge acquisition, courses are brilliant.

Why Training Alone Usually Fails

Here’s the uncomfortable truth.

90% of training content doesn’t get implemented without follow-up support.

You know this from experience. That course you bought six months ago. Incomplete.

Why training fails:

No accountability: Nobody checking if you did the work. Life gets busy. Course gets postponed.

Not customised: Generic framework built for everyone. Doesn’t perfectly fit your business. Adaptation required. You don’t do it.

No obstacle support: You hit a roadblock implementing module 3. Stuck. No one to ask. Course stalls.

Mindset not addressed: Course teaches tactics. Doesn’t address your beliefs preventing implementation.

One-size-fits-all: Your business has unique constraints. Course doesn’t account for them.

The knowledge is there. The implementation isn’t.

What Business Coaching Does Differently

Coaching starts where training ends.

Assumption: You probably know what to do. Or can learn it quickly.

Focus: Making sure you actually do it.

Mechanism: Accountability, customisation, obstacle removal, ongoing support.

Structure: Regular sessions. Progress tracking. Custom plans. Continuous adjustment.

Your coach asks: “What did you implement this week?” Not “What did you learn?”

The Accountability Factor

This is the big one.

You paid $1,500 for a course. Feels like a lot. But once paid, there’s no ongoing pressure.

You pay $2,500/month for coaching. Session booked Tuesday at 10am. Coach will ask what you did.

That external accountability changes behaviour. Research confirms this.

Studies show people with accountability partners are 65% more likely to achieve goals.

Not because they didn’t know what to do. Because someone was checking.

Customisation: Generic vs Tailored

Training course: Here’s the hiring system that works for most businesses.

Your situation: Service business, Sydney, eight staff, hiring for technical role, tight budget, need someone fast.

The course framework is good. But it doesn’t fit perfectly. You’d need to adapt it.

Do you? Usually not. Too much work. Course sits incomplete.

Coaching approach: Coach learns your specific situation. Customises the hiring framework to your context, budget, timeline, industry.

You implement because it fits your actual business.

ROI: The Real Comparison

Training course ROI: Research suggests 2-3x when content is actually implemented.

Big if. Most courses generate 0x ROI because they’re not finished.

Coaching ROI: ICF research shows 7x median ROI.

Higher cost. But also higher likelihood of implementation and results.

Let’s put numbers on it.

Scenario 1: Training Course

• Cost: $2,000 one-time
• Implementation rate: 20% (typical)
• Value created: $4,000
• ROI: 2x
• Real ROI after implementation rate: 0.4x (loss)

Scenario 2: Business Coaching

• Cost: $2,500/month × 6 months = $15,000
• Implementation rate: 80% (with good coach)
• Value created: $105,000 (7x)
• Net value: $90,000

More expensive upfront. But implementation makes the difference.

When Training Makes Sense

Courses aren’t wrong. Just limited.

Use training when:

Specific skill gap: Team needs to learn QuickBooks. Technical training course works.

Broad team learning: Rolling out new process to 20 people. Training video scales.

Budget constraints: Under $300K revenue, can’t justify $2,000/month coaching yet.

Well-defined tactical skill: Facebook ads, SEO, specific software. Course teaches mechanics.

You’re highly self-motivated: The 5% who actually finish courses. Self-accountability works for you.

Training works when the gap is knowledge and you’ll actually implement.

When Coaching Becomes Necessary

Use coaching when:

You know what to do but aren’t doing it: The implementation gap is the problem, not knowledge gap.

Complex situation: Your business has unique challenges. Generic frameworks won’t fit without customisation.

Accountability needed: You’ve bought courses before and not finished them. Pattern of knowing but not implementing.

Transformation required: Extracting yourself from operations, building team, systematic profit improvement.

Time-sensitive goals: Want results in 6-12 months, not 2-3 years of trial and error.

Expensive mistakes possible: Bad hires, poor pricing, growth without profit. Coaching prevents costly errors.

Coaching works when implementation is the bottleneck.

The Best Approach: Both Together

Here’s what smart business owners do.

Use courses for knowledge. Take the hiring course. Learn the framework.

Use coaching for implementation. Work with coach to apply that framework to your specific business.

The combination is powerful.

Course gives you the “what”. Coach helps with the “how” in your context.

Example: BGB Elite includes both.

Education content (recorded workshops, frameworks, resources). Plus coaching (weekly sessions, accountability, customisation).

You learn the Black Diamond System. Then implement it with coaching support.

Cost-Benefit Reality Check

“Coaching is too expensive.”

Maybe. Or maybe staying stuck is more expensive.

Cost of not having systems:

• You work 60 hours/week instead of 40
• That’s 20 hours × $200/hour × 50 weeks = $200,000 annually
• Coaching at $30,000/year seems cheap

Cost of bad hire without proper process:

• $65,000 salary + $20,000 lost productivity = $85,000
• One prevented bad hire pays for nearly three years of coaching

Cost of poor pricing:

• Leaving 10% on table on $1M revenue = $100,000 annually
• Coach would fix that in week one

The expensive choice is often staying stuck. Not investing in coaching.

Real Example: Course vs Coaching

Business owner bought three courses over 18 months:

• Hiring system: $1,500 (30% complete)
• Delegation framework: $997 (started, not finished)
• Profit improvement: $2,000 (watched first three modules)

Total spent: $4,500. Total value created: Maybe $2,000. ROI: -55%.

Then hired coach at $2,500/month.

Six months ($15,000 total):

• Implemented hiring system (customised to business)
• Built delegation framework that actually fit
• Improved profit margin 8 points ($120K increase)
• Reclaimed 15 hours per week

ROI: 900% (9x). Plus ongoing compounding value.

The courses weren’t bad. The implementation was missing.

The Comparison Table

Bottom Line

Training teaches. Coaching transforms.

Courses are cheaper upfront. Coaching delivers better ROI through implementation.

90% of training doesn’t get implemented without support. Coaching ensures implementation.

If your problem is not knowing, take a course.

If your problem is not doing what you know, hire a coach.

Best approach: Use both. Learn from courses. Implement with coaching.

The expensive choice isn’t the coaching fee. It’s buying more courses you won’t finish while staying stuck.

Related Reading

• Can’t I Just Do This Myself? DIY Learning vs Business Coaching
• Is Business Coaching Worth the Investment? A Data-Driven Analysis
• How to Make the Most of Business Coaching

Get Both: Education + Implementation

BGB Elite combines training content with coaching support.

Learn the frameworks. Implement with accountability and customisation.

$400/week. No locked contracts.

Learn more about Elite or book a Quick Fit Call.

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