Can’t I Just Do This Myself? DIY Learning vs Business Coaching

You’ve got a shelf full of business books.

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

You subscribe to three podcasts.

You’ve bought two online courses this year alone.

So why do you need a coach?

Fair question. Let’s answer it honestly.

The Appeal of DIY Learning

Books and courses have real advantages.

They’re cheap. Most books cost $30. Even premium courses rarely top $2,000.

You can learn on your own schedule. 11pm in your pyjamas. Sunday morning with coffee.

The content covers everything. Marketing. Sales. Leadership. Finance. All there.

And you’re smart. You built a business to $500K or more. You can read and implement.

It makes sense to try it yourself first.

What DIY Learning Does Really Well

Let’s be clear. Self-study works for certain things.

It’s brilliant for knowledge acquisition. Want to understand Facebook ads? Take a course. Need to grasp financial ratios? Read a book.

It gives you frameworks. Mental models. Ways to think about problems.

It’s low-risk. If a book doesn’t help, you’re out $30 and a few hours.

And it lets you explore widely. Sample different approaches. Find what resonates.

Many successful business owners are voracious readers. That’s not coincidence.

The Critical Gap: Knowing vs Doing

Here’s where it breaks down.

You know what you should do. The books told you. The courses explained it.

But you’re not doing it.

Three months after buying that course on hiring systems. Still using the same broken process that got you your last two bad hires.

Six months after reading Traction. Still haven’t implemented a single thing.

The gap isn’t knowledge. It’s implementation.

And that gap costs you real money. Every week you don’t fix your hiring process is another week with the wrong person on payroll.

The Accountability Problem

Here’s a stat that matters: 95% of people who buy online courses never finish them.

Not because the courses are bad. Because there’s no one making you do the work.

You paid $1,500 for the course. Then work got busy. A client crisis happened. You got sick for a week.

The course sat there. Incomplete. Another digital asset you meant to use.

With a coach, you’ve got a session booked next Tuesday. They’ll ask what you did. You’ll have to answer.

That external accountability changes behaviour. Research backs this up.

Time to Results: The Real Cost

DIY learning typically takes 18-24 months to create real change. If it works at all.

Coaching compresses that to 6-12 months.

Why? Because a good coach:

• Knows what actually works (versus theory)
• Sees your blind spots immediately
• Stops you wasting time on wrong turns
• Holds you to implementation deadlines

Let’s put numbers on it.

Say you bill $200/hour for your time. You spend 10 hours a week figuring things out that a coach could solve in 30 minutes.

That’s $2,000/week in opportunity cost. Over $100K per year.

Even a $3,000/month coach is cheaper than that.

The Customisation Gap

Books are one-size-fits-all. Your business isn’t.

You run a service business in Sydney with eight staff. The book was written by a tech startup founder in San Francisco.

Some of it applies. Most of it doesn’t. You waste hours trying to adapt frameworks that don’t fit.

A coach customises everything to your actual situation. Your industry. Your team. Your goals.

No translation needed.

The ROI Comparison

The International Coaching Federation tracks this data.

Average ROI from business coaching: 7x

That’s $7 returned for every $1 invested.

DIY learning? Harder to measure, but most estimate 2-3x if you actually implement.

And remember. Most don’t implement.

So the real ROI of unused courses is -100%. You spent money and got nothing.

When DIY Actually Makes Sense

DIY isn’t wrong. Just limited.

It makes sense when:

You’re in early learning phase. First year in business. Still figuring out basics. A coach might be premature.

You need specific tactical skills. How to use QuickBooks. How to run Google ads. Courses handle this well.

Budget is genuinely tight. Under $300K revenue, still in survival mode, can’t justify $1,500+/month.

You’ve got time. Not juggling payroll and client demands. Actually have space to study and implement.

But if you’re past $500K, working 60-hour weeks, and still don’t have time or profit to show for it?

DIY probably isn’t going to cut it.

When Coaching Becomes Necessary

Coaching matters most when:

You know what to do but aren’t doing it. The implementation gap is killing you.

You’re making expensive mistakes. Bad hires. Poor pricing. Growth that doesn’t increase profit.

You’ve got team problems. People issues are complex. Books don’t solve them. Experience does.

You’re stuck in the business. Can’t take a holiday. Team relies on you for everything.

Time is the constraint. You can’t spend 12 months figuring this out. Need results now.

You need customisation. Your situation is specific. Generic advice won’t work.

This is where coaching pays for itself in weeks, not months.

The Best Approach: Combine Both

Here’s what actually works.

Use DIY learning for knowledge. Read books. Listen to podcasts. Take courses.

Use coaching for implementation. Your coach helps you apply what you’ve learned to your specific business.

Read Traction. Then work with a coach to implement EOS in your context.

Take a hiring course. Then get coaching on your actual hiring process with your real team.

The combination is more powerful than either alone.

Books give you options. Coaches help you choose and execute.

What This Looks Like in Practice

Owner reads three books on delegation. Highlights key passages. Takes notes.

Then in coaching session: “I know I should delegate more. But when I try, it goes wrong. They don’t do it how I would.”

Coach asks: “Show me your delegation process.”

Owner realises they don’t have one. Just wing it each time.

Coach helps build actual system. Templates. Checklists. Training approach.

Two months later. Owner has reclaimed 15 hours per week. Team is more capable.

The books provided concepts. The coach made them real.

The Cost of Staying Stuck

Here’s what no one talks about.

The real cost isn’t the course you didn’t finish. It’s the 18 months you stayed stuck.

Lost profit: Could have fixed margins a year ago. That’s $80K you didn’t make.

Bad hires: That person who isn’t working out. You knew six months ago. Cost: $60K in salary plus lost productivity.

Your time: Still working 60-hour weeks. Could have been 40 if you’d systematized things.

Missed opportunities: That growth chance you couldn’t take because business was too chaotic.

DIY learning feels cheaper. But staying stuck is expensive.

Bottom Line

DIY learning works for knowledge. Coaching works for change.

If you’re happy with your pace of progress. Stick with books and courses.

If you’re not. If you’re frustrated by the gap between knowing and doing. If you’re tired of starting courses and not finishing them.

That’s when coaching makes sense.

Not because you’re not smart enough to figure it out alone.

But because time matters. Results matter. And accountability changes everything.

Related Reading

• Is Business Coaching Worth the Investment? A Data-Driven Analysis
• How to Tell If Your Business Coach Is Actually Effective
• Business Coaching vs Training Courses: Which Delivers Better Results?

Ready to Move from Learning to Implementing?

BGB’s Elite program combines education with accountability.

You get the knowledge (workshops, resources, community). Plus the implementation support (weekly sessions, expert guidance, proven system).

No locked contracts. Stay because it works.

Learn more about Elite or book a Quick Fit Call.

Schema Markup:

Ready to get started? Book a free coaching call to discuss how business coaching can help your Sydney business grow.