Entrepreneurial coaching involves a two-prong focus: (1) guiding the personal development of individual entrepreneurs, and (2) engaging local communities in developing an entrepreneurial culture and support system.
Entrepreneurial coaches are not service providers or experts who are engaged in providing information and resources to entrepreneurs. Rather, they are individuals who are skilled at listening, asking the right questions, supporting entrepreneurs, and connecting them to the service providers who can offer them the right type of help.
At the University of Kentucky Entrepreneurial Coaching Institute, entrepreneurial coaches (most of whom are local community volunteers) are trained to support both entrepreneurs and rural communities. They work to connect entrepreneurs to one another and to the expertise that entrepreneurs state they need.
In addition, the coaches guide communities in the creation of local environments that are supportive of entrepreneurship development and expansion.
To learn more about entrepreneurial coaching, see the following:
• Entrepreneurial Facilitation
• Kentucky Entrepreneurial Coaches Institute
