According to Statistics Portugal (INE), there were 1,526,926 companies in Portugal in 2023, and SMEs made up 99.9% of them. The vast majority have no strategy department, no full time finance director, and nobody whose job is to work on the business rather than in it. That role falls to the owner, who is usually already busy with everything else.
Sooner or later, then, the question comes up: do I need outside help? And if so, what kind? Consulting or business coaching? The two words are often used interchangeably, but they describe very different work. Choosing badly costs money and, worse, it costs time.
The core difference: who keeps the capability
A consultant is hired to solve a specific problem. They analyse, recommend and often implement. They deliver a report, a system, a process. When the job ends, they leave, and much of the know how leaves with them.
A business coach works with the owner and the team over time so that they are the ones who spot problems, decide and deliver. The coach brings method, tools, hard questions and accountability. The capability stays inside the business.
An analogy I use a lot: the consultant is the engineer who designs and builds the bridge; the coach is the lecturer who teaches the team to design bridges and stays alongside them as they build the first, the second and the third. I taught at the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto (FEUP) for 38 years, and that difference has stayed with me. Teaching someone to solve a problem is slower at first, but it compounds afterwards.
When each one makes sense
There is no universal answer. Some situations clearly call for consulting:
- A one off technical problem that needs specialist knowledge, such as a tax, legal or certification issue.
- A project with a clear start, middle and end, such as rolling out a management software package.
- A lack of time or in house skills for a task that will not come round again.
Others are a better fit for business coaching:
- The business grows unevenly and the owner cannot say why.
- Everything depends on the owner; if they stop, the business stops.
- Plans exist but are not carried out.
- The team is not aligned with the goals, or does not know what they are.
- The owner wants a commercial, profitable business that works without them.
Notice that the problems on the second list are not solved by a report. They are solved by changing habits, systems and leadership, and that takes months.
The underlying problem: execution
PORDATA, using Eurostat data, shows that in 2025 people in Portugal worked an average of 39.7 hours a week, the 5th highest figure in the EU, against an EU average of 37 hours. Yet productivity per hour worked stood at 66.9, with the EU27 at 100. We put in long hours, but we turn that effort into value less effectively.
In my years of coaching I have found that this gap is rarely down to a shortage of ideas. Owners generally know what they ought to do. What is missing is focus, clear priorities, numbers reviewed every week, and someone who asks, regularly and plainly: did you do what you said you would? That is where coaching adds something that consulting, by its nature, does not usually offer.
How business coaching works in practice
At ActionCOACH the work follows a predictable structure. It starts with a diagnosis built on numbers: the 5 ways to increase profit (number of leads, conversion rate, number of transactions per customer, average sale value and margin) and where the business sits on the 6 steps to business success (Mastery, Niche, Leverage, Team, Synergy, Results).
From there, we set a 90 day plan with a handful of priorities, owners and deadlines. Regular sessions are used to review what was done, look at the numbers and adjust. The coach does not decide for the owner. The coach helps them decide better and makes sure the decision is carried through.
Questions to choose with clear criteria
Whichever route you take, ask these questions before you sign anything:
- What concrete, measurable result do I expect after 6 and after 12 months?
- Who will do the work: me and my team, or the person I am hiring?
- What will stay in the business once the engagement ends?
- How will we measure progress, and how often?
- What experience does this person have with businesses of my size?
One action for this week
Write down the three problems that worry you most about your business. Next to each, mark "C" if it is a one off technical issue that an outsider could fix and hand over, or "B" if it depends on changing how the business and its people operate. The list will tell you, quite clearly, which kind of help to look for first.
If you end up with a lot of "B"s, the ActionCOACH Porto team would be happy to have a no obligation conversation about how 1:1 Coaching or the 90 Day Planning Workshop could help you put the plan into action.