As an entrepreneur, you like to do your own thing. But going at it alone is not always the best idea.

There comes a time when you need an expert opinion to ensure you and your business reach it’s full potential. And that’s where hiring a life coach or a business coach becomes a smart move.

I’ve personally experienced the benefits of hiring a coach in my own business over the past year. Below are ten examples of how hiring a coach can make your business more successful.

If you’re already successful, why would you want to hire a coach?

It’s not as if coaches have secret powers or have some deep-seated knowledge of your industry that could open the door to more success. Coaches are mere humans like you and me. However, good coaches can help you see what you’re missing and identify your blind spots.

Related: The 8 Qualities You Need to Look for in a Business Coach

Coaches have great BS detectors that can help us learn where and how we’re lying to ourselves. They're trained to help people grow. While most successful people work hard, had some luck and are “self-made,” all of us hit plateaus and have blind spots. Many of us have entire areas of potential that we’ve never explored or pursued. A good coach can recognize and help you address that.

Arun continues, “I’m often surprised by my coach’s advice and counsel. Once, when I really wanted to put in more hours, he cautioned me to think about my age and how my businesses were running and what stage of development they were in. He told me to take it easy because it’s the only time in my life that I would have the opportunity to travel and enjoy myself. He was right. I took a month off and had the time of my life. When I came back, my companies were still doing great. I’m so glad I listened to him.”

Often success is elusive or simply unfamiliar -- most people who experience success aren’t ready to slow down or relax because they’ve spent years building a company or a career and they habitually push themselves. A good coach can ask you questions that you wouldn’t think to ask yourself and no one else would dare ask, such as:

What do you really want? What’s most important to you?

Business coaches were once considered a luxury reserved for corporate executives whose organizations shelled out tens of thousands of dollars per hour to train their leaders to excellence. But increasingly coaches focused on small businesses have become mainstream. The business coaching industry today is a $9 billion sector made up of more than 37,000 firms in the United States, according to research institution IBISWorld. These services do not come cheap, with fees for even junior, noncertified coaches starting at $100 per hour, and leading-name consultants charging thousands of dollars hourly.

I get that question all the time, and honestly, the answer is pretty squishy. In today’s “helper” economy (as Warren Buffet snidely coined it), a coach can play the role of consultant, shrink, drill instructor, sounding board–whatever “help” managers, executives and entrepreneurs need to boost their performance, or just get through the night.

There are no easily comparable data sets. There is no coaching regulatory body. Like I said: squishy. So how to tell if a coach is right for you?

Start with what, specifically, you think you need. If you want to improve your overall executive comportment, focus on someone who specializes in that. (Marshall Goldsmith has written extensively on the topic.) Need help with public speaking? Check out Nick Morgan, author of Working the Room. There are coaches for everything–the key is knowing how to cut wheat from chaff.

Arun continues, “I’m often surprised by my coach’s advice and counsel. Once, when I really wanted to put in more hours, he cautioned me to think about my age and how my businesses were running and what stage of development they were in. He told me to take it easy because it’s the only time in my life that I would have the opportunity to travel and enjoy myself. He was right. I took a month off and had the time of my life. When I came back, my companies were still doing great. I’m so glad I listened to him.”

Often success is elusive or simply unfamiliar -- most people who experience success aren’t ready to slow down or relax because they’ve spent years building a company or a career and they habitually push themselves. A good coach can ask you questions that you wouldn’t think to ask yourself and no one else would dare ask, such as:

What do you really want? What’s most important to you? Why are you working so hard? When are you going to celebrate your success and how? What kind of legacy do you plan to leave? What kind of impact do you want to make on the world?