Liam – Owner of a <£25,000 – >£100,000 Business
BEFORE:
When I first met Liam, he was working extremely hard on building his business, often doing 60-70+ hours per week, spending lots of time away from home (at clients premises) and working to their criteria. Liam was a classic case of working IN the business not ON the business, and really more SELF EMPLOYED than a business owner.
DURING:
Through the coaching process we undertook, we identified WHAT Liam’s ultimate goals were, (both personal and professional – for HIM and the business) We spent time looking at the actions he had taken that had led him to where he was currently, and from which identified THE GAP between where he was right now and where he wanted to be.
From this, we were able to identify WHO were is ITC’s and how he had attracted those in the past. We set about ensuring his business was aligned to attract further ITC’s and what activities he needed to undertake in order to become KLT by them.
We also carried out a Time Appreciation Assessment to establish what tasks Liam was going to cease doing in order to free up time to pursue more ITC’s.
AFTER:
Liam is now in a role he thoroughly enjoys, working ON his business (whilst maintaining a ‘hands-on’ approach when required) He works less than 40Hrs per week but is earning more than double he was before we began working together.
Liam has already set out plans to take off work ALL school holidays to spend more time with his young family and has systems and processes in place to enable his business to not only function but to continue growing in his absence.
“Working with Jay enabled me to stop and actually look at what I’d been doing, instead of simply keep doing it. He asked some pretty tough questions and really got me thinking. He had a knack of cutting through all the stuff that wasn’t actually that important and helped me concentrate on the things that really are. As a result I’ve got a business I now love again, and time to spend with my kids, I really couldn’t be happier”
Catherine – Owner of a <£250,000 – >£750,000 Business
BEFORE:
When I first met Catherine, she was still working with another coach, but becoming very disillusioned with the results she was seeing as a result. She had very quickly grown her business but was uncertain as to what direction it was taking, and how this was likely to affect her role and relationship with it.
DURING:
We began by conducting what I’ve come to refer to as our ‘FIRST THINGS FIRST’ exercise. It’s a great workbook we’ve put together to help business owner clearly identify with their WHY. It revealed that whilst Catherine’s business was growing rapidly, it was going in a direction she didn’t want, attracting the wrong type of clients and requirements and resulting in her falling out of love with why she started the business in the first place.
Our Business Planning exercise enabled Catherine to re-identify with what she wanted to create for her and her partner, and what GAPS were currently within the business, currently preventing this from taking place.
We also identified a number of systems and process gaps which needed to be filled in order for Catherine NOT to be the single linch-pin within the business, and worked together to overcome these GAPS in such a way that Catherine now has the knowledge, skills, and experience to identify and resolve these should they re-occur.
AFTER:
Catherine has more than doubled her salary whilst more than halving the amount of time she spends in the business. Her client value has grown also as has demand for the more streamlined offering the business now specializes in.
Catherine recently got engaged and is now spending time planning their wedding and a number of exciting and adventurous holidays together safe in the knowledge the business is doing well.
“I don’t mind admitting, when I first engaged Jay to work with me I was rather skeptical. I’d already been working with a business coach for some time and wasn’t really impressed with what they were adding to the mix. However, I couldn’t have been more wrong. Within the first session together Jay had helped me save over £35K in my business in the first year, and potentially a further £15K every year after. It had paid for itself within the first session, and has continued to bring real value to both me personally and the business professionally.”
Graham, Managing Director of a <£1,000,000 – >£3,000,000 Business
BEFORE:
When I first met Graham he was very skeptical about the need to any coaching. He had personally built his business, which was doing well, had employed various members of his family to run it, and enjoyed regular games of golf whilst the business continued to grow.
DURING:
However, we quickly identified Graham had fallen out of love with his business, had little knowledge of the day to day routine within it and was unaware of the errors that were being made in his absence and the consequences this was having on long-term customer relations. He was also unaware of a recent pitch by a competitor to a couple of his larger clients and the implication this could have had if not quickly resolved.
We have worked to find the ultimate outcome he wanted to achieve for both the business and that of both him and his family members involvement within it. We have constructed and implemented some customer feedback surveys and won back the trust and relationship with some key clients and put measures in place to test and report on these frequently to prevent future risks to income.
We have also recruited some new key appointments and are in the process of training them to take over some of the area’s of the business in order for Graham to retire from the role as Managing Director and step into the role of Chairman.
AFTER:
Graham has booked his first-month long vacation and is looking forward to a well-earned family holiday. The key personnel in the business will soon be ready and capable of taking over the business sufficiently for Graham to stop worrying about his legacy and concentrate on his health and his family.
The business has recently won a Regional Business Innovation Award and is finalists in a National Business Award.
“Working with Jay has been transformational for both me and the business. He’s helped me transform what we had into something that now REALLY works, for both me and my family – I can’t thank him enough”