COACHING AND MENTORING
Build a business that achieves what you want it to
For owners and leadership teams of businesses that sell expertise
You might run a consultancy, an agency, an accountancy practice or another specialist advisory business, usually with £500K to £10M turnover. Most owners built the business by being very good at the work. Running it is a different job, and it rarely gets the same attention. I help you see the whole business clearly, decide what matters most, and make the changes stick. The result is a business that does more of what you want it to, and needs you less.
SOUND FAMILIAR?
Your business has grown. Has the way you run it grown with it?
Most businesses that sell expertise grow one decision at a time: another client, another hire, another service, another system. Eventually the owner looks up and realises they have built a bigger business, but not necessarily a better one.
That doesn't mean something is wrong with the business. It means the way it is run needs to catch up with what it has become.
How I work with accountancy practices, management consultancies, specialist agencies and technology consultancies.
Everything still comes back to you.
New work depends on you, or on one or two people.
Delivery hasn't kept pace with what sales promise.
You're busy, but not sure which clients and services make the money.
Costs are rising faster than your prices.
THE SMARTER SYSTEM
The whole business, not just one part of it
The SMARTer System looks at your business as a whole, through ten key areas, each with established practice behind it. The areas are connected, so a problem in one usually shows up in another. We work only on the two or three that would make the biggest difference, so you get a clear view of where the business stands, agreement on what to fix first, and changes that hold after I have gone.
Direction
Direction and leadership
Where the business is going, and how it is led
Creating revenue
Marketing
Who it is for and how it stays visible
Creating revenue
Sales
Profitable work, without it all resting on you
Creating revenue
Clients
Keeping, growing and being recommended
Delivering value
Service delivery
Quality, capacity and margin
Delivering value
People
Roles, managers, delegation, succession
Delivering value
Systems and technology
Keeping pace with growth
A healthy business
Finance and commercial management
Knowing the numbers, and using them
Protecting and improving it
Risk and resilience
What could seriously disrupt it
Protecting and improving it
Continuous improvement
Getting better on purpose
The engagement is designed to end. The capability is designed to stay.
Everything we build stays with you: the plans, the tools, the habits and the numbers, and the capability to keep improving them. When we finish, the business runs better without me in it.
THE RIGHT FIT
Is this for you?
Coaching only works when it is the right fit, for both of us. Here is how to tell.
A good fit if:
✓
You own or help lead a business that sells expertise, such as a consultancy, an agency, an accountancy practice or a specialist advisory business, with £500K to £10M turnover.
✓
The business is basically sound, but growth has stalled or it has outgrown its informal ways of working.
✓
You want to step back from the day to day, or run the business more effectively and systematically.
✓
Profit isn't keeping pace with turnover, or the leadership team needs to grow with the business.
✓
You prefer evidence to hype, and you're willing to work steadily between sessions.
Not a fit if:
✕
The business needs rescuing in the next few weeks. A turnaround specialist or your accountant is a better first call.
✕
You want someone to do the work for you.
✕
You want guaranteed results.
COACH AND MENTOR
A coach when you need questions, a mentor when you need answers
Sometimes the best help is a good question. Sometimes it is a straight answer from someone who has been there. You get both, and I tell you which is which, so you always know how much weight to give it.
"What do you think?"
Most of the time I coach. The answers about your business and how you lead are yours to find, and good questions and honest challenge help you find better ones.
"Here's what I've seen."
Where my own experience adds something, I share it, as one perspective to test rather than an answer to adopt.
"Here's what good looks like."
When you need a reference point, I bring what established practice says good looks like, and tell you how strong the evidence is.
ON EVERY ENGAGEMENT
What you can count on
Five things you get on every engagement, from a free call to a six-month programme. They are written into our agreement, so you can hold me to them.
What you tell me stays confidential.
✓
The tools and plans we use are yours to keep.
✓
A short written agreement before we start.
✓
I work to the Global Code of Ethics, with regular professional supervision.
✓
No referral fees, ever.
✓
IN THEIR WORDS
What clients say
From owners and managers I have worked with, including on the Help to Grow programme.
Managing Director, IT Services
"Each of our sessions have been powered with top class, practical approach to the discussions. The striking and exciting thing for me is the higher level of knowledge that I am usually left with after every sessions. I find the sessions invaluable for me personally and I am applying the new knowledge learnt to my business."
Program & Events Associate
"I have really enjoyed my sessions with Simon, could not chose a better mentor for what I was trying to achieve through the help to grow programme."
Sales Lead Generation, Marketing Strategy Specialist
"Simon's help with improving my sales processes has been invaluable, because it's been backed by decades of his own real world experience. His approach with dealing with one particular difficult customer has also been very useful. My investment has already paid for itself many times over."
LinkedIn Trainer
"I went to one of Simon's introductory workshops, and found it a really helpful reminder of the steps we all need to take as business owners to be effective in order to grow our business. I would recommend the course to any business owner."
ABOUT ME
Who you'd be working with
Thirty years in frontline commercial roles for companies like Oracle, Infor and Lawson. Three businesses of my own, so I know what it feels like when everything comes back to you. An ILM Level 5 Certificate in Coaching and Mentoring, membership of the Association of Business Mentors, approved mentor status on the government-backed Help to Grow programme, and EMCC accreditation in progress. Where my experience runs out, established practice takes over. Where both run out, a specialist does. And I'll always tell you which is which.
I won't promise you revenue or results; nobody honest can. What I can promise is my full experience applied to your situation, honest measurement against goals you set yourself, and an engagement designed to make itself unnecessary.
NO FALSE PROMISES
What you can expect from me
I won't promise you revenue or results; nobody honest can. What I promise is my full experience applied to your situation, the SMARTer System, honest measurement against goals you set yourself, and an engagement designed to make itself unnecessary.
QUESTIONS
What owners ask before we start
The questions owners ask most before we start.
Can one coach really help with the whole business?
Yes, because I don't rely on my experience alone. The SMARTer System has established practice behind every key area. Where my experience runs out, that practice takes over, and where both run out, I help you bring in the right specialist. I always tell you which you are getting.
What if my issue isn't about winning clients?
That's fine. The SMARTer System covers ten key areas, including leadership, delivery, people, finance and systems. We work on whichever areas matter most to you.
Can you guarantee results?
No, and I'd be wary of anyone who says yes. What I can do is make it low risk to find out. The Business Review has a value guarantee: if you don't think it was worth the fee, you don't pay it. The Programme has a 90-day exit: if you are not seeing progress, you can stop with no further fees.
What happens on the first call?
Forty-five minutes to an hour, over Zoom. You tell me about the business and what you want it to achieve, I ask questions and tell you honestly what I see, and then we both decide. No pitch, no pressure, and you'll leave with something useful either way.
FREE DIAGNOSTICS
Not ready for a conversation?
Two free diagnostics, about fifteen minutes each, with your results on screen straight away. Not sure which to take? Start with the review. It will tell you whether winning work is where to look first.
Diagnostic · whole business
The ten key areas review
A quick, honest look across all ten key areas of your business, from direction and leadership to continuous improvement, ending with the two or three areas that would make the biggest difference.
Want to talk through what your results mean? Book a Discovery Call. No pitch, no pressure.