COACHING AND MENTORING
Build a business that achieves what you want it to
Coaching and mentoring for owners and leadership teams of consultancies, agencies and specialist advisory businesses, £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.
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.
None of this means something is wrong with the business. It means the way it is run needs to catch up with what it has become
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Everything still comes back to you.
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New work depends on you, or on one or two people.
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Delivery hasn't kept pace with what sales promise.
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You're busy, but not sure which clients and services make the money.
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Costs are rising faster than your prices.
The SMARTer System
One coach and mentor for the whole business
The SMARTer System looks at the business as a whole, through ten key areas, with proven practice behind every part of 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 to you.
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
Sales
Profitable work, without it all resting on you
Clients
Keeping, growing and being recommended
Delivering value
Service delivery
Quality, capacity and margin
People
Roles, managers, delegation, succession
Systems and technology
Keeping pace with growth
A healthy business
Finance and commercial management
The economics, used to decide
Protecting and improving it
Risk and resilience
What could seriously disrupt it
Continuous improvement
Getting better on purpose
You'll always know what you're getting
I work as a coach and a mentor, and I'm clear which is which
"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 proven practice from well-run businesses that sell expertise, and tell you how strong the evidence is.
HOWEVER WE WORK TOGETHER
What you can count on
Whichever way we work together, five things never change.
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What you tell me stays confidential.
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The tools and plans we use are yours to keep.
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A short written agreement before we start.
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The Global Code of Ethics, and professional supervision.
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No referral fees, ever.
is this right for you?
Who this is for
A good fit if:
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You own or help lead a consultancy, agency or specialist advisory business with a turnover of £500K to £10M, usually with ten to fifty people.
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The business is basically sound, but growth has stalled or it has outgrown its informal ways of working.
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You want to step back from the day to day, or run the business more effectively and systematically.
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Profit isn't keeping pace with turnover, or the leadership team needs to grow with the business.
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You prefer evidence to hype, and you're willing to work steadily between sessions.
Not a fit if:
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The business needs rescuing in the next few weeks. A turnaround specialist or your accountant is a better first call.
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You want someone to do the work for you.
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You want guaranteed results.
Ways to work together
The same system, the same terms
Start free and go as far as is useful. Every option uses the SMARTer System, runs on Zoom, and is designed to end.
Start free
£0
The ten key areas review and a Discovery Call.
No pitch, no pressure.
SMARTer Business Review
From £750
A proper look at the whole business, and a clear view of what to do first.
If you don't think it was worth the fee, you don't pay it.
SMARTer Programme
From £1,500/m
Six months of focused work on the areas that matter most to you.
A 90-day exit if you are not seeing progress.
SMARTer Mentoring
From £400/m
An experienced person to think with, once a month.
Reviewed every three months.
Why me
Why me
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, proven practice takes over. Where both run out, a specialist does. And I'll always tell you which is which.
GUARANTEE
My promise
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
The engagement is designed to end. The capability is designed to stay.
popular questions
FAQs
The questions owners ask most before we start.
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Are you a coach, a mentor or a consultant?
A coach and a mentor, and I'm always clear which. Most of the time I coach: I ask questions and challenge your thinking, because the best answers about your business are usually yours. Where my experience adds something, I mentor. Where you need a reference point, I bring what the evidence says good looks like. I'm not a consultant: I don't do the work for you or hand you a report.
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Can one coach really help with the whole business?
Yes, because I don't rely on my experience alone. The SMARTer System has proven 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.
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My business isn't like other businesses. Will this apply to us?
Every business is different, but businesses that sell expertise run on much the same economics: a limited amount of expert time, how much of it gets paid for, what it is priced at, where the next piece of work comes from, and how much depends on a few people. The SMARTer System is a map, not a template, and your business decides the journey.
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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.
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.. "
The engagement is designed to end. The capability is designed to stay.
check out your business
Not ready for a conversation?
Two free diagnostics, about fifteen minutes each. The ten key areas review is a quick look across the whole business, and it ends by pointing to the two or three areas that would make the biggest difference. The Revenue System Self-Assessment goes deeper into one part of it: winning and keeping clients.
Not sure which to take? Start with the review. It will tell you whether winning work is where to look first.
Want to talk through what your results mean? Book a Discovery Call. No pitch, no pressure.