Posts Tagged ‘ActionCOACH’

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Hi Brad, I was wondering how much business coaching costs?

Tuesday, December 13th, 2011

It depends on the program, but having a Business Coach is less expensive than you might think and if you consider the return on investment you get from coaching, it can actually pay for itself.

For the cost of a part-time team member, a Business Coach can work with you to boost your revenues and profits and give you the kind of balance between your business and your life that you need to enjoy the rewards of your hard work.

For the certified practicing business coaches of ActionCOACH, you can rest assured you will see a return on your investment as we have a 17 Week/ 7 Point Guarantee which means that the goal of every ActionCOACH Business Coach is to “find their fee” in the work they do with you that will pay for the cost of their services within 17 weeks.

All the best,
Brad Sugars

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Hi Brad, I’ve been considering working with a coach but before I do, I was wondering what format does business coaching usually takes?

Monday, December 12th, 2011

Business coaching differs from conventional business consulting in that the process involves using a series of continuing and on-going questions to arrive at conclusions and answers that work for your business.

In other words, a consultant tells you what is wrong and tries to fix it, while a Business Coach works with you to find out the issues plaguing your business, then works with you to help you figure out what you need to change to become more successful.

At ActionCOACH, we offer many different types of coaching programs, from one –on- one business coaching, to group workshops and everything in between.

Depending on the program, an ActionCOACH Business Coach can work with you in a group setting or in specialized one-on-one coaching or business mentoring sessions.

In the end, the format of your coaching is something you can choose, depending on which will best fit your needs.

All the best,
Brad Sugars

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Hi Brad, I think I need a Business Coach, but how do I choose the right one?

Friday, December 9th, 2011

Choosing to work with a Business Coach is a very personal decision. This is someone you will have a long relationship with, so you have to be sure you are comfortable with them working so closely with you, your team and your business.

First of all, do your due diligence. Research the coaches you are considering, talk to their clients and see how these coaches have helped these businesses grow.

Once you’ve done your research, spend some time getting to know the coaches you are considering to make sure you both have the same goals in mind, namely making your business the profit-making machine you want it to be.

Basically, you need to have a good rapport with your mentor or coach, and be sure that your business mentor or coach has the best interests of your company (and you!) in mind.

All the best,
Brad Sugars

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Hi Brad, With the new year coming up I was wondering what I should do to make 2012 a better year for me personally and professionally?

Wednesday, December 7th, 2011

If you could reach just one goal in 2012, which one would it be?

How much of a difference in your life would it make if you reached it?

You’ve got to understand what is vital to the growth of your business and yourself, and what isn’t. When you understand the difference, you can focus on the things that will make a real difference.

Ask yourself, how will 2012 shape up for you? Will it be just another ho-hum year that started with great intentions (that maybe have faded away) or will this be YOUR Year?

Go back to the goals that you set earlier this year, most likely with great enthusiasm: Losing weight, spending more time with your family, getting out of debt, improving the cashflow and profit in your business, changing careers or starting a new business (that you’ve been talking about for years). Maybe there are more that you’ve forgotten about?

Now which ones would have made a real impact if you’d followed through on them? Planning is only the first step. To achieve anything, you’ve got to do it. Remember my formula, Be X Do= Have and decide to make the effort to achieve what is really important to you, and your business.

So if you are tired of being stuck in the same gear, then it is time for you to get un-stuck by planning to achieve your goals and then following through until they are complete.

All the best,
Brad Sugars

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Hi Brad, I’ve owned my own business for some time but as I get older, I’d love to find a way to work less while still making the income I need. I know I have to give up some control in the day to day activities, but I’ve always been very hands-on. How do I change?

Monday, November 28th, 2011

When a person is a business owner, more often than not, they have a job that never ends.

This is because a business owner is often too involved in designing, planning and implementing systems to actually run the business.

In this situation, it becomes very difficult for the business owner to get free from the business and hand over duties to others.

To break away, it takes a courageous business owner to make an enormous change in the way he or she approaches business in order to make the much-desired transition from having a job to becoming semi-retired.

This is because all change is difficult due to fear – mainly fear of the unknown.

There is also fear of change, as a move to semi-retirement means an owners needs to change the way the he or she works with the company and team-members, and also in the way he or she views money.

Instead of taking a wage from the business, an owner will now be making money by maximizing profit. This will completely change the mindset of the business owner.

As a result, the owner’s whole relationship with the business will undergo a change of mammoth proportions.

To ensure the entire process of change is handled carefully, there are some ways to ensure a smooth transition – making sure the business can operate successfully and profitably without the business owner, including developing systems and building a strong team who can run the business so you don’t have to be there.

All the best,
Brad Sugars

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Hi Brad, I have an idea for a business that could be very successful but I don’t know how to start the process. Can you help?

Wednesday, September 28th, 2011

What is it that you will be selling and how will you deliver it to your customers?

Is there a market for what you want to sell?

How does your product fill a need?

Who will your customers be and how will you reach them with your message?

How long will it take you to reach your break even and how long until your business is profitable?

These are just some of the questions to ask yourself before you get started but if this is your first business, you should also keep in mind that you probably don’t even know what you don’t know at this point and there are dozens of other questions to be answered.

I believe the best way to learn what you don’t know is to find a mentor, teacher or Business Coach that can help you understand the factors that go into starting and running your own business profitably.

So start asking around the business owners you know and pick their brain, or just call your local ActionCOACH office and get the mentor you need.

All the best,
Brad Sugars

Editor note: Brad writes about what the first step to launching a business in this article for Entrepreneur.com.

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Hi Brad, I own my own business and things are going pretty well. In fact, we are so busy I never seem to get any time off to enjoy the success we’ve had. I know I have to find someone to watch over my store and manage my team so I can get some time to myself, but I can’t seem to find anyone I trust with my business to that extent. What can I do?

Monday, September 19th, 2011

First off, as far as finding the right manager, you have to find the right “jockey” for your business.

I have more to say about that in an article I wrote recently for Entrepreneur.com which you can read here.

But I think your question speaks to a larger issue, namely your hiring processes.

You see, building a team you can trust isn’t about hiring people who are already as good as you.

Instead it’s about finding the best person you can train to do the job and training them properly.

Over time they will be able to do the job well enough that you can restore balance to your life, but only if they’ve been trained the right way.

So, taking it a step further, if you have problems with your team’s performance, ask yourself if the way you trained them was up to par?

Is training the reason none of your current team members can fill a manager position?

If it is, what can you do to improve the way you train your team?

For more ideas on team building, you can read my book, Instant Team Building, which will help you clarify the process.

All the best,
Brad Sugars

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Hi Brad, I’ve heard you talk about knowing your market and who you are trying to sell to. I want to start my own business but how can I understand and connect with my potential customers before I open my doors? I don’t want to spend the first few months in business staring at my walls and I don’t have any information on the people I want to sell to. What can I do?

Friday, September 2nd, 2011

You may not have any information about who you want to sell to, but you should have an idea of who your ideal customer is and that’s the first step to truly understanding your market.

Ask yourself, how old is your ideal customer, what do they do for a living, why would they buy from you?

By figuring out who your ideal customer is, you can put yourself in their shoes, enabling you to develop a marketing plan that targets them.

Once you understand who you’re targeting, the next step is developing the strategies to make them customers.

Remember, to reach customers you need to know your target, have an offer that appeals to them and copy that motivates them to Action.

There is no fool-proof way to ensure your new business will be full of customers immediately after opening, but if you develop a strategic plan by understanding who you want for customers and use your offer and copy to drive them to your business you’re are on the right path.

All the Best,
Brad Sugars

Editor’s Note: Brad Sugars has written an article about how to analyze a market for Entrepreneur.com. To read Brad’s full take, click here.

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Hi Brad, I just graduated from high school in the United States. I’ve have had some success with small businesses, like selling t-shirts that I designed and sold and I think I’d like to be an entrepreneur one day. Right now, I’m about to start college but I think being an entrepreneur is the right path for me. What do I have to know to make it a successful path?

Wednesday, August 31st, 2011

As far as I’m concerned, there is no better job than being an entrepreneur, but if it were easy, everyone would be one.

Like you did when you designed and sold t-shirts, it’s time to start putting your plan in Action. Once you begin to move forward, you can truly understand whether the entrepreneurial lifestyle suits you.

Before you jump straight into your career, you need to learn how to sell, if you haven’t learned already. And understanding the numbers of business is essential and will help you in any field.

You can also learn by finding a job that will teach you those skills in the business you want to go into or by working with a mentor who has the knowledge and skills you want to possess.

The best teacher, though, is experience. You may be surprised how much you will learn just by doing.

All the Best,
Brad Sugars

Editor’s Note: Brad Sugars has written an article about what it’s really like to be an entrepreneur for Entrepreneur.com. To read Brad’s full take, click here.

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Hi Brad, I’d love some suggestions for getting customers to come back. For some reason my customers come in once and don’t seem to come back. They might pop in a second time, but we have almost no repeat customers. I know we need repeat customers to build a strong business so how can I develop customer loyalty?

Tuesday, August 23rd, 2011

People will buy from someone they know the first time, but they’ll buy a second time from someone they like and they’ll become loyal customers to someone they trust.

So what are you doing to develop the type of relationships you need to build that trust?

The customer is always right in that no customer will continue to buy from someplace that doesn’t treat them well and offer consistently good value.

All the best,
Brad Sugars

Editor’s Note: Brad Sugars has written an article about getting your customers to love you for Entrepreneur.com. To read Brad’s full take, click here.

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