Posts Tagged ‘Business Coaching’

« Older Entries

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

Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Ask Brad Sugars | No Comments »

Hi Brad, Why should I hire a coach to help my business?

Tuesday, December 6th, 2011

Challenges are hard to anticipate in any business, but they’re easier to overcome with business coaching.

Business coaching is just like sports coaching.

A sports coach trains an athlete to get better, while business coaching not only helps businesses establish organized plans for every challenge they come across, it helps set those plans in motion. In other words they train the business to make it better.

Companies that have used business coaching tackle challenges with a plan and business strategy from the business owner’s view and an outside view: the business coach. This way, the company achieves its desired outcome.

Business coaching is a very quickly expanding industry, and it’s expanding because it’s a successful industry. Just like sports athletes have to keep ahead of their competitors with a coach, business industries, especially in this recession, are getting extremely competitive and need a coach to stay ahead of the competition.

Think about if a sports athlete didn’t have a coach. He might keep doing the same things that have worked for him many times before, and he might be fine for a while. But eventually, since he’s doing the same things and not necessarily getting better at his sport or his skills, the competition will surpass him.

It’s the same thing with business. With all the industry changes, innovations and management strategies, business owners can’t keep doing the same thing they’ve been doing. Eventually the competition will surpass them.

With competition and other factors in the mix, business coaching is a sound investment in your company’s future.

All the best,
Brad Sugars

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Ask Brad Sugars | No Comments »

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.

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Ask Brad Sugars | No Comments »

Three months ago I opened a shop in a town in England “selling lifestyle” products. My sales have been abysmal. I thought my idea would work and that there was a market for what I’m selling, but so far that hasn’t been true. Even though I’m inexperienced in business, I really think the idea for my store could be very profitable, if I just knew the right steps to take. What can I do to get on the right path?

Friday, August 19th, 2011

It sounds like you are stuck in the classic situation of many new businesses, selling what you want to sell versus what people want to buy. People that don’t have a plan or the knowledge necessary to run your own business often find themselves in this situation.

It’s very hard to earn before you learn and many people make the mistake of rushing into a business when they would be better off taking their time and learning about the business they want to get in, or business in general, in the first place.

You may have a great idea, but you’ve got to learn the ins and outs before you get started and there are many ways you can learn. Find a mentor, work in your chosen field for a time before opening your own shop, go to school, read every business book you can.

In your situation, where you already have a store open, you might want to find an experienced manager or even a partner who can help you find the right path or you could hire an ActionCOACH Business Coach to teach you what you need to know.

All the best,
Brad Sugars

Editor’s Note: Brad Sugars has written an article about this topic for Entrepreneur.com. To read Brad’s full take, click here.

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Ask Brad Sugars | No Comments »

We are a new carpentry contractor and I was wondering what the best way to introduce our company to new clients would be?

Monday, July 25th, 2011

First you have to figure out who you want to market your business to. If you could picture your ideal client, who would they be? Where would they live, how often would they use your services, etc.

By defining your ideal client you can begin to target and develop strategies to bring that client into your business, but if you can’t define who they are, your marketing will miss the mark and your business will suffer. This might take some research but for anything to succeed you have to plan ahead anyway.

For your particular business, strategic alliances can be very effective, since there are so many businesses that deal with home remodeling,

You can also introduce your company to new clients through strategic alliances with other companies that work with the same type of customers you’d like, but don’t do carpentry contracting, like a plumber or even a Home Owner’s Association.

You could go a different route as well, working as a sub-contractor. In this role you could make an offer to general contractors that could use your services. This is a little bit of a different approach then if you market directly to the customer, but it could help you build your reputation, and your revenues.

You should also develop some marketing materials that possible customers can read to learn about your company and what you offer. As you put together your brochure, try telling people about the benefits they will receive from choosing to work with your company. You want to answer the age-old question, What’s In It For Me (the customer) in your marketing materials as well.

All the best,
Brad Sugars

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Ask Brad Sugars | No Comments »

I am from Indonesia, and I am currently a manager at one of the biggest language school in the country. We are currently looking to expand our business through a franchise partnership in more than 50 towns throughout the country. My current job has given me a ton of experience in the field, but now I intend to make my own school and I don’t know how to start. The competition is very tight and the market is very concerned with brand reputation. As a newcomer, I only have a small budget to invest. Do you have any ideas?

Thursday, July 21st, 2011

Congratulations on your decision, but there are some things to consider before jumping right in.

Is there a market for your services? Are you going to be working within a proven franchise system and does the system work well in various locations? Is the franchise easily recognizable or will you have to help build the brand?

That said, except for giving you all the normal business plans and marketing advice I would really like you to think about your differences compared to the other language schools. What sets you apart? Why would someone choose your new school against the older, established school?

One of the main reasons to buy into a franchise is the recognition and reputation of the brand, so if you can’t answer each of the above questions positively, you may want to keep looking for a business opportunity.

As you said that the competition is very tight.

Exactly how tight?

Or, is there really a market for your business?

Here’s a way to see … just figure out how much is spent in your area on language schools. Say it’s $1 million a year. Then break down how many people are in your area. Say it’s 10. Now divide $1 million by 10, and you can figure that each school has $100,000 each in turnover.

But we really know this isn’t true … as some schools do better than others.

Typically, the top 2 or 3 schools have the lion’s share of “wallet share” … which means they probably own 50% to 60% of the market.

That means you have 7 or 8 others fighting for the remaining $400,000 in turnover.

Break that down further, and each is bringing in less than $60K each … hardly enough to make a go of it, wouldn’t you say?

That said, if you have something truly unique about your own your own business that will catapult you to capture the top school’s earnings, then you might have a chance.

Either way, seriously look at the numbers before you start so you don’t lose your entire investment.

Finally, while it sounds like you’ve already built the knowledge and skills in your current job to run a school, you need to learn “how” to run a business.

So as you work your numbers, look at opportunities, review your market and develop your plan, invest in yourself and learn as much as you can about starting and running a business.

That means get a Business Coach or advisor, read books, attend seminars and network with successful business owners in your industry and category.

Doing these things will help you prepare to become the owner, which is a far different position than a manager, and far more rewarding.

All the best,
Brad Sugars

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Ask Brad Sugars | No Comments »

I have a computer consulting company and our database contains over 22,000 names. I was thinking of doing a direct mail marketing mail-out and offer free tune ups to business clients, but I’m not sure what it should look like or what other things I can do with my database. Can you help?

Thursday, July 14th, 2011

That is certainly an impressive database. Having 22,000 names is a huge plus for your business.

The first thing that came to my mind is how old is your database?

In other words, are you sure that these 22,000 names are (or can be made into) active customers?

While it’s great to have such an extensive list, you have a great potential to waste money by sending out so many mailings. I first would limit to the customers that did business with you over the last year and a half or two years.

So before you send anything out, make sure your list is current. There are a number of services that can clean up your list for you at a fairly nominal charge. They can purge your list of old or out of date addresses, which can be extremely helpful with a list as big as yours.

Remember, no matter how you use your database, you want to always make sure it’s right before you do a mailing.

It may cost you a few bucks to clean up your list, but the money spent will save you more in non-deliverable mail in the long run.

Another thing to keep in mind is to test and measure before you go full throttle. With such a huge mailing list, you definitely should run a test first.

Does your database have email address?

Take a random sample of 500 names from your database, and send them your mailing, whether snail-mail or email. Track the results to determine if it will be worth mailing to the rest of the list. Repeat as necessary.

Once you’ve tested, you have to decide what your mailing will be. Mailings can get expensive so you’ve got to consider your options carefully.

You can use postcards as a cost savings or send out a monthly (or quarterly) newsletter to keep your database up to date on what your company is doing and what you have to sell, including mentioning your free check-ups.

Whichever format you decide to use, be sure it drives customers to your web site where you can easily track the response rate of the mailing.

Because of the expense and also because of your line of work, it might make more sense (and be more cost effective) to start with some sort of email based marketing, rather than an actual mail-out.

You may find that the members of your database that want to do more business with you are happy to be marketed through email and will keep you so busy, saving a load of money and resources in the process.

All the Best,
Brad Sugars

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Ask Brad Sugars | No Comments »

I work in the wedding business, planning people’s weddings, where people generally only get married once and basically only use my services for their wedding once. How do I get repeat business or more sales from them?

Friday, July 1st, 2011

I think you need to keep in mind that yes, while you may only be working with a particular couple once you will be making an impression on other people besides the couple and their family.

Treat the whole wedding party as the client, not just the husband and wife, but the groomsmen and bridesmaids, as well.  Network with these people at the rehearsals and wedding day, letting them know what you do and how you do it so all the unmarried ones use your service when the time arises for them.

It may help to think about it this way, when you are putting together a wedding, you are “advertising” to a whole lot of people, aside from the couple.

All of these people will remember their experience if it is a good one, but keep in mind they will remember if it is bad too. You have to use the wedding itself as advertisement for your business and, while you may not generate repeat business, you will certainly generate referrals.

Now that you understand that you have to sell yourself at the event itself, how will you keep touch with them after the wedding so you stay in the front of their mind should they need your services?

Have you considered a newsletter?  A newsletter would be a good way to get your message out there while educating your clients on your full product range.

Also, if your business is offering other services, other than weddings, are they listed on your flyer, brochure, the back of your business card, website and advertising?

Remember, if they don’t know what you sell, how can they possibly buy it from you?

Another tact you might take to get more business is working with the venues directly. Often people book the date and venue of their wedding first, and then plan the details. It would probably help if those venues knew about your business so they could send couples in need your way.

You could probably work out a strategic alliance with a couple of venues in which you steer weddings their way and you steer clients towards them. There are so many possibilities that you should connect with as many venues as possible to tell them about your services and see what type of deal you can work out with them.

All the best,
Brad Sugars

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Ask Brad Sugars | No Comments »

Hi, I started an IT business 4 months ago and have constant work coming from a few places enough to cover expenses. Most of my business is coming from the local people in the area. I haven’t really spent much time working ON the business at all because I’ve been so busy working IN it, but I want to expand my operations to start working with other businesses. I am the only IT business in town and while I’ve done well with lay people, I need to start doing business with companies to really grow. How can I sell myself to the businesses in town that may need my services?

Tuesday, June 21st, 2011

Your best move is to start by targeting some of the smaller businesses in your area who are less likely to have long term IT service contracts in place. Try to find out who is in charge and offer to come to their office or storefront and do an audit of their needs.

If you are willing to spend regular time working with these companies, you could become very popular, so long as you are solving their problems. Dissatisfaction levels with remote IT support is typically pretty high, so you should do well if you are as responsive to these companies’ needs as you would be if you were an in-house IT Department. As your reputation grows, so will your business.

As you have stated, you seem to be doing well with your existing customer base, so don’t be afraid to draw on them for referrals. I’m sure many of them know or even work with the types of businesses you’d like to start working with. Why not ask them to tell everyone they know about your service and what you are willing to do for other small businesses? If they truly like your service, they’ll be happy to tell others about you.

Finally, since you haven’t had much time to work ON your business, I would recommend bringing on another team member who can help you grow your business. This might be an IT person, it might be a salesperson or someone who does a little bit of everything, but the point is, you can’t do it all yourself.

So to grow, reach out to small businesses, leverage your best customers to provide referrals and build and train your team to provide great service, so you can focus on growing your business.  Follow these steps and you should get the kind of attention you want from the other businesses in your town.

All the best,
Brad Sugars

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Ask Brad Sugars | No Comments »

I am 24 years old and want to start my own business. I do not have any capital saved, and I am not sure what business I want to start. A friend suggested that I start out in MLM. From what I see – a lot of so-called work from home business opportunities are a scam. What is your advice on starting a business for the very first time?

Friday, June 17th, 2011

My advice for someone starting a small business for the first time is to learn as much as you can before you invest your time and money into such an important undertaking. There are many ways to learn and multi-level marketing can be one path to educating yourself.

Working within a MLM will force you to develop your sales skills and get out of your comfort zone because you will have to talk to people and sell to make any money, which are important if you want to build the necessary skills to be successful in business down the road.

There are some major negatives to working within a MLM that you should keep in mind. Most MLMs will have you selling something like soap or vitamins or some other similar products. Even though you’ll be tempted to sell to your friends and family, you’ll need to develop a network outside of that circle to really be successful.

Beyond that, the best thing you can do is work and get as much practical experience as you can and learn as much about how business works before setting off on your own.

Also, talk to people who are already in business and learn from them. There is as much value in “learning before you earn” this way- and you just may find a good mentor who can guide you on a path that will lead to business success.

Owning a business may be the first step on the path to freedom, but if you don’t know what you’re doing, you can end up with a mountain of debt and legal issues you may never escape. That’s why you don’t want to rush into anything without being better prepared.

All the best,
Brad Sugars

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Ask Brad Sugars | No Comments »

« Older Entries