Action Coach Portsmouth

Action Coach Portsmouth

Beth Theobald-Morgan

FREE 2 WEEK BUSINESS KICKSTART: Is It Right for You?

By

CLICK HERE to claim your FREE 2 WEEK BUSINESS KICKSTART place

Ask most business owners when they last switched off completely, and you’ll usually get a long pause.

Over time, the business that was meant to give them freedom has quietly taken over their evenings, their weekends and their holidays. Not because they’re doing anything wrong, but because they’re too close to it to see a way out.

That’s exactly why we created the FREE 2 WEEK BUSINESS KICKSTART: free, one-to-one business coaching for owners across Hampshire and West Sussex. Over two weeks, we step back from the day-to-day together, look at your business from the outside, and build a clear game plan to grow it and get your time back. Best of all, it costs nothing, and there’s no obligation to carry on afterwards.

In this post, we’ll explain exactly what happens, and how to tell whether it’s right for you.

Why two weeks of free business coaching?

Put simply, two weeks is long enough to see how your business really runs, and short enough that it doesn’t take over your diary.

After all, a single meeting rarely gets past the surface. Typically, you talk about the challenges you already know about, and you leave with a few good ideas that are forgotten by Friday. In contrast, over two weeks we can meet you, see your business in action, think properly about what we’ve found, and come back with a plan that fits how you actually work.

It also means you get a real taste of what working with a business coach is like, rather than a sales pitch about it.

What happens, step by step

The Kickstart has four steps, each building on the last.

Step one: Connect & Coffee

We start with a relaxed, informal chat over a coffee. This is all about you: where the business is today, where you want it to be, and what you want your own life to look like. We’ll ask what’s frustrating you, what’s working well, and what you’d do with more time if you had it.

Above all, there’s no pressure and no hard sell. It’s simply a chance to get to know each other.

Step two: Exploration & On-Site Insight

Next, we come to you. This matters because seeing your business in action tells us far more than any conversation can. We’ll look at how work flows through the business, how the team operates day to day, and where your own time is going.

In fact, owners are often surprised by what an outside pair of eyes picks up. For example, things that have become “just how we do it” can turn out to be where the biggest opportunities are hiding.

Step three: Virtual Strategy Session

Then, using what we’ve learned, we meet online to dig into the detail. Together we’ll pinpoint the handful of areas that would make the biggest difference, whether that’s profit, sales, your team, your systems or your time.

Ultimately, the aim is focus. Rather than trying to fix everything at once, we narrow it down to what matters most right now.

Step four: 90-Minute Game Plan Session

Finally, we bring it all together in a 90-minute session to build your game plan. As a result, you’ll leave with clear priorities, practical next steps and a realistic timeline, written down so you can act on it straight away.

What you walk away with

By the end of the two weeks, you’ll have:

  • A clear picture of where your business stands today, seen from the outside

  • Your biggest opportunities identified, so you know where to focus first

  • A written game plan with priorities, next steps and a timeline

  • A real experience of business coaching, so you can decide whether it’s right for you

Most importantly, the game plan is yours to keep, whatever you decide to do next.

Is it right for you?

Generally, the Kickstart works best for business owners in Hampshire and West Sussex who want things to change and are ready to act on what they learn.

It’s probably a great fit if you:

  • Own and run a business, and feel like it runs you rather than the other way round

  • Are working long hours and missing out on time with family, friends or hobbies

  • Know the business could be more profitable, but aren’t sure where to start

  • Rely on yourself for too much, and want your team to take more ownership

  • Have a growth goal in mind, but no clear plan to get there

  • Are open to an outside view, even when it challenges how things are done

It’s probably not for you if:

  • You’re looking for someone to do the work for you, rather than alongside you

  • You’re not in a position to make changes in the next few months

  • You’d only like to talk through ideas, without acting on any of them

On the other hand, if you’re not sure, that’s fine. Mention it when you apply, and we’ll have an honest conversation about whether the Kickstart is the right next step.

Frequently asked questions

Is it really free? Yes. In fact, there’s no cost for any of the four steps, and you won’t be asked for payment details.

What’s the catch? There isn’t one. We run the Kickstart because the best way to understand what coaching can do is to experience it. If you’d like to keep working together afterwards, we’ll talk about that. If not, you keep your game plan and we part as friends.

How much of my time will it take? Four sessions spread over two weeks, including the 90-minute Game Plan Session. What’s more, we’ll arrange each one around your diary.

Where do the sessions happen? First, the coffee is somewhere convenient for you. After that, the on-site visit is at your business, and the strategy session is online.

Why are places limited? Each Kickstart gets proper one-to-one time, including a visit to your business. As a result, we can only take on a small number each month.

What happens afterwards? That’s up to you. Some owners choose to carry on with coaching, and others take their game plan and run with it. Either way, there’s no obligation.

Ready to work with a business coach?

If you’ve read this far, you probably already know something needs to change. Often, the hardest part is taking the first step, and that’s just a coffee.

Places are limited each month, so if the FREE 2 WEEK BUSINESS KICKSTART sounds right for you, apply today. It takes two minutes, and we’ll be in touch to book your coffee.

CLICK HERE to claim your FREE 2 WEEK BUSINESS KICKSTART place

No cost. No obligation. Just a clear plan to grow your business and get your time back.

3 Signs your business depends on you too much

By

Most business owners start out chasing freedom: more time, more control, more choice over how they spend their days.

Somewhere along the way, many end up with the opposite. The business grows, but so do the hours. Evenings go on admin, weekends go on catch-up, and holidays come with a laptop.

If your business can’t run without you, you don’t own a business. You own a job, and a demanding one. Here are three signs it depends on you too much, and what you can do about it.

 

1. Every decision comes through you

Your phone never stops. Your team checks with you before they act, from pricing a job to answering a customer email.

It can feel good to be needed. But when every decision waits for you, you become the bottleneck. Work slows down when you’re busy, and stops completely when you’re away.

Try this:
For one week, note every question your team brings you. Pick the three that come up most and agree a simple rule for each, so your team can decide without you next time.

 

2. You can’t take a proper break

When did you last switch off for a full week? Not checking emails by the pool, not taking “quick” calls on a day out with the family.

If a holiday needs weeks of planning, or you dread what you’ll come back to, your business is relying on you to keep it running day to day. That’s tiring, and it’s risky. If you were ill for a month, what would happen?

Try this:
Book a day off in the next month and put it in the diary now. Then look at what would need to happen for the business to run smoothly that day. That list is where the work starts.

 

3. The know-how lives only in your head

How do you quote for a job? Onboard a new customer? Train a new starter? If the honest answer is “I just do it”, the business only works when you’re there.

Without written systems, every task depends on your memory and your time. Your team can’t step up, and growing means you work even harder.

Try this:
Choose one task you do every week and write down the steps, or record yourself doing it. Hand it to someone else and fine-tune it together. One system a month adds up fast.

 

Building a business that runs without you

Recognise one or more of these signs? You’re not alone, and it can be fixed. It isn’t a time problem. It’s a business design problem.

Through business coaching, we help owners put the right pieces in place:

  • Systems, so the know-how isn’t stuck in your head
  • A team who can make decisions without you
  • Clear numbers, so you know how the business is doing at a glance
  • A plan, with time off put in the diary first

The result is a business that keeps running when you step back, and more time for your family, your hobbies and the life you built it for.

 

Ready to get your time back? Get in touch to book a free, no-obligation chat about where your time is going and what would free up the most of it.

Book a call with Matt now!

Grow Your Business: Fix These 4 Foundations First

By

When a business owner tells me they want to grow, my first question isn’t about marketing. It’s about foundations.

In the ActionCOACH Business Operating System, the first stage is mastery: moving from chaos to control. It has four parts, and each one builds on the last. Get them right and growth becomes far easier. Skip them and growth becomes expensive and exhausting.


1. Delivery mastery

Most owners focus on new customers first. I want to know whether you can look after the ones you’ve already got.

Would you run a bath with the hot tap on and the plug out? That’s what chasing new business looks like when existing clients are leaking away. Keeping a customer is seven times cheaper than winning a new one.

The test: can you deliver on time at least 80% of the time, on budget, on scope, with no negative feedback and no late-night panic? First, score yourself out of 10. Then ask what one or two points better would look like.

A simple way to raise the bar is to imagine your favourite celebrity just became a customer. Of course, you’d pull out all the stops. What would you do for them that you’re not doing for everyone?


2. Destination mastery

Simply put, before you build something, you need to know what you’re building.

We spend more time planning our family holiday than planning where our business is going. Nobody turns up at the airport with a backpack and no idea where they’re flying. And nobody builds a dream house by dumping bricks in a field. Instead you’d hire an architect and see the drawings first.

So take two full days. Decide where you want the business to be, what it’ll turn over and which customers it’ll serve. That’s your blueprint.


3. Financial mastery

If you don’t know last month’s net profit, you don’t really know your business.

Every one of my clients reports their numbers to their coach monthly: revenue, gross margin, net profit and average sale. Together they answer one question: are you on track or off track?

Technology makes this easy now. My AI agent pulls our numbers from Xero every Tuesday morning and emails the team a report. As a result, a three-hour job became thirty minutes.

And if your accountant only gives you year-end accounts nine months late, find one who’ll give you monthly numbers.


4. Time mastery

Fortunately, I only ask for two to four hours a week, blocked out, to work on the business.

If you’re not building your business, someone else is. However, it rarely ends up looking the way you wanted.


Where to start

Score yourself out of 10 on each of the four. Pick the lowest two and focus there for the next 90 days. Finally, once those are solid, you’re ready to grow.

Contact us to book your free coaching session.

Take Action. Get Results.