FAQ

My mission is to help you turn your business into a sustainably profitable enterprise that can work without you.

That means leveraging your skills, knowledge, experience and time to do your highest value work and focusing increasingly on the work only you can do. It means escaping the ‘owners trap’ of being so busy with all the routine, operational tasks doing the jobs IN the business as a ‘technician’ and micro manager. So that you can systematically work ON the strategic development of the business.

With an accelerated growth strategy, you can attain financial freedom in a defined timeframe: able to enjoy the benefits as a shareholder, cash in and pursue other ventures, or build a legacy for the next generation. I can help you shape your business around the life YOU want, able to do what you are best at and enjoy the most.

A business coach is your go-to person for guidance, support, and accountability. They help you clarify your vision, strategise your path to success, and stay motivated throughout your journey. With their help, you can overcome obstacles, achieve your goals, and take your business to new heights. Let me be that person for you - read more here

A business coach helps you gain clarity, provides an objective perspective, offers personalised advice, ensures accountability, enhances your leadership skills, and assists with specific challenges. Their support can be instrumental in driving your business forward, helping you achieve success more efficiently and effectively. Discover how well you’re doing in the 6 key areas of business success with our 6 Steps Scorecard. It only takes 5 minutes and is completely FREE!

A business coach helps you develop your own capabilities and toolkit for growing your business, developing your team and yourself. Operating on a ‘teach you how to fish rather than feed you the fish’ principle, the coaching process helps you become a more confident, capable, empowered and resourceful leader with the tools, knowledge and strategies for long term growth.

A consultant provides expert solutions to specific problems, focusing on short-term, project-based engagements.

Understanding these differences can help you choose the right support for your business needs. I will provide perspective, know-how, the discipline, focus and accountability to stay on track with ON the business priorities and be your sounding board throughout this journey together as a trusted guide by your side.

Based on what our clients tell us, here’s are 10 things to expect from your business coach:

1. A trusted advisor to confide in with respect to any important issues

2. A sounding board to brainstorm with & provide external perspective

3. An unreasonable, yet compassionate friend – to provide challenge & support

4. Someone to push you out of your comfort zone to grow to your potential

5. Someone to keep you focused, disciplined and hold you accountable

6. Ensure you have a plan for your personal development and that of your business

7. Provide critiques and reviews of your work

8. Someone to ‘hold the mirror up’ through honest feedback & communication

9. A source of knowledge, methods, tools, strategies, tactics you can learn & apply

10. A source of trusted contacts, expertise and connecting you to a community of growth minded business owners

In my coaching, I draw on my clients’ existing domain expertise and combine it with my generalist experience, alongside the wealth of proven methods provided by ActionCoach and other related programmes. We are then able to transform good businesses into great ones that can work without their owners.

You may need a business coach if you’re feeling stuck, lack direction, face challenges, desire growth, need accountability, seek improvement, experience overwhelm, want personal growth, are undergoing a transition, want to avoid common pitfalls, or accelerate growth by leveraging knowledge and experience of others.

A business coach can provide the guidance, support, and accountability needed to remove any interference and overcome these challenges and achieve your business goals. Watch here on Why Everyone Needs a Coach by Atul Gwande.

During a business coaching session, you can expect to get clarity, set goals, review progress, solve problems, develop skills, brainstorm & create strategies, accountability, receive feedback, plan & commit to actions, and identify support and resources. The session is designed to be a productive and empowering experience, helping you move closer to your business & personal objectives. Here's some more info on my signature programme - One-on-One Coaching.

One-to-one coaching is our signature coaching programme. It involves weekly or fortnightly coaching sessions where we work directly together to develop both your business and you as a leader in your business to turn it into a sustainably profitable and cash generative enterprise that can work hard without you.

The schedule will be tailored to your specific needs, ensuring you receive the right level of support to achieve your business goals. Regular and consistent sessions are crucial for maintaining momentum and accountability in your coaching journey.

These sessions are supplemented by quarterly planning workshops, designed to chunk up annual goals into quarterly priorities and weekly steps and systematically drive progress towards them, and an annual alignment and planning session to ensure your long term goals and vision are mapped out and refreshed.

The duration of a business coaching relationship typically lasts several years, depending on your goals and needs. My average engagement is c. 3 years, though I have been supporting a number of clients for 5-10 years - some on their second or third business and/or coaching and mentoring members of their management and leadership teams.

There is however no fixed term - clients will only continue if they are getting a clear Return on Investment and continue to get value.

Long-term success isn’t just about your coach offering advice or doing the work for you, it’s more about working closely with you (and your team) to align your goals and create success together. Regular reviews and flexible agreements can ensure the coaching remains effective and aligned with your ever evolving needs.

Yes, though the real magic in the coaching relationship is to combine your domain expertise within your industry with the breadth of the coach’s experience across all aspects of the business and personal development and at every stage of the busines’s evolution.
Can a business coach help me with specific problems, like marketing or finance?

The coach will work with you across all the functions and disciplines of the business: sales, marketing, business development, planning, business management, team building and proven profit-building strategies as well as connecting you with a wider network of like-minded business owners. Sanjiv has worked with over 100 businesses of all shapes and sizes, across a wide range of sectors in the last 8 years since he started his coaching practice.

If by any chance, you do have a challenge he may not have encountered before, he will reach out to the wider coaching community and business owner network. We invariably find someone who has relevant experience to seek guidance and advice from.

Absolutely! We offer our 1-1 clients the option of online and in-person sessions, or a hybrid of the two, depending on your requirements. We are based in Hersham for those who prefer an in-person session.

Most certainly! Training and developing your team is almost as crucial as coaching you, the business owner. Growing your team alongside your business, aligning them with your vision and plans will only increase your likelihood of success. If you invest in your team, they will invest in your business with the level of passion and commitment to help you achieve your goals more efficiently than you otherwise would on your own.

The investment varies with the type of programme that is right for you at your stage of the business.

The investment ranges from £200 + VAT per month for our entry-level programme involving long term, annual and quarterly planning to £600 + VAT per month for our group mastermind programme, where you will be in a small cohort of 3-8 businesses with similar requirements, to on average £2000 + VAT per month for our bespoke 1-to-1 coaching programme.

Whatever the level of investment, our aim is always to ensure we work collaboratively to get the investment paid for through strategies to bring more revenue, profit and cash into the business and grow the asset value of the business long term. By ensuring we’re not an overhead on your Profit & Loss, it gives us an opportunity to focus on the strategic development towards longer team goals. We have experience of deploying over 300+ strategies to achieve this.

Choosing the right business coach for you is critical. The right coach can help streamline processes, increase productivity, and ultimately, drive revenue growth. Ultimately, you need to select a coach who you trust and have a rapport with, who gets you and understands your business needs, who challenges you as an unreasonable yet compassionate friend, and with whom you can build a close, productive relationship. Ensure that their expertise aligns with your goals. Have a look at a few of our client success stories here.

The first step is your FREE coaching / business growth strategy session which we offer following a quick initial Discovery conversation - BOOK NOW!

My aim within the first few months of working together is to find ways of bringing in more profits and cash into your business so that we get your investment in coaching paid for with an evident RoI so that it doesn’t become another overhead on your P&L giving you more financial pressure. This gives us the opportunity to work on the strategic plan and development of both the business and your leadership skills.

If any of these 4 pointers resonate with you, then business coaching will be well worth the investment:

• Breakthrough results with clarity in vision for the next 5-10 years, with actionable goals and a roadmap to achieve them.

• More Money! We will identify and implement strategies to grow your earnings and business value, providing the income to achieve financial freedom.

• More Time! Working ON your business as an owner, and not just IN it as a technician or manager, freeing up time for what matters most in your life.

• A Better Team! The right people trained for the right roles, with your operations systemised so that your business can grow without you.

When looking for a business coach, it's important to consider a range of qualifications to ensure they have the expertise and experience to effectively guide and support you. Here are some key qualifications to look for:

1. Relevant Experience [Business Ownership and Industry Knowledge]

2. Proven Track Record [Success Stories and Client Retention]

3. Educational Background [Business Education and/or Specialised Training]

4. Certifications and Accreditations: Credentials from reputable organisations such as ActionCoach, the biggest and most well-known business coaching firm - established for over 30 years in 80+ countries, with a 1000 + coaches supporting 1000’s of businesses every week.

5. Skills and Competencies [Communication, Analytical and Leadership]

6. Approach and Methodology [Coaching Style and Customised Programmes]

7. Ethics and Professionalism [Ethical Standards and Professionalism]

8. Personal Qualities [Empathy, Understanding and Motivational Skills]

9. Technology and Tools [Proficiency in using Business Analysis Tools and Software]

10. Continuous Learning [Ongoing Education]

By considering these qualifications, you can find a business coach who is well-equipped to help you navigate the complexities of running and growing your business.

Success is measured simply by the ongoing achievement of the goals you set out to achieve at the start of your engagement, for example: more time, better work/life balance, more money, better results from your team, a business that can operate without you, the growth of your business as an asset, financial freedom giving you the time and the money to do the things that important to you.

We track and measure the wins, the achievement of milestones and goals, progress versus plan as an integral part of our coaching process so that you are always clear on the value and return you are getting from your coaching investment.

Results aren’t immediate and will take time but you should be seeing the value within months of starting a coaching programme and we will provide a Guarantee.

So if, after a reasonable period of coaching, say, 6 months (and provided you have been meeting your side of the bargain in terms of implementing the steps identified in an agreed plan) the results are still not forthcoming then we will carry on working with you without invoicing you until the results are achieved or refund the difference between the additional gross margin you have brought in and the investment in coaching.

You should take confidence in the fact that we’ve not had to make such a payout to date.

Yes, of course. Our philosophy is that ‘We’re in business to get more life’ so the setting of personal goals (including work/life balance), the things that are important to you and for your family, is an integral part of the process. Then looking at how the business needs to be designed and evolved to help accelerate the achievement of these goals.