A Coach On Your Team
Sun Herald
Sunday August 27, 2000
WHAT the personal trainer is to fitness, special coaches are to small business.
Small business coaching is booming thanks to the paperwork burden of new tax laws and deadlines since July 1.
The expert coaches are finding that not enough small businesses analyse whether a marketing strategy such as a letterbox drop is working, hire the most suitable staff or have a strategy for expansion.
Small Business Clinic (SBC) managing director Fiona Anson said the most common response to the new tax system was that ``it is just too hard".
Ms Anson said a lot of businesses were spending the GST they collect rather than tucking it away into a separate account regularly, effectively setting themselves up for a cash crunch when the first business activity statement is due on November 11. SBC charges $544.50 for the basic two-hour coaching session.
This helps business owners deal with the new government obligations and increase cash flow through marketing.
The cost varies from there depending on the requirements of the business. Extra sessions cost from $500 upwards.
But as with personal training, you don't get it easy. For a start there's an 81-item questionnaire covering financial management, wealth creation, strategies and people management.
The coach then works with the business owner to fix any problems. Benchmarks for measuring results are also detailed so the business can keep track of any increase in sales, profits, cash flow and customers.
Ms Anson said that although many businesses had experimented with basic marketing tools such as letterbox drops and newspaper advertisements, many had not studied what effects they had.
``We work out a cash flow forecast and ask [businesses] `do you have a plan?"' Ms Anson said.
Another common problem is attracting people with the right skills to the business.
John Vamos, chief executive officer at coaching franchise Business Thinking Systems (BTS), which charges from $2,500 for a year of personal coaching, said it was important to follow a precise methodology when scrutinising business operations.
``It is a natural way of unpacking and repacking business so that when they are repackaged, they are perfect," Mr Vamos said.
``[The BTS methodology] is a thinking system, a set of tools that stimulates work groups to do the best they can do. In 48 hours we strip down the business, look at every single working part and see if we like it."
Mr Vamos said several problems were common to most businesses.
``You know what you will find before you get there. We know the questions that will be asked [but] the participants think it's a miracle," Mr Vamos said.
Typically, these problems include a lack of strategy. Or, the business knows what direction they want to move in but fear they are not getting there fast enough. Or the business might have a good strategy and be functioning efficiently, but the person in charge is not.
Many businesses often find it a challenge getting people aligned behind the aims and plan of the business.
``You can have the right systems but not the right people to drive them," Mr Vamos said.
``The brain works best when someone else is conducting the thinking process for you," he added.
TOP 10 TIPS
1 Learn the industry.
2 Start with more money than you think you'll need.
3 Study successful competitors.
4 Put service, quality and customers first.
5 Forget the 40-hour week.
6 Keep complete, accurate records.
7 Hire the best help.
8 Use your lawyer, accountant, banker, and insurance agent.
9 Run the business yourself.
10 Be persistent; bounce back more determined to succeed.
SOURCE: www.business.gov.au
© 2000 Sun Herald
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