"What would you say to a business owner who was considering getting an Action Coach to help them acheive their goals?"...

"I have found coaching to be one that has made my life easier in respect of time. I was working from 7.00 till sometime 7.00 at night a few years ago. Now from 8.00 to 5.00 and with half days on Fridays. Coaching has also made me look at other avenues in other businesses, which will pay off in the next few years. My phone doesn’t ring in a good way. I would recommend this coaching to everyone......" Rodney Kirk, Rodney Kirk Pty Ltd - Builders & Contractors

"Clive's input to our training and consultancy business has been invaluable in numerous ways. Our business has clear direction for achieving growth, a platform for marketing and promotion, and we now have control over the financials of our business. As well as these fundamentals, Clive has greatly assisted us to manage the stresses and strains of business partnership at a personal level. While cautious at the start regarding costs and time commitments, our meetings with Clive have become essential to what we do and one of the best investments we make in growing our business"...... I have observed that prior to the coaching, although I had much of the right thinking, nothing ever eventuated. Once I made the commitment to coaching I noticed I got commitment from my business partner (wife). We were finally speaking the same language. This meant we were progressing in the same direction rather then constantly sabotaging (unintentionally) each others efforts. As you would expect, I now approach each day more positively, more confidently and really enjoy the business relationships I am developing with associates and clients. Paul Schott, Director, Newfangled Ideas - 'Strengthening Organisations'

I want to restate that I have valued the way you have coached and supported our business over the last year. With your focus on actions, working on the business and providing practical ways through team problems, our business has not only strengthed its viability but also the relationships between the Directors. Thank you once again and wishing you every success in the future - Anthony Critchley, Director, Newfangled Ideas

..."your competition is probably not being coached - so go for it" Tony Conaghan - Concrush

"I had been self employed for 4.5 years....I knew that I needed to move my business from a position of total dependency on my efforts to a point where I could have others take on some of the functions... books like the E Myth reinforced the need for this. HOWEVER it took years before I had the confidence to part with cold hard cash. Employing a business coach was my first real investment into the business. Clive assisted in chunking down the complexity. By keeping me accountable, it meant that throughout the working week, working on my business was foremost in my mind. Simple strategies soon became part of the daily activities. These would be reflected upon and modified as time went on. Being forced to actually stop and reflect and to be honest with oneself meant that within a few months it became clear where my own strengths lie and where my ambitions were. The decision to outsource job functions came much more easily. By continually viewing the business as an entity separate to myself, I have been able to document and test systems that work. I can confidently expand my business now knowing that I can 1) identify the right participants with compatible goals (as I am clear on my own goals) 2) implement systems that have been tested 3) build a saleable asset. In my industry the most valuable businesses are those with good systems of client fulfillment...... I fully recommend that if you have a small business like mine, that you check in with Clive....." Bob Elton - Free Time Finance

Dear Clive, Thank you for the assistance you have given me during the year. We had a problem with the lucrative bar part of our restaurant being closed because of a midnight curfew in town. You have assisted me by getting me focussed on marketing the restaurant better to increase the turnover to compensate for the loss of our bar revenue.Our first increase appeared in September with a 29 % increase in revenue followed by a 28 % increase in October and 22 % in November. We expect to have a record December since we commenced business 10 years ago. I expect our profitability to increase as we are now concentrating on business running costs. - Russell Mills - Proprietor, Break Restaurant, Terrigal

Well it’s been a fun 19 mths that’s for sure. We commenced Action business coaching with Clive Jones in August of 2005 and immediately started to reap the benefits of the action system. Our time management improved out of site & as a result our productivity as well. Suddenly we had “time” to work on the business. The day at Symphony wire is almost always busy & throwing up new challenges that we need to deal with, so it was a significant mind shift to take control & actually plan how the days would go. It was amazing how much time we were wasting. Once we implemented our default diaries & kept to the plan wherever we could, suddenly time wasn’t a problem.Financially I can’t stress enough how critical it is to have a separate account for excess working capital. Without it we were always short of cash, even with a good cash flow. On cash flow, I guess we’d never really had the nerve to both put our prices up & shorten our credit terms, so once we did this, suddenly Symphony Wire was a new business. Our confidence in paying our BAS & IAS had been shaky; we had often put money into the business to get the BAS paid. After the provision account was open and started filling with cash, well we knew exactly where we were with the BAS & IAS. If something needed to be bought out of the working capital, we had a much better idea of how much we could part with at any given time, while still covering the BAS & the bills.All our systems for production resided in our heads and communication was never very effective. Once we had put our systems down on paper & then most importantly conferred with the production employees, we were able to build a much more efficient production system. We had more productivity & fewer errors. Also we implemented testing & measuring of all aspects of production, which is how we KNOW the new system is working well.Prior to commencing business coaching our sales & marketing was either haphazard or totally non-existent. Now we have an ordered, methodical approach to our sales. We have regular customer contact & customers greatly appreciate that. Our website is now easy to update & we are far better at writing the content. There are several sections now & many good stories giving testimony as to Symphony wire’s excellent products & service - a lesson learned from the Coach.Business coaching helped us to position Symphony Wire in the industry we’re in. We sell the most expensive locally produced product in our industry but our customers wouldn’t be with anyone else. We always emphasise our service & advice and our manufacturing warranty is VERY well received with our customers; we make an excellent product & stand behind it, which limits their vulnerability to breakdowns and buys them peace of mind. We were the first (& still the only) supplier to GIVE our customers a repair kit. Management wise, we’ve gained a great deal of experience in the past 19 mths, and the action system has helped us with recruiting, training & then managing our people. It was of great comfort because we hadn’t employed anyone outside the family prior.Clive has been a huge inspiration. Implementing various parts of the action systems sometimes created tensions within the company, Clive’s steadying influence helped keep things productive. We really could not have hoped for a better ambassador to the Action system & all round help to Symphony Wire - Well done Clive! I firmly believe in the Action business coaching system. Action Coach is an excellent way to take your business & your life higher & further than your wildest expectations. Playing above the line is the only way to conduct one’s life & business, something we should all strive for at all times. It’s great to have someone such as Clive around to help with this. I commend both Clive & the Action Coach system to you - you won't regret it. - Tom Howell - Symphony Wire

I have appreciated your very valuable assistance and help in growing my business and have instituted many of the suggestions you have made to make my life a little easier... - Tony Bailey - Perfect Pool Surrounds

I don't know why everyone doesn't have you as a Coach... - Louise Considine - Abode Electrical

Dave and I have learnt a lot of things about running our business from you. Some of the best things that we have learnt are ways to implement measuring of different aspects of our business that we knew we needed to do but did not now how to set up the instruments to do so. The spread sheet work has been really good and interesting. We will keep that going. The workshops have been really good and challenging. The goal setting is really good and is something I need to persevere with. There have been many good challenges, so thank you once again...Katie Goss Director / Secretary - Gossies Mechanical Services

Some Workshop Clients...

"I really enjoyed the Sales session on Tues, it was informative and great advice. Also having everyone join in was very helpful. The time went so fast and I feel we really covered a lot.Looking forward to implementing some of those ideas and really moving forward in my Business". Val Calvey - Total Learning

...."the speeding ticket I got when running late for your Time Management workshop was well worth the money" Peter Weatherley - Ambiance Electrical

.... "try it - or you'll never know" - Warren Davy - Spunaloy Castings

...."proven formulas..... go for it - nothing to lose" - Donna Lawther - Electrodry Central Coast North

...."opened my eyes to what is acheivable.....don't think about it - do it" - Max Tickner - Ticknerco

...."your competition is probably not getting coached - go for it" - Tony Conaghan - Concrush

"I enjoyed myself very much, it was great to see Clive again. The day really re-enforced a lot of the key principals I have been learning about lately. I found the workbook very helpful too.... Thanks again" Adam Young - Display Power

Business Excellence Forum...