Most business systems promise freedom but deliver complexity. After three decades of coaching businesses worldwide, I've discovered that a truly effective business operating system must do more than organize your company. It must transform it.
Both ActionCOACH ABoS and EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System) aim to improve business performance. But their approaches differ fundamentally.
Let me be clear: EOS is a good product. Gino Wickman's Traction has helped many businesses improve their operations. I respect what they've built.
However, running a successful business requires more than smooth operations.
The Fundamental Difference
ABoS focuses on building a business that works without you. This comprehensive approach addresses the entire business spectrum - not just operations.
EOS works well for operations-driven entrepreneurs and COOs. It excels at defining processes. But ABoS takes the entire business into account.
The ActionCOACH system develops every aspect of your business: team building, marketing, sales, and yes, operations too. We cover the whole spectrum rather than focusing solely on systematizing what already exists.
Where EOS documents existing processes, ABoS creates new strategies that generate superior results.
This distinction matters tremendously for business owners seeking true freedom.
A Framework Built From Real Experience
My 30+ years as an entrepreneur shaped how ABoS addresses blind spots that process-focused systems often miss.
ABoS follows six essential steps: Mastery (building a solid foundation), Marketing (generating cash flow and profitability), Systemization, Team Building, Scale, and ultimately Freedom.
This framework evolved from working with hundreds of thousands of businesses across every industry imaginable in more than 80 countries.
We learned that successful businesses excel in recruiting, training, and leading great people. They generate consistent leads. They convert prospects effectively. And yes, they operate efficiently.
ActionCOACH ABoS offers over 3,500 business growth strategies tailored to each client's specific needs, allowing for greater customization and implementation effectiveness.
This comprehensive library of strategies means we're never forcing your business into a predefined box.
Real Results, Not Just Documentation
Consider a retail business in the northern UK that approached us. Their challenge wasn't operations. Their systems functioned adequately.
Their real issues were cash flow and recruiting. Their sales techniques needed complete renovation, not just documentation.
We didn't simply record their existing sales process. We implemented entirely new sales techniques and trained their team thoroughly.
The result? This small rural retail store transformed into a multi-million-pound enterprise with both physical and online presence.
Their success came from focusing on people and profitability - not just systematizing operations.
This example illustrates a crucial point: documenting what exists rarely creates breakthrough results. Creating new approaches does.
The Scaling Challenge
When businesses reach the scale phase in our ABoS system, we introduce the five disciplines of scale: strategy, business development, people, execution, and mission.
I wrote an entire book on just this segment called "Pulling Profits Out of a Hat," detailing these disciplines.
Consider a client in the funeral business. After building a successful first location, they needed to scale. This required answering strategic questions:
What expansion strategy makes sense? Real estate acquisition? Franchising? Licensing? Partnership?
Then, addressing business development: How will marketing, sales, and customer experience scale across locations?
Next comes people: How do we recruit, train, and lead teams across multiple sites?
Execution - where EOS excels - covers finances, planning, systems development, and daily management.
Finally, mission: What makes people love working with you, and what makes your team love coming to work?
EOS primarily addresses execution. ABoS addresses all five disciplines.
A Tailored Implementation Approach
ActionCOACH ABoS implementation begins with a thorough business analysis. We evaluate your business alongside you through a comprehensive questioning process.
From this analysis, we develop an initial plan. For example, within just the one area of direction and goal setting at the base level of business mastery, we might select 4-5 strategies from the approximately 60-100 available.
Next comes alignment. We define where you want to go. How big do you want your business? How many hours weekly do you want to work? When will your business become a commercial, profitable enterprise that works without you?
We establish revenue targets, profitability goals, and desired valuation.
Then we create a customized ABoS installation plan - typically spanning 1-3 years, depending on how much work your business needs.
This customized approach stands in stark contrast to one-size-fits-all systems.
The Critical Coaching Element
Perhaps the most significant difference: installing ABoS comes with coaching.
ActionCOACH's core program operates on the CARE principle: Community, Accountability, Results, and Education.
Community brings business owners together to learn from and support each other. This human connection drives performance in ways that isolated implementation cannot.
Accountability - whether one-on-one with your coach or peer-to-peer - ensures consistent progress.
Results focus means measuring what matters through objectives, key results, and meaningful goals and KPIs.
Education brings new knowledge and strategies continually.
Our research shows 98% of ActionCOACH clients would recommend the service, demonstrating the effectiveness of human-led coaching versus self-implementation.
Daily Measurement That Drives Performance
ABoS measures four key areas daily to boost productivity dramatically.
First, we track behaviors - the six main actions that drive success in your role.
Second, we measure results - the six main outcomes that those behaviors should produce.
Third, we establish to-dos for tomorrow - specific tasks that move the business forward.
Fourth, we set goals for tomorrow - measurable targets for the next day.
This daily discipline creates accountability and focus that transforms performance.
We extend this approach to weekly planning on Fridays and then full quarterly planning sessions.
ActionCOACH's comprehensive dashboard incorporates financial metrics alongside operations data, providing a more complete picture than EOS's framework.
Beyond Operations to True Freedom
ActionCOACH programs support businesses at every stage - from startups with just an idea to large corporations requiring executive coaching.
Our focus remains consistent: building businesses that work without their owners.
Many business owners who initially implement EOS eventually turn to ActionCOACH. They realize that while EOS provides operational structure, it doesn't address the complete business transformation required for true freedom.
A survey conducted by WorkBuzz found that 93% of clients said ActionCOACH was worth the investment. Real results speak volumes.
The question becomes: Do you want a business that merely operates smoothly, or one that grows dramatically while requiring less of your time?
Do you want to document what exists, or create something extraordinary?
Freedom comes from building a complete business system - not just organizing your current operations.
After three decades of coaching businesses worldwide, I've learned that true business autonomy requires more than process documentation. It demands a comprehensive approach that transforms your entire business.
That's the difference ActionCOACH ABoS delivers.
Systems create structure. Coaching creates freedom.
Take the first step toward both. Book your free discovery call today with an ActionCOACH and learn how ABoS can help your business grow and run without you.