enjoyable, inspiring, energising...
a great free workshop courtesy of LloydsTSB and Action Coach
In a nutshell : Went to a free business coaching workshop. Started out sceptical; came away surprised and convinced.
Gave up the morning for a 'Grow your Business' workshop offered free of charge in the South West by Action Coach to local LloydsTSB customers.
Action Coach are a national ‘franchised’ coaching business specialising in supporting SME’s, mostly I think at the smaller end. (Correct me if I’m wrong, Action Coach chaps!) I was aware that they have a very formulaic approach - a uniform set of techniques and tools that they apply to virtually any business, and I expect you get a very similar approach wherever you are, subject of course to the calibre of the coach you get (but ain’t that always the way?). So I went with my sceptic’s head on - “one size fits all? I don’t think so…” but heck was I surprised.
The four hour session was an introduction to their ‘ways’ and gave you the chance to formulate a 90 day action-plan: a number of straightforward and practical steps were put forward that it was difficult to argue with. It brought home the enormous value of re-going over and applying general business wisdom - stuff you pretty much already know but constantly ignore or forget in the maelstrom of going about your daily business. The weird thing was the fact of constantly having to think “oops, yes I know that, but I don’t do it...” over and over was not dispiriting but exactly the opposite. I came away feeling inspired and energised and with a renewed feeling that the destiny of my business was in my hands, and not the product of external forces.
I may feel an unusual affinity with their approach because one of their key mantras is “know your numbers” so it’s right up my alley, but regardless of that I was very impressed all round, and especially with the coach who gave the workshop, Simon Buck. I’ve met a lot of business coaches on the breakfast networking circuit and most are a bit too vague for me. Despite a slightly corporate approach this lot seem to be real deal, and that ‘corporateness’ disappears as soon as you engage with Simon. I’m fairly sure that the other four entrepreneurs in the room left similarly energised.
If you’re looking for this kind of business support check them out at www.actioncoach/nigeljew (Nigel is Simon’s coaching partner who I’ve had some dealings with since and he’s similarly straightforward and to the point. Especially if you’re a LloydsTSB customer in the south west then ask your bank manager for a place on one of the free taster workshops; otherwise check out your local Action Coach - there’s almost bound to be one - and I imagine they'll be happy to talk to you.
And if you need help with ‘know your numbers’ you know where to come to get ahead of the game!
