Business coaching for SME owners in New Zealand and the USA
Find what’s really holding your business back.Fix that first.
It’s late, you’re still working, and you can’t shake the question: why isn’t your business moving faster? Kevin helps you find the one real constraint before you spend another dollar. No theory. No guru talk.
Online from anywhere, or in person at The Icehouse in Parnell, Auckland. Eligible NZ businesses may get RBPN co-funding. Based in Auckland? See business coaching in Auckland.
The short answer
Simple-Growth is a New Zealand business coaching practice led by Kevin D’Ambros-Smith, who has coached 200+ businesses one-on-one across 30+ industries. Kevin helps SME owners find the one constraint holding their business back, build a plan around it and get it done. You can start with a free training or a free 30-minute call.
Sound familiar?
What you’re telling yourself, and what’s usually going on.
It’s 11pm. The laptop is still open, the bank app is open beside it, and you’re asking the question that never quite goes away: where is the money actually going?Illustrative scene
You’re probably sure you know the problem. The real one is often sitting just behind it.
Another 52 weekends with one eye on the inbox. Another year of ad spend aimed at the wrong problem. And the one constraint you haven’t fixed, still sitting there, quietly capping everything you do next.
Next step: Find your likely constraint in four taps →
Find your constraint
Four taps. See where owners like you often get stuck.
No email needed. Answer four quick questions and see where owners with your answers often find the constraint, plus one next step that fits.
Now picture this
Saturday, 7am.
The coffee is hot and your phone is face down on the bench. On the fridge there’s one page: your three numbers and the one thing that matters this week. You know what Monday looks like, so you pull on your shoes and go for a walk with nowhere to be.Illustrative scene
That’s the kind of week a clear plan can give you back.
Start freeSharpen your sales line in a free trainingThe Age of the Owner©
The old rule said bigger wins. That rule is breaking.
The enemy isn’t a competitor. It’s the belief that you have to get bigger before you can win.
You
Your customers, your market, your patch. Local knowledge no big company can copy.
Kevin
Big-brand thinking at small-business scale, and an honest challenge when you need one.
AI
Does the repeatable admin, like chasing overdue invoices, drafting first replies and preparing your morning brief, and nothing goes out until you’ve approved it.
Kevin’s AI helper for owners, ME4SME, is still in development, and results vary by business.
Back yourself. Run the system.
How it works
Find the constraint. Build the plan. Make it happen.
The Simple-Growth System™ gives you big-brand thinking at small-business scale, one clear step at a time.
Find the constraint
Together you work out the one thing that, fixed first, moves your business the most. Not a long list. One thing.
Build the plan
A practical plan across the four areas that drive growth, with owners, timeframes and measures.
Make it happen
Weekly accountability and a coach who has been there, so your plan gets done, not filed.
Business strategy
Know what success looks like in 3, 5 and 10 years, and which numbers prove you’re on track.
Explore strategy →Marketing and communications
Find your secret sauce and tell a story only you can tell, built the way global brands build theirs.
Explore marketing →Sales
Turn conversations into customers with the opening lines, offers and follow-up that do the heavy lifting.
Explore sales →Productivity and implementation
A weekly rhythm, clear priorities and real accountability, so your plan actually gets done.
Explore productivity →Next step: Start with the free Sales Line training →
Start where you are
Free, low-cost or hands-on. Pick the step that fits you.
- FreeTraining, no cost
- ProgrammesLearn at your own pace, from US$97
- One-on-oneCoaching with Kevin, by application
The World’s Greatest Sales Line
For you if you want a quick win before you spend anything. A short free training to sharpen how you talk about what you sell.
Start freeWatch the free trainingQuick Wins, Make It Happen, Know Your Future
For you if you like to learn at your own pace. Online programmes you can start today, each aimed at one clear result.
Compare programmesFind one result to aim atBusiness coaching with Kevin
For you if you want a coach in your corner each week. 1 or 2-hour sessions, online or in person at The Icehouse, Parnell.
Talk to KevinFree 30-minute callBusiness advisory with Kevin
For you if one big decision or project needs a senior, practical second opinion.
See how advisory worksGet advice on one decisionNot sure which step is yours? Answer 9 quick questions and find your best-fit next step →
What happens after you click
Three steps. Stop at any of them.
Next step: Book your free 30-minute call →
How investment works
No surprises. You’ll know the cost before you commit.
Want the full picture? Read how much a business coach costs or see how RBPN co-funding works.
Next step: Book your free 30-minute call →
In their words
Hear it from owners who’ve done it.
“I have grown my business 5x since working with Kevin. … Everything Kevin told me to do was the complete opposite of what I had been doing.”
“What we achieved in the last 3 months working with Kevin would have taken 2 years.”
“Kevin is an absolute powerhouse! He doubled our business's profits in the first month alone with lots more of his recommendations still to be rolled out.”
“Kevin worked with us at PhysioACTION to develop a positioning that sets us apart, 'PhysioACTION - A better experience', then helped us build the experience to match. In every part of the business we ask how to make it better for our customers and our team, and that's now the standard we hold ourselves to.”
“I catch up with Kevin once a week and it is definitely the highlight of my week. Kevin being from a creative, advertising agency background, he just sees different opportunities so clearly. I would not have considered the B2C market as an opportunity before working with Kevin and now it is a major focus for us…”
“Kevin understood a manufacturing and trades business from day one. No jargon, no theory, just clear advice on where to focus so that we had clear targets and ideas we could act on straight away to improve our customer acquisition and engagement.”
“Kevin has the ability to make everything so simple. He can take something that seems like a complicated task and break this down to 1 or 2 key things, so that achieving the desired outcome becomes easier and very achievable.”
“Kevin has been a game changer for us. I had tried a couple of high-profile US entrepreneur programs but found these just talked about 'mindset', whereas Kevin gives practical advice to grow your business that you can implement immediately.”
“Kevin got me to connect our ERP, email, website and Google Analytics to AI, and it has changed how we find and keep customers. AI now writes tailored prospecting emails every day and reaches out to lapsed customers with the products they bought before, and we're already getting positive replies. Our blogs, newsletters and SEO are all stronger too. Kevin doesn't just talk about AI, he helps you put it to work in your business.”
Results are specific to each business and are not typical. Read the case studies →
Next step: Talk it through on a free 30-minute call →
Agency years at DDB, Ogilvy and Saatchi & Saatchi
McDonald’s · BMW · General Mills · IBM · GSK · Heineken · Unilever · Telecom · Kimberly-Clark · Daewoo · Woolworths · Lion Breweries · NZ Dairy Foods · Monsanto · NZI
Clients of Motherbase Media, Kevin’s direct-to-mothers media business
Samsung · Nestlé · Johnson & Johnson · Westpac · Mattel · BNZ · Fonterra · Colgate · Hasbro · Purina · Heinz · Reckitt · Procter & Gamble · Clarins · Fujifilm
Your guide
Meet Kevin D’Ambros-Smith.
Kevin is the founder of Simple-Growth. With over 30 years in business, he has worked with 60+ global brands across DDB, Ogilvy, Saatchi & Saatchi and his own businesses, founded or co-founded 9 companies, including Motherbase Media, and coached 200+ businesses one-on-one across 30+ industries.
He is an approved Regional Business Partners Network provider and a partner of The Icehouse. Based in Herne Bay, Auckland, he works with owners across New Zealand and, online, across the USA.
“My job as a business coach is to help you grow, but also to help you avoid mistakes.”
Nine businesses, some very successful and some failures. Those scars are your shortcut. Here are three lessons you can use today.Lesson 1 · Make the target daily
One number can change your whole season.
A mountain-bike park earned money eleven different ways, and its owner couldn’t see where to push. So Kevin worked backwards from the target: 730 season passes, 300 already coming back, 430 still to sell in ten weeks. That’s six a day.
“Suddenly you can get on the phone and make six sales a day.”
Then the mechanic needed $500 a day. His one job each morning: greet 50 customers and offer a free bike check. Repairs went up and rentals went up.
A goal you can’t divide by the days left isn’t a plan yet. Turn yours into a number someone owns today.
Take your biggest target and divide it by the days left. What does one day have to deliver? Bring it to a free call if you’re stuck.
A client story, told as Kevin tells it in his trainings. Details anonymised. Results are specific to each business and are not typical.
Lesson 2 · Know your bullseye customer
Speak to one customer, at the moment they’re ready.
Kevin founded Motherbase Media, a direct-to-mothers media business. He ran it for 12 years and sold it in 2017. Its big idea was simple: age doesn’t trigger buying decisions, life events do, and a new baby is the biggest of them.
So the team narrowed its target, then narrowed it again, until it knew where new mothers met and who they trusted. Mums trusted other mums more than experts, and mum made the buying decision, so mum was the only person worth talking to. The jewel was the coffee groups, new mums who meet every week, alongside the Nappies Direct Baby Club.
Because the business knew when each child reached a set age, it could reach a mum on that very day: a baby-food sample at six months, a toddler-food sample at 18 months.
Proof: Motherbase Media was a direct-to-mothers media business that Kevin ran for 12 years and sold in 2017. It reached over 50% of its target audience, new mothers, on the day their child reached a set age, and brands such as Heinz and Nestlé valued that precision.
Niche right down to your bullseye customer, build a relationship, then speak to them personally when they’re ready to buy. AI is making that kind of timing far more affordable for owners.
Describe your best customer in one sentence: who they are and the moment they’re ready to buy. Then explore the marketing pillar.
Lesson 3 · A lesson Kevin paid for
It cost over $1 million. Check before you sign.
My wife and I went into business with a partner our advisory board introduced. On paper he was perfect, and he had the Bentley, the Ferrari and the yacht on the harbour to prove it.
I didn’t ask enough questions, because I trusted the people who recommended him. His ethics weren’t ours. I stopped sleeping. When we tried to get out, the contract told us what that would cost: well over $1 million. It nearly took us down, and it took years to rebuild and win back our customers.
“Sometimes you win, sometimes you learn.”
Do real due diligence on who you’re going into business with, and know what leaving will cost before you sign. If it doesn’t add up, back out. Take advice, then make your own call, because the people advising you aren’t the ones whose house is on the line.
Before your next agreement, run through the exit and partners checklist. That’s why Kevin coaches: to help you grow faster and skip the mistakes he made.
Is this for you?
Right owner, right time.
This is for you if…
- You’re ready to act on one clear thing, not collect another list of ideas.
- You want to be challenged honestly, by someone who has been there.
- You’d rather have a practical plan than theory or guru talk.
This probably isn’t for you if…
- You’re looking for a magic bullet or an overnight fix.
- You’d rather keep doing what you’ve always done and hope.
- You want someone to do it for you while you stay out of it.
Next step: Not sure yet? Answer 9 quick questions to find your best fit →
Questions
Straight answers.
What is the Simple-Growth System™?
A practical approach built on four areas: business strategy, marketing and communications, sales, and productivity and implementation. It starts by finding your real constraint, then builds a plan around it.
What does it cost?
Programmes start from US$97 and are priced on each programme page. More on what a business coach costs →
One-on-one coaching is by application after a free call, and Kevin shares the investment once he understands what you need. You agree the scope and the investment on that call, before you commit to anything.
How does AI fit in?
AI does the repeatable admin, like chasing overdue invoices, drafting first replies and preparing your morning brief, and nothing goes out until you have approved it. Kevin’s AI helper for owners, ME4SME, is still in development, and results vary from business to business.
Do you work with owners in the USA?
Yes. Coaching runs by video call, so you can work with Kevin from anywhere. Kevin has worked and lived in the USA. Coaching for US owners →
How does RBPN co-funding work?
Eligible New Zealand businesses may qualify for co-funding through the Regional Business Partners Network (RBPN), up to 50% for one-to-one coaching programmes. Eligibility is assessed by your regional Growth Advisor, and Kevin can help you with the process. See the official Regional Business Partners Network website for details.
What is The Age of the Owner©?
The idea that scale no longer decides who wins. Owners now have access to the same kinds of systems as big companies, and they hold local knowledge that nobody can buy. It’s why Simple-Growth combines you, Kevin and AI.
Who is Kevin?
A New Zealand business coach who has coached 200+ companies one-on-one across 30+ industries, after a career in advertising and founding or co-founding 9 companies.
Do you offer advisory as well as coaching?
Yes. Business advisory is senior, practical advice on a specific decision or project. Read more on the business advisory page, or book a free call and Kevin will tell you which suits you.
Next step: Still have a question? Ask it on a free 30-minute call →
The Inside Track
Not ready to talk? Get one idea, twice a week.
Kevin’s free newsletter lands every Tuesday and Thursday at 6:30am NZT, with a practical growth tip you can use that same day.
Ready to find your constraint?
Friday, 12:05. Your laptop is closed, your phone is in the drawer, and you know exactly which number moves Monday. That’s what ninety days could look like.Illustrative scene
A free 30-minute call, online or in person in Auckland. No obligation.
Talk to KevinBook your free 30-minute callLooking for something else? Booking a speaker? See Kevin speak → · Want AI to take the admin first? Take the free ME4SME audit →