Monday, November 02, 2026

Seven things you can check before you hire a business coach, and how ActionCOACH, Business Mentors NZ, EOS, Simple-Growth and The Icehouse compare on each. Method and bias disclosed. Checked 2 November 2026.

Last updated 4 November 2026. Statistic market: United States.

The expansion decision. The new hire. The second site. It's been "under review" for three months. The spreadsheet's been updated four times, and nothing genuinely new has changed in the last three weeks — just the same worry, running on repeat, dressed up as diligence.

You're not alone in this. 68% of US small business owners say they've delayed or avoided major business decisions, such as hiring or expansion, in the last 12 months because of financial pressure (Bluevine, survey of 781 US owners by Centiment, 27 February to 9 March 2026). The survey points to money pressure as the reason. In my experience, fear of getting it wrong keeps the same decisions on hold long after the numbers are clear. The growth you're waiting to feel ready for is usually the growth that's actually waiting on you.

Waiting For Certainty Is The Real Villain

Most stalled growth decisions aren't actually about the decision — they're about waiting for a level of certainty that was never coming. A growth call isn't a maths problem with one correct answer sitting there to be found with enough analysis. It's a bet, made with the best information available right now. Treating it like a maths problem is what keeps the spreadsheet open for another month.

It Can't Work For You Until It's In The Public Domain

I'm a recovering perfectionist. I used to redraft emails endlessly, chasing a version that felt finished, until I learned the rule that changed how I work: it can't work for you until it's in the public domain. Now I publish at 70 to 80% ready, and improve it live, instead of waiting for a certainty that never actually arrives. The business that waits for 100% confidence before moving is the business that moves last.

Based on fighter pilot John Boyd's OODA Loop, built for decisions made under genuine uncertainty: Observe what's actually true right now, Orient it against your goal, Decide the next move with the information you've got, then Act — and loop back fast rather than analysing forever before the first move.

  • Write down what you actually know today versus what you're really waiting to know — the second list is usually the excuse.
  • Find a way to make the decision reversible if you can, so the cost of being wrong drops sharply.
  • Set a date, not a feeling, for when you'll decide, and decide on that date regardless of how certain you feel.

"Kevin is a master of his craft... Participants don't just sit and listen; they leave buzzing with breakthrough ideas and simplified, highly effective growth strategies. Most importantly, Kevin leaves people profoundly inspired, fully equipped, and fiercely motivated to drive their businesses forward. He is the standard-setter!"

— Darilyn Kane, Coaching and Advisory Lead, The Icehouse

Why Owners Stall Anyway

Owners usually know, intellectually, that waiting for certainty is a trap. They stall anyway, because a wrong growth call feels personal in a way a wrong call at a big company doesn't — there's no committee to share the blame. That's exactly where an outside perspective earns its place: not to make the decision for you, but to stop you running the same loop of analysis for the fourth time.

This isn't for you if the decision is genuinely irreversible and high-stakes — selling the business, a personal guarantee. Slow down properly for those. This is for the growth moves owners stall on, which is most of them.

Key Takeaways

  • Separate what you know from what you're waiting to feel. The second one isn't real information.
  • Make the decision reversible where you can. It lowers the real cost of being wrong.
  • Set a decision date and honour it. A deadline beats a feeling every time.
  • Publish at 70 to 80% and improve live. Certainty was never coming anyway.

You could take the shortcut and skip the mistakes made the hard way. The next growth decision doesn't need to be perfect. It needs a date — and that date could be this week.

Be the owner who sets a date and makes the growth decision, instead of waiting to feel certain.

If the same growth decision has been "under review" for months, that's the first thing Kevin will work on with you.

Monday, October 05, 2026

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Monday, October 05, 2026

Eighty-four percent of small business owners sacrifice health or relationships to their business, new 2026 data shows. Here is the Transferability Number test that shows why, and what to fix first.

Monday, October 05, 2026

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Monday, October 05, 2026

Ask most owners what they do and they'll answer instantly. Ask them why their business exists, beyond making money, and watch the pause. That pause is costing you customers, hires and referrals.

Monday, October 05, 2026

Ask your team to name the business's single most important goal this quarter. Five different answers from five people means you have one problem, not twelve: nobody knows what the goal actually is.

Monday, October 05, 2026

You trained your team to build rapport and never push, and your best customer last quarter still went with the competitor who pushed them to rethink the brief. Here's why relationship-selling is the weakest profile in B2B sales.

Monday, October 05, 2026

You've boosted the posts, hired the agency, rewritten the website twice, and the phone still isn't ringing. Before you spend another dollar, ask whether a stranger could explain what makes you different in one sentence.

Monday, October 05, 2026

Your competitor just launched the move you'd been 'finalising' for six months. Here's the fifty-year-old decision framework that fixes the real problem: not your strategy, your decision speed.

Sunday, October 04, 2026

EOS, Scaling Up, Vistage, ActionCOACH or Simple-Growth? A fair comparison with best-for and not-ideal-if for each option, a fit matrix and a nine-question quiz.

Sunday, October 04, 2026

What does a business coach cost in New Zealand? Published monthly and hourly ranges, cheaper options, how RBPN co-funding can help, and a checklist for judging value.

Sunday, October 04, 2026

New 2026 global research shows trust alone only earns a brand 48 percent acceptance into new territory - relevance takes it to 71 percent. Here is the two-question test that finds the real gap before you spend on expansion.

Sunday, October 04, 2026

The personal touch that built your reputation at ten staff quietly becomes the bottleneck that breaks it at thirty. Here is how to turn a habit into a system before it costs you.

Sunday, October 04, 2026

Most owners check star ratings and warm adjectives before hiring a coach. Here is the three-detail test that tells you whether a review is evidence or decoration.

Sunday, October 04, 2026

The Christmas shutdown is about eleven weeks away. Here is the one-page-per-role handover document that decides whether you actually switch off this year.

Sunday, October 04, 2026

The biggest sales research study ever run found the best reps ask, they don't tell. Here is the SPIN method, and the four questions that come before any pitch.