Saturday, October 31, 2026
US owners lose 22 hours a month to financial admin and 56% get blindsided by a tax surprise. Here's the E-Myth fix that gets the books off your desk for good.
Choose a franchise network such as ActionCOACH if you want a standard programme, a brand behind your coach and group options at a published starting price. Choose an independent coach if you want one experienced person designing the work around your numbers. Either can work. The wrong choice is the one you make without asking the questions below.
A disclosure first: Simple-Growth publishes this guide and Kevin D'Ambros-Smith is an independent business coach, so he is not neutral. That is why this explains who each option suits instead of ranking them, and sticks to what the organisations say publicly. Checked 1 November 2026.
ActionCOACH is a franchise network. On its own site it says it has served thousands of businesses since 1993 and refined its frameworks in over 80 countries. You buy into a recognised system, delivered by a local franchise coach.
An independent coach runs their own practice and builds the work around you. Kevin has coached 200+ businesses one-on-one across 30+ industries, through Simple-Growth since 2017.
The practical difference is where the consistency comes from. With a network it comes from the system. With an independent it comes from the person, so you need to check the person.
This is not for you if you only need a specialist task done, such as a website or an accounting clean-up. Hire that specialist directly.
Publicly, very little is known about one-on-one coaching prices from either side. ActionCOACH's cost page says one-on-one typically costs more than group coaching and lists the factors that move the price: programme format, personalisation, the growth pace you want and the complexity of your business. Simple-Growth does not publish a price list either, so ask any provider for a written 12-month total.
Funding is the part many owners miss. The Regional Business Partner Network's Management Capability Development Fund can cover up to 50% of one-to-one training costs, to a maximum of $5,000 per business each year, for eligible New Zealand businesses. The training must come from an approved provider and you must register and have a discovery session first. Kevin is an approved Regional Business Partner Network provider. Rules change, so confirm them on business.govt.nz before you commit.
Put the same seven questions to every provider, Kevin included, and compare the answers on paper. A coach who answers with specifics is worth another conversation.
Yes. ActionCOACH links to a franchising page from its main navigation, and coaching is delivered by local coaches in its network. Ask which coach you would work with and how long they have been coaching.
Neither is automatically better. A network gives you a recognised process; an independent gives you a bespoke one. The better choice is the one whose coach has done what you need to do and can show you how.
There is no published standard. ActionCOACH quotes group coaching from about $99 a month and gives no one-on-one figure. Most providers price one-on-one by quote, so ask for a written 12-month total and check whether funding applies.
Possibly. The Regional Business Partner Network can co-fund up to 50% of one-to-one training from an approved provider, capped at $5,000 per business a year, if you are an eligible New Zealand business. Check the current rules on business.govt.nz.
Book one free conversation and use the seven questions above. You should leave knowing your likely constraint and what the first 90 days would look like, with no obligation.
Not sure which suits you? A 30-minute conversation will tell you, and you are welcome to take the answers to any other provider. You can also read how ActionCOACH, EOS, Scaling Up and Vistage compare or how coaches, consultants, mentors and peer groups differ.
Sources (checked 1 November 2026): ActionCOACH, How much does business coaching cost?, business.govt.nz, Regional Business Partner Network. Last updated 1 November 2026.
Sunday, October 04, 2026
Revenue is not the same as profit, and a small slice of your customer base may be quietly cancelling out your best accounts. Here is how to find out which ones.
Sunday, October 04, 2026
The coaching industry has more than doubled since 2016 to over 232,000 coaches. With that many choices, here is the single question that tells you who is worth hiring.
Sunday, October 04, 2026
AI is saving small business owners 10 to 13 hours a week, and most have no idea what they gained. Here is the four-question method for pointing AI at the hours that matter.
Sunday, October 04, 2026
You nailed the pitch and the buyer loved it, then the deal went quiet. The reason is usually a meeting room you were never invited to. Here is how to sell to a buying committee you cannot see.
Sunday, October 04, 2026
Customers don't buy products, they hire them to do a job. Here is the framework that explains why an inferior competitor keeps outselling you, and what to fix in your marketing today.
Sunday, October 04, 2026
Most SME owners have one growth plan: get more customers. There are actually four distinct ways to grow, and the cheapest one is usually sitting in your existing customer file.
Sunday, October 04, 2026
Small business confidence just rose, but growth expectations are falling for almost everyone. New 2026 data reveals the one decision separating owners still growing from owners just waiting it out.
Sunday, October 04, 2026
A 1 percent price increase lifts operating profit by an average of 11 percent, McKinsey's Global 1200 research found, far more than an equivalent rise in volume. Here's how to raise prices without losing your best customers.
Sunday, October 04, 2026
Some coaches build a business out of being needed forever. Here's the Graduation Test: three questions that reveal whether your coach is transferring real capability, or just keeping you on retainer.
Sunday, October 04, 2026
Most owners respond to a bottleneck by fixing something else entirely. Eli Goldratt's Theory of Constraints explains why that backfires, and documented case studies show a mean 69 percent lead-time reduction once the real constraint is found.
Sunday, October 04, 2026
Roughly four in ten B2B purchase attempts end in no decision at all. It's rarely about price. Here's Alex Hormozi's Value Equation, in plain English, and why it explains almost every stalled deal in your pipeline.
Sunday, October 04, 2026
41 percent of consumers now always read reviews before choosing a business, and 31 percent won't use one rated under 4.5 stars. Here's the Review Velocity System that turns happy customers into a steady stream of five-star proof.
Sunday, October 04, 2026
64 percent of executives say they're juggling too many conflicting priorities, and most SME strategies die from addition, not ambition. Here's the three-step Strategic Short List that turns six priorities into the one that actually moves the needle.
Sunday, October 04, 2026
A third of small business owners are absorbing this year's cost increases out of their own pocket instead of raising prices. Here's the three-step Margin Audit that turns that guess into a safe, thirty-day pricing test.
Sunday, October 04, 2026
Before you approve the next hire, run the revenue-per-employee test. Some of the growth you are trying to buy with headcount is sitting in tasks AI can already take off the list.