Tuesday, November 03, 2026
AI tools are making every small business sound the same. Here is the 3-step Distinctive Brand Assets method for standing out even when a machine wrote the first draft.
Choose ActionCOACH if you want a coaching brand with a platform (ABoS), a free two-week start and a coach near you. Choose Simple-Growth if you want one owner-run coach to find the single constraint first, then build a 90-day plan around it. Both start with a conversation, and neither publishes a price for coaching.
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 uses only what ActionCOACH says on its own website. Checked 4 November 2026. Market: United States.
ActionCOACH's homepage now leads with ABoS, a platform it describes as "a proven system to diagnose, plan and grow". It scores a business across six areas (Mastery, Marketing, Systems, Team, Scale and Freedom), and sits beside business coaching and training. The company says it has been coaching "since 1993" and shows a 98% client recommendation rate and several named client results. The page does not say how typical those results are, and the recommendation rate has no stated sample.
Simple-Growth is one person's practice. Kevin has coached 200+ businesses one-on-one across 30+ industries since 2017, after more than 30 years in business. Coaching clients surveyed through The Icehouse return a Net Promoter Score of +72. The method is simple: find the real constraint in your numbers, fix that first, and only then add tools.
The practical difference: a platform gives you a scorecard and a system to install. A coach who diagnoses first tells you which part of the scorecard matters this quarter. Some owners want the system. Others are already buried in systems and need the decision.
This is not for you if you want a public price list for coaching today. ActionCOACH's pricing page says "our pricing for business coaching varies depending on your specific needs and goals" and gives no dollar figures. Simple-Growth quotes coaching by conversation too.
| Question | ActionCOACH (per its website) | Simple-Growth |
|---|---|---|
| Coaching price | Not published; "varies depending on your specific needs and goals" | Quoted by conversation |
| Contract | "No long-term commitments or contracts required"; pay per session or choose a program | Agreed in the first conversation |
| Free start | Two weeks of free coaching; complimentary initial consultation | Free 30-minute call |
| Guarantee | "Cast-iron, money-back", on condition you follow the systems and complete the agreed work; full terms from your coach | 30-day money-back on Making It Happen and Know Your Future (see each page) |
| Fixed-price entry | Not shown | Quick Wins $97, Making It Happen $297, Know Your Future $497 |
Whichever you choose, ask for the guarantee terms in writing before you start. A guarantee that depends on you completing every agreed action is only as good as the plan you agreed.
If you would rather start with a fixed price, Quick Wins is $97 (15 ways to lift sales), Making It Happen is $297 (turning plans into action) and Know Your Future is $497 (your destination and roadmap). All three are self-paced.
"Working with Kevin has pushed us to step back and look at the business from the outside. He's easy to bounce ideas off, and he keeps us focused on working on the business instead of getting stuck in the day-to-day."
Ben Leitch
Home Lab Store (quoted word for word)
Gallup surveyed 5,926 working US adults, including 3,501 self-employed workers or business owners, between September 26 and November 3, 2025. Among owners without a detailed plan, 75% said they could definitely (38%) or probably (37%) find an outside person to help write one. Help is easy to find. The harder part is choosing the right kind of help for the stage you are at.
Not quite. ActionCOACH describes itself as a coaching company with a platform, programs and a Find A Coach route, so you work with a local coach under the ActionCOACH name. An independent coach runs their own method and practice. Both can be excellent; ask who your coach will be and how they work.
Not on the pages checked on 4 November 2026. Its pricing page says cost varies by needs, goals and meeting frequency (weekly, fortnightly or monthly), and that advisors help you choose a package in the first conversation.
ActionCOACH advertises two weeks of free coaching. Simple-Growth offers a free 30-minute call, plus a free sales training, The World's Greatest Sales Line.
Neither is automatically better. If you want a platform and a local coach, ActionCOACH is worth a conversation. If you want one owner-run coach to find your constraint first, book a call with Kevin. Take the same six questions to both.
Yes. Kevin coaches online, so location is not a barrier, and the self-paced programs are priced in US dollars.
Be the owner who knows the one decision to make first, and makes it.
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 Simple-Growth compares with Scaling Up and EOS.
Sources (checked 4 November 2026): ActionCOACH, home page. ActionCOACH, coaching cost and pricing. Gallup, Business Planning and RFP Pursuit Vary by Ownership Type, 27 May 2026 (United States). The testimonial is quoted word for word from the person named. Last updated 4 November 2026.
Tuesday, October 20, 2026
A private, unwritten goal succeeds about 35 percent of the time. One with a weekly accountability check-in succeeds more than 70 percent of the time. Here's why that gap exists.
Tuesday, October 20, 2026
Roughly 65 percent of small businesses are tied so closely to their owner they'd struggle to run without them. Here's Gerber's E-Myth framework for finally getting out of the technician's chair.
Tuesday, October 20, 2026
42 percent of B2B businesses do nothing proactive during the pre-Christmas slowdown. Here's what the ones who keep selling do differently, and why January rewards them for it.
Monday, October 19, 2026
Is Vistage worth it? A fair, source-linked look at what peer advisory groups offer US business owners, a checklist for deciding, and how one-on-one coaching differs.
Monday, October 19, 2026
Most small business owners know they don't compete on price, but can't say, in one sentence, what they compete on instead. Here's the three-step framework that fixes it.
Monday, October 19, 2026
A strong December can feel like proof you're growing. It can also be the reason nobody builds the pipeline that carries January. Here's the three-question check to run now.
Monday, October 19, 2026
A good coach doesn't start with your goals. They start with three numbers most owners can't answer on the spot, and that gap tells them exactly where to begin.
Monday, October 19, 2026
Most SME owners have tried an AI tool this year. Few can say, in hours, what it actually saved them. Here's the test that tells the difference, and the first step to take.
Monday, October 19, 2026
By the time a prospect calls you, they've already done most of their own research. Here's the sales approach built for exactly that moment, and why most SME pitches skip it.
Monday, October 19, 2026
Social platforms can change the rules on your reach overnight. Here's the one marketing channel no algorithm can take away from you, and why most SME owners still starve it.
Monday, October 19, 2026
A new survey says 53% of small business owners are stuck on finding customers. Here's the one-question test that finds out whether that's really your constraint, or just the easiest one to blame.
Sunday, October 18, 2026
ActionCOACH, Business Blueprint, government-backed advice and independent coaches compared fairly for Australian owners, with best-for and not-ideal-if for each.
Sunday, October 18, 2026
An executive coach develops you as a leader. A business coach works on the business itself. Here is how to tell which one an NZ SME owner needs before paying for either.
Sunday, October 18, 2026
Most SME owners can tell you their revenue. Almost none can tell you which customers are actually making them a profit. New 2026 research shows why that gap is the real growth problem, and a three-step fix.
Sunday, October 18, 2026
The average small business gets 27 percent of revenue from one customer. Here is the three-question check that tells you whether your growth is real, or just concentration in disguise.