Friday, September 04, 2026
Only 8% of small business owners say they're fully prepared for succession, and 70% have no formal plan. Here's why succession is a systems problem, not a paperwork one — and the four-question test to check if your business is actually transferable.
Short answer: An executive coach develops you as a leader: how you communicate, decide and influence. A business coach works on the business itself: customers, offer, marketing, sales and profit. If the problem is how you lead, choose an executive coach. If it is how the business grows, choose a business coach. Some owners eventually need both.
Kevin D'Ambros-Smith is a business coach and advisor who has coached 200+ businesses one-on-one across 30+ industries, after a career at DDB, Ogilvy and Saatchi and Saatchi and founding nine companies. He works with US owners online. Provider facts below were read from their own websites on 2 November 2026, and anything we could not confirm was left out.
Last updated 2 November 2026. Market: United States.
The difference is what you are trying to improve. The International Coaching Federation defines coaching as partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to reach their full personal and professional potential. Executive coaching applies that to a person in a leadership role. Business coaching applies it to the performance of a company.
ActionCOACH, a business coaching provider, puts it neatly on its UK site: executive coaching targets the individual leader, working on skills such as communication, confidence, decision-making and delegation. Business coaching targets the company as a whole, covering profit, revenue, sales, systems, team structure, cash flow and strategy. Because ActionCOACH sells business coaching, treat its framing as one side of the story, and note that it also says many owners benefit from both at different stages.
Here is a fair comparison of the main routes. Each has a best-for and a not-ideal-if, so you can match it to your situation.
Read these two groups and see which describes your last month.
Signs an executive coach is the better fit:
Signs a business coach is the better fit:
Most owners of established small and midsize businesses fall in the second group. Their leadership is fine. The constraint sits in the offer, the marketing, the sales process or the way the week is organized. Leadership polish cannot fix an offer nobody is buying, which is why Kevin looks for the real constraint first and fixes it before you spend another dollar.
Kevin is a business coach, not an executive coach. If you are an executive or manager inside a large organization, working on your own leadership or career, an executive coach or your employer's coaching platform is the honest answer, and he will tell you so on the first call. The same goes if you want a peer room, or an operating system your whole leadership team will adopt. Many owners combine an operating system with an outside coach, and EOS itself says the two go hand in hand.
Where Simple-Growth fits is the owner who wants fresh eyes on the market for their business. When you are surrounded by the same conferences, books and competitors, it gets hard to see what is obvious from outside. A coach who has worked across many industries brings ideas your competitors are not hearing. Kevin works with US owners online, and the free call runs across US time zones.
"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."
Brett
Abeille
Individual results vary and depend on the business and the work the owner puts in.
Apply these criteria to any provider, including Kevin. Ask every candidate the same questions and compare the answers.
If you are in New Zealand, we have written the NZ version of this guide, with local providers and pricing.
No. An executive coach develops a leader's skills, such as communication, decision-making and influence. A business coach works on the business itself: customers, offer, marketing, sales and profit. They share methods but are judged against different outcomes.
Not necessarily. If your leadership is the limit, for example you struggle to delegate or lead a growing team, an executive coach can help. If the issue is stalled revenue, thin margin or an unclear offer, a business coach will usually move things faster.
Yes, and sequence matters. Many owners start with a business coach to find the real constraint and build a 90-day plan, then add an executive coach later if growth has produced a bigger team and leadership becomes the limit.
None of the providers reviewed for this guide publish a standard fee on the pages we read, so no figure is quoted here. Ask for a full written fee schedule and term before you commit.
Yes. Kevin works with US owners online, and the free 30-minute call runs across US time zones.
Not sure which system fits? Answer nine questions and get an honest recommendation.
Prefer to talk it through? Book a free 30-minute call with Kevin. It runs online and works across US time zones.
Smaller-budget online programs are launching soon. Join The Inside Track to hear first.
Simple-Growth publishes this guide and the Simple-Growth System is one of the options discussed. The criteria are listed above so you can apply them to any provider.
Kevin and The Simple-Growth Team