Wednesday, November 04, 2026
Finding out how last month went three weeks too late? One OKR, checked weekly, beats a dashboard nobody opens.
Every week Kevin gets some version of the same question from a founder comparing programmes: should I join a group coaching cohort or work with someone one-on-one? Most people answer it by budget, which is exactly backwards — the right answer depends on the stage your business is at, not what's left in the marketing line of your profit and loss statement. Get the format wrong and you can pay for the right advice in the wrong container and still barely move the needle. After running both formats himself, and referring clients into whichever one actually fits, Kevin's view is that the stage of your business predicts the right answer more reliably than almost anything else.
The assumption that group coaching and one-on-one coaching are simply different price points on the same product is where most owners go wrong. They're different tools solving different problems. Group coaching is powerful when the problem is common — pricing discipline, delegation, marketing fundamentals — because you learn as much from watching ten other owners solve it as from the material itself. One-on-one is powerful when the problem is specific to your business — a leadership team not functioning, a pivot decision, a founder conflict — because nobody else in a room of ten needs to hear the details of your cap table.
1. Name the problem — Write down the single biggest thing holding growth back right now. Be specific, not "everything."
2. Ask if it's common or unique — Would fifty other SME owners in different industries recognise this exact problem? If yes, it's likely a group-coaching problem. If it's specific to your team, your numbers, or your history, it needs one-on-one.
3. Check the stage, not just the topic — Pre-$1M businesses usually get more from group cohorts, where the fundamentals still apply broadly. Past the first team-led transition, most owners need the specificity one-on-one provides.
The businesses that get this wrong most often are the ones who join a group programme for a problem that was actually unique to them, and leave saying coaching "didn't work" — when the format, not the coaching, was the mismatch.
"You make success tangible. Help me go from a wish to reality. Now have clarity of purpose and belief. You made tripling the size of my business go from seeming impossible to really possible."
— Lina, Good Gravy
Budget conversations happen before stage conversations, almost every time — group coaching is priced lower, so it gets chosen by default, regardless of whether the problem actually fits it. The honest fix is a conversation before enrolment, not after three sessions of frustration: what's actually broken, and which format was built to fix it. A good coach will tell you when their own group programme isn't the right fit for your specific problem — that's a signal worth paying attention to, not a sales objection to push past.
If you're not sure which format fits where your business is right now, that's a five-minute conversation worth having before you enrol in anything.
...and you become the owner who chooses the coaching format that fits your stage, not just your budget.
Sunday, October 04, 2026
Most owners call a coach only once something's broken. The data on mentored businesses says the real value compounds earliest - here's the Two Doors test for deciding when.
Sunday, October 04, 2026
Owners feel busy all day and still don't move the business forward. The research says task-switching is the hidden cost - here's the Three-Block Day that gets the best hours back.
Sunday, October 04, 2026
Owners chase new leads every Q4 while a cheaper, warmer list of past customers sits untouched. Here's the four-step Win-Back Sequence and the real economics behind it.
Sunday, October 04, 2026
SME websites and pitches default to telling their own story. The research says customers skim past most of it looking for themselves - here's the StoryBrand framework that fixes it.
Sunday, October 04, 2026
Most SME growth plans default to out-competing everyone else on the same crowded turf. Blue Ocean Strategy's own data says that's the lower-profit path - here's the four-question grid that finds the faster one.
Sunday, October 04, 2026
Most SME owners blame a lost customer on price. New 2026 research says it is almost always one unresolved issue instead. Here is the three-step audit to find your real loyalty leak.
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.