Wednesday, October 28, 2026
Which jobs should a US small business hand to AI first? Published US data, a five-check test and a 30-day plan to pick one job, track one number and keep the decisions that matter.
Owners ask me a version of the same question almost every week: should I get a coach, or just join a mastermind, a peer group, or a workshop? It's usually asked as if the two are interchangeable — different packaging around the same thing. They're not. They solve different problems, and picking the wrong one is why a lot of owners try one, don't see the shift they expected, and conclude "coaching doesn't work for me," when the real issue was the format, not the idea.
I run both: one-on-one coaching with individual owners, and group workshops and masterclasses for rooms of fifty, a hundred, more. After over 30 years in business, and 200+ businesses coached one-on-one across 30+ industries, here's exactly what each one is actually for.
A workshop or a peer group is built for three things: exposure to ideas you wouldn't have gone looking for yourself, the relief of hearing someone else describe your exact problem out loud, and energy — the kind that's hard to manufacture alone in your own head on a Tuesday afternoon. What it isn't built for is your specific business, with your specific numbers, your specific team, and your specific blind spot. A room of fifty owners can hand you forty-nine useful general ideas and zero accountability for whether you actually act on any of them next week.
One-on-one coaching does the opposite. It's slower by comparison — there's no instant hit of a room's energy — but it's built entirely around your business: your actual numbers, your actual team, the one constraint genuinely holding you back versus the three you think are. And it's built around accountability that follows you out of the room: someone who knows what you said you'd do by next Thursday, and asks.
"Kevin is a master of his craft. From creating and facilitating high-impact 'Grow Your Business in 1-Day' workshops to elite sessions for our flagship Owner Manager Programme — Kevin delivers excellence across the board. He is a powerhouse presenter and facilitator who brings an explosive blend of energy and expertise to every room he steps into. 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
Here's the part most owners get wrong: they pick the format that feels less exposing, not the one their actual problem calls for. A room is easier to hide in. One-on-one coaching means someone is looking directly at your numbers and your excuses, with nowhere for either of you to look away. That discomfort is often exactly the signal that it's the right format.
Whichever format fits where you are, Simple-Growth runs both — and the first conversation is about working out which one actually solves your problem, not which one we'd rather sell you.
Thursday, October 08, 2026
Nearly half of NZ SME owners plan to raise prices this year. Only 4 percent of companies have a value proposition clear enough to justify it.
Thursday, October 08, 2026
Revenue can climb for years while the actual value of the business barely moves. Here are the eight drivers that decide which one you are really building, and why owner independence usually matters most.
Thursday, October 08, 2026
If every session with your coach leaves you comfortable, that is the warning sign, not the proof it is working. Here is why direct feedback outperforms kind feedback, backed by Gallup's data.
Thursday, October 08, 2026
A global survey of over 10,000 workers found trusted employees nearly twice as productive as distrusted ones. If your calendar fixes keep failing, the real constraint may be trust, not time.
Thursday, October 08, 2026
Most sales conversations present cheapest to most expensive. New research found flipping that order lifted revenue by 10.8 percent, with no price changes at all. Here is how to use it.
Thursday, October 08, 2026
Most SME marketing budgets are weighted toward customers who already buy. The research says that is the smaller lever. Here is where brand growth actually comes from, and how to redirect your spend toward it.
Thursday, October 08, 2026
Most SME strategy problems are not thinking problems, they are seeing problems. Here is the one-page model that catches the two mistakes that quietly kill most growing businesses before they show up in the bank account.
Wednesday, October 07, 2026
Four pillars, one real constraint and a 90-day plan. Here is how the Simple-Growth System works, plus a 45-minute test you can run this week.
Wednesday, October 07, 2026
When you are surrounded by your industry, it is hard to see the wood for the trees. Here is why an outside perspective finds growth moves insiders miss, and how US owners can use it.
Wednesday, October 07, 2026
Small businesses grow at half the rate of big ones, and it is not about budget. Techaisle's 2026 global survey reveals why depth of relationships beats contact count, and how to build your own Dream 10 this week.
Wednesday, October 07, 2026
Rising revenue feels like proof the business is winning. If your margin is quietly shrinking at the same time, you are growing broke. Here is the three-line check that catches it.
Wednesday, October 07, 2026
January feels like the obvious month to commit to a coach. It is actually the worst one. Here is why the owners who get the most out of coaching start in November instead.
Wednesday, October 07, 2026
Wrong hires are now costing Australian SMEs an estimated 7.3 billion dollars a year. The mistake almost never happens in the interview room. Here is where it actually happens.
Wednesday, October 07, 2026
Somewhere in your pipeline right now is a buyer whose budget has to be spent before their financial year ends. Here is how to find them before a competitor does.
Wednesday, October 07, 2026
Most SME marketing budget goes to whichever channel the owner already knows, never the one that would actually work best. Here is the simple test that finds it.