Monday, October 26, 2026
ActionCOACH, an EOS Implementer or an independent coach? A fair, source-linked guide for US owners, with a six-question test to match the help to your biggest constraint.
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.
Monday, September 21, 2026
If Sunday afternoon has become the least relaxing part of your weekend, it's a design problem, not a discipline one. Here's the fix.
Monday, September 21, 2026
Most owners choose a coaching format by budget, not by stage. Here's the test that shows which format actually fits your business right now.
Monday, September 21, 2026
Private label deals look like free growth — until they quietly cost you margin, capacity, and control. Here's how to protect your brand before signing.
Monday, September 21, 2026
New global research says 68% of small business owners now choose stability over speed — and that's the smarter growth strategy. Here's the 3-step Depth Audit to grow without breaking what you've built.
Thursday, September 17, 2026
Most growth strategies don't fail because the market changed — they fail because nobody tested the assumptions underneath them. Here's the four-question audit that catches the weak spot before it costs you a year.
Thursday, September 17, 2026
Your website, socials, and sales team may all be telling a slightly different story. Consistent brands see up to 33% more revenue — here's the one-page Message Map that fixes the drift.
Thursday, September 17, 2026
Sales closes the deal, then delivery loses the customer within a quarter. The one-page Handover Brief that carries the promise, the anxiety, and the customer's real definition of success forward.
Thursday, September 17, 2026
Every interruption costs roughly 23 minutes of refocus time, not seconds. The Protected Block system that stops "always available" from quietly destroying your most productive hours.
Thursday, September 17, 2026
Coaching doesn't feel like steady progress — it dips hard around week five before the real structural change lands. Here's the 90-day curve nobody warns owners about, and why it matters.
Thursday, September 17, 2026
The instincts that built your first million will cap your next five if you don't replace them. Greiner's Growth Model explains why — and the Stage Check that shows if you've already outgrown your playbook.
Thursday, September 17, 2026
A new NielsenIQ study found 58% of shoppers don't care if it's your brand or the store's own. Here's the 3-step test to see if your FMCG brand earns its price premium.
Thursday, September 17, 2026
Chasing every dollar of revenue isn't a growth strategy — it's a collection plate. Here's the four-question filter Kevin uses with clients before any deal gets signed.
Thursday, September 17, 2026
Most SMEs treat marketing spend like rent — fixed, tolerated, never questioned. Here's the 70-20-10 test-and-learn loop that turns it into compounding evidence instead.
Thursday, September 17, 2026
Same-day response feels fast — it isn't. Here's the five-minute speed-to-lead system that turns warm enquiries into customers before a competitor gets there first.
Thursday, September 17, 2026
A blocked calendar isn't the same as a productive one. Here's the Energy Mapping System for matching your highest-stakes decisions to your real energy peaks, not just free time.