Monday, November 09, 2026
US owners spend 22 hours a month on financial admin alone (Xero, 2026). Gary Keller's focusing question shows SME owners the one task worth handing off first.
Flat out for four months, then quiet enough to hear the till. If that's your business, you've probably told yourself it's just the nature of what you do — weather-dependent, seasonal, nothing to be done about it. In the US, 78% of seasonal businesses say they face a cash flow gap of three months or longer every single year, and more than six in ten say that gap has become harder to manage over the last three years, not easier (Crestmont Capital, US, 2026, 412 seasonal business owners). It isn't just you, and it isn't getting easier on its own.
The villain is the word "seasonal" itself, used as an excuse rather than a problem to solve. Off-season revenue for seasonal US businesses falls an average of 54% below peak — a number that sounds inevitable right up until you meet a business that refused to accept it.
What you'll miss, left as it is: another ten weeks every year spent hoping the phone rings, instead of ten weeks with a plan already running.
A mountain bike park client of mine had, by the time we'd mapped it properly, eleven separate revenue streams feeding one business — not by accident, by design. One of those streams was season passes: 730 of them, with 300 already locked in from returning riders, leaving 430 to sell in a ten-week window before the season opened. Broken down, that's six passes a day, every day, not "sell as many as we can and hope." Six a day is a target you can actually manage; "as many as possible" isn't.
The same business ran one of the simplest KPIs I've ever set with a client: the on-site mechanic offered fifty customers a free bike check. One number, tracked weekly. Repairs went up. Rentals went up. Accidents went down. One small, deliberately chosen number, smoothing a business that used to run entirely on weather.
"Kevin is a master of his craft... Participants don't just sit and listen; they leave buzzing with breakthrough ideas and simplified, highly effective growth strategies."
— Darilyn Kane, Coaching and Advisory Lead, The Icehouse
This isn't for you if "that's just our busy season" is where the thinking stops. It is for you if you're ready to make the quiet months pay their way too.
If your business only really works four months of the year, that's exactly the kind of constraint we'd start with.
Thursday, October 22, 2026
Referrals just became small business owners' #1 source of new customers — up from 65% to 83% in a single year. Here's the Dream 100 system that turns word of mouth into a repeatable growth engine.
Thursday, October 22, 2026
Roughly one in four founders report loneliness and isolation running their business. Here's what a coach actually does differently, and why the first session is rarely about strategy.
Thursday, October 22, 2026
NZ small business sales rose 8.6 percent this quarter, but growth ranged from 2.9 to 16.3 percent by industry. Here's the three-number check that tells you whether your growth is actually yours.
Thursday, October 22, 2026
Only 30 percent of business change efforts fully succeed. Here's the three-part diagnosis, borrowed from strategy academic Richard Rumelt, most owners skip before fixing anything.
Thursday, October 22, 2026
Close to six in ten of this year's US holiday shoppers are already buying, in October or year-round. Here are three sales moves to make this week before Black Friday arrives.
Thursday, October 22, 2026
77.6 percent of US consumers used AI to help with a purchase decision in the past six months. Here are three moves that make your small business visible when customers ask AI about you.
Thursday, October 22, 2026
54 percent of US business owners have no real plan, and only 11 percent have anything detailed. Here's the one-afternoon exercise that gives your business a sharper three-year direction than any spreadsheet.
Wednesday, October 21, 2026
Before you spend another dollar on ads, staff or software, find the one step that limits your growth. Here is a one-hour spend-gate test you can run this week.
Wednesday, October 21, 2026
ActionCOACH began in Brisbane, Australia. What does its story tell US owners about where good growth ideas come from, and how to test an outside idea in your own business?
Wednesday, October 21, 2026
SME owner confidence is climbing, but for most, revenue isn't following. Here's why time isn't your real constraint, and the three-step framework that finds the one that is.
Wednesday, October 21, 2026
49% of business owners question monthly whether running the business is worth it, a US survey found. Here's what changes when someone else is asking that question with you.
Wednesday, October 21, 2026
Nearly half of NZ SME owners are planning Christmas trading changes, MYOB research found, and most of it is a discount. Here's how to build memory before you build the offer.
Wednesday, October 21, 2026
46% of New Zealand business owners aren't paying themselves, Xero research found. Here's the Profit First fix that changes the order money moves through your business, not the hours you work.
Wednesday, October 21, 2026
The share of businesses reporting serious dead stock has doubled since 2024, new research found. Here's why rising revenue can still mean tightening cash, and the three numbers that catch it early.
Wednesday, October 21, 2026
42% of business owners named efficiency their top 2026 priority, a US survey found. Here's Michalowicz's Clockwork system for building a business that doesn't need you in every decision.