Wednesday, November 04, 2026
Revenue's up but your own pay still isn't? Mike Michalowicz's Profit First method flips the order so growth finally reaches your pocket.
Here's a diagnostic you can run on your very next coaching session, whether it's with Kevin or anyone else: time who talks. If your coach is filling more than about 30 percent of the session, you are not being coached. You are being lectured — and the two produce very different results, no matter how smart the lecture is.
Good advice delivered at the wrong ratio doesn't stick. Professional coaching standards define the discipline specifically as a process that draws out the client's own thinking and accountability, not one that hands down expert answers — and the research behind adult learning backs this up: people act far more consistently on conclusions they reach themselves than on instructions they were simply given. A coach who spends the session talking is optimising for sounding impressive, not for the client actually changing behaviour on Monday morning.
The enemy isn't expertise — Kevin's 30+ years across nine companies and boardrooms from McDonald's to IBM is exactly why clients hire him. The enemy is expertise delivered as monologue instead of as sharp, well-placed questions that make the owner find their own answer and, critically, own it.
Run this on your next three sessions with any coach or advisor.
1. Time it, roughly — you don't need a stopwatch, just a gut sense of who spoke more across the session.
2. Check what the coach's talking actually was — questions that made you think, or statements that told you what to do? Both count as "coach talking," but only one builds your own judgment.
3. Watch what happens after the session — advice you were told to follow gets deprioritised the moment the week gets busy. Conclusions you reached yourself get acted on, because you own them.
“Specific to my business requirements and takes a systematic approach. Practical, specific, and pertinent to my business.”
— Simon Keepa, Icehouse Coaching Programme
Most owners can't self-diagnose this, because a genuinely knowledgeable coach who talks too much still sounds valuable in the room — the content is good, even when the format is wrong. The tell isn't how the session feels. It's what changes afterward. If you leave every session feeling impressed but three months later your Monday-morning behaviour hasn't shifted, the ratio is the problem, not the content.
This is precisely why accountability structure matters as much as expertise in choosing who you work with — a coach who asks "what did you actually do with what we discussed last time" is running a very different relationship to one who simply delivers a new lecture every session.
If your last coach did most of the talking and none of your behaviour changed afterward, that's exactly the gap Kevin's coaching is built to close for you.
...and you become the owner who leaves every session with your own answers and acts on them.
Friday, September 25, 2026
Fewer than 0.5% of businesses ever reach $10M. Here's why growth stalls again at $5-10M, and the infrastructure audit that breaks through the second plateau.
Friday, September 25, 2026
FMCG value grew 3.4% in 2025 — but innovation volume fell 5.8%, propped up entirely by price. Here's the three-question test to run before your next product launch, so growth is real, not just repriced.
Friday, September 25, 2026
Most SME owners build next year's budget before locking next year's strategy — then wonder why the numbers don't add up. Here's the sequence that fixes it before Q4 planning starts.
Friday, September 25, 2026
Holiday spending has already shifted to October — and SME owners still planning a November launch are chasing demand that's gone. Here's the 10-week runway that gets ahead of it.
Friday, September 25, 2026
Most sales teams default to the same easy offer every time, leaving your highest-margin products unsold. Here's the Full Menu Selling framework that fixes it without a new script.
Friday, September 25, 2026
Recurring meetings that never resolve aren't a communication problem — they're a decision backlog costing your business real money. Here's the 3D Decision Rule that clears it.
Friday, September 25, 2026
Calling a coach only when something breaks isn't coaching — it's crisis management with a label on it. Here's why the Proactive Coaching Cadence delivers a stronger return.
Friday, September 25, 2026
Most SME growth ceilings are self-imposed, not market-imposed — built by founder control, outdated systems, and internal structure. Here's the Ceiling Test that reveals it.
Friday, September 25, 2026
Small business AI adoption hit 74% this year, with real ROI: $4,100 saved annually on scheduling and payroll alone. But the smallest businesses, who need the time back most, adopt it least.
Tuesday, September 22, 2026
NZ business confidence just held near a multi-year high — but ANZ's own August data shows profit expectations posted their sharpest monthly fall on record. Here's the three-step Cost-Profit Scissor test to check if your margin is keeping pace with your optimism.
Tuesday, September 22, 2026
Two businesses can grow 30% the same year and end up in opposite positions. Here's the Funding Source Audit that shows which kind you're building.
Tuesday, September 22, 2026
Hired a coach, saw a spark, then stopped renewing? The problem usually isn't the coach — it's the switching. Here's why coaching compounds.
Tuesday, September 22, 2026
Eleven hours worked, exhausted by 7pm — but how much of it actually moved the business forward? Here's the two-question Impact Filter.
Tuesday, September 22, 2026
Most lost sales die in the first four minutes, not on price. Here's the four-question Discovery-First Framework that fixes it.
Tuesday, September 22, 2026
If your marketing stops the moment you stop paying for it, you're only funding half the job. Here's the audit that fixes the balance.