Monday, November 02, 2026
Strategic Coach, Tony Robbins Business Mastery or one-on-one coaching? A fair, source-linked guide for US owners, with a five-question test to match the format to your stage.
Choose an Icehouse programme if you want to learn alongside other owners in a structured, in-person group, and your turnover fits one of its bands. Choose one-on-one coaching if you want a plan built around your business alone, on your timeline, with someone holding you to it. Many owners sensibly do one, then the other.
A disclosure first: Simple-Growth publishes this guide, and Kevin D'Ambros-Smith coaches for Simple-Growth. Kevin is also a partner of The Icehouse and has presented on its programmes, so he is not neutral. That is why this page explains who each option suits instead of ranking them. Everything said about The Icehouse comes from its own programmes page, read on 5 November 2026 (New Zealand time). If something is out of date or wrong, let Kevin know and it will be corrected. Market: New Zealand.
| Icehouse programme (its own page, 5 Nov 2026) | Who it is listed for | Length | Published price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Owner Manager Programme | Owners with $3M+ turnover | 3 days a month over 5 months | Not listed |
| Business Owner Programme | Owners with $1M to $3M turnover | 3 days over 3 months | $6,295 + GST |
| Smart Governance Programme | Mature businesses with $5M+ revenue | 5 days over 3 months | $7,850 + GST |
| Financial Skills Workshop | Owners, leaders and employees | 2 days | $2,295 + GST |
| Sales Skills Workshop | Owners, leaders and employees | 3 days | $5,895 + GST |
| AI Foundations for Business Leaders | Decision makers in leadership | 2.5 days, residential | $6,995 + GST |
Also listed without prices: the Leadership Development Programme and the Owner Manager Exchange (alumni only). No dates were listed for any programme on the page read, and the page mentioned no co-funding.
This is not for you if you want someone else to do the work. Neither a programme nor a coach can.
"Kevin has some amazing ideas around marketing, things we would have never thought of ourselves. He has gone above and beyond what he needed to!"
Amy Nixon
Tiny Forgages (quoted word for word from Icehouse coaching feedback)
Its programmes page lists $6,295 + GST for the Business Owner Programme and $7,850 + GST for the Smart Governance Programme. The Owner Manager Programme price was not listed on the page read.
Yes. A programme gives you a framework and peers; coaching applies it to your business. Be clear about what each is for, so you do not pay twice for the same problem.
Possibly. The Management Capability Development Fund can cover up to 50% of one-to-one and up to 75% of group training costs, capped at $5,000 per business per year, for businesses with fewer than 50 full-time equivalent staff. Check current rules and eligibility with the Regional Business Partner Network.
No. Clients are chosen by mindset, not sector, across 30+ industries.
Not sure which suits you? A 30-minute conversation will tell you honestly whether a programme, coaching or neither is the right move, and you are welcome to take the answers anywhere.
Sources (checked 5 November 2026): The Icehouse programmes and workshops page (the provider's own listing, not independently verified); business.govt.nz, Management Capability Development Fund (New Zealand). Related: Business Mentors NZ or Simple-Growth? and more growth tips. Last updated 5 November 2026.
Friday, September 04, 2026
Most SME strategy fails from too many priorities, not too few. Here's the three-filter test for deciding what earns a place on your roadmap — and what doesn't.
Friday, September 04, 2026
73% of SME owners feel more confident than ever. 57% saw revenue stall anyway. Here's what a new 2026 report reveals about the gap between confidence and a real growth engine — and how to close it.
Friday, September 04, 2026
The second site rarely fails because of the market — it fails because the first site's success was never turned into a playbook. Here's what to fix first.
Friday, September 04, 2026
Opinions are easy to get. Follow-through is rare. Here's why accountability, not feedback, is the part of coaching that actually moves the needle.
Friday, September 04, 2026
Your team's biggest time drain probably isn't a lack of hustle — it's meetings that never needed to happen. Here's the test for which ones survive.
Friday, September 04, 2026
Most SME owners know referrals are their best lead source and still leave them to chance. Here's how to build a repeatable system around the ask.
Friday, September 04, 2026
When marketing "isn't working," the real issue is almost always positioning, not budget or channel. Here's how to test your message before you scale the spend.
Friday, September 04, 2026
Tracking twenty metrics doesn't make you a better manager — it just spreads your attention too thin to act on any of them. Here's the three-number rule that actually works.
Friday, September 04, 2026
Most SMEs plateau between $2M and $5M — not because of the market, but because the business still depends on one person. Here's what breaks the ceiling.
Friday, September 04, 2026
Good business coaching isn't a pep talk. It's mindset work paired with a documented system and real accountability.
Friday, September 04, 2026
A better to-do list won't fix a business that runs through one person. Here's how to build systems that work without you.
Friday, September 04, 2026
"Not right now" isn't "no" — but most SME sales processes treat it that way. Here's the follow-up system that recovers lost pipeline.
Friday, September 04, 2026
Spreading your marketing budget across five channels guarantees none of them work. Here's how to get real cut-through on any budget.
Friday, September 04, 2026
A five-year vision won't tell your team what to do Monday. Here's why a rolling 90-day roadmap drives more real growth than a long-range plan.
Tuesday, August 25, 2026
76% of small businesses now use AI, but only 14% have it built into daily operations. Here's why the gap exists — and what the businesses getting real value are doing differently.