Saturday, November 14, 2026
Some NZ coaching and mentoring offers run 12 months, some let you choose 3, 6 or 12, and some are a half-day. Here is what is published, who each length suits, and five questions to ask before you commit.
Ask any business coach if they're the right fit for you, and almost all of them will say yes. That's the problem. A coach with an empty calendar and a mortgage to pay has every incentive to say yes to anyone who can afford them, which tells you nothing about whether they're actually right for your business.
The real test of a good coach isn't whether they'll take you on. It's whether they'd ever say no. A coach who has never turned down a prospective client, or never ended an engagement that wasn't working, isn't selective, they're just busy.
Before you sign with anyone, ask the question almost nobody asks: what kind of client do you turn away?
The coaching industry has a structural incentive problem: most coaches are paid to have clients, not to have the right clients. That pushes many toward a one-size-fits-all pitch, the same framework, the same promises, applied to a retail founder, a professional services partner, and a manufacturing owner alike. Meta-analyses in coaching psychology consistently point to the working relationship between coach and client, not the specific framework used, as one of the strongest predictors of whether coaching actually changes outcomes. A framework applied to the wrong fit rarely works, no matter how good the framework is.
Named plainly: the enemy is the coach who sells fit instead of assessing it.
1. Ask what they'd say no to. A coach who can describe, specifically, the kind of business or owner they're not right for is telling you they've actually thought about fit.
2. Ask for the uncomfortable question. Request a call where they push back on something in your business, before you've paid them a dollar. You'll learn more from their pushback than their pitch.
3. Check the operator test. Have they actually built or run something, or only studied and taught it? Both have value; know which one you're hiring.
4. Ask how they end a mismatch. A coach with a clear, respectful process for ending an engagement that isn't working is more trustworthy than one who's never had to.
5. Watch what they measure. A coach focused on your calendar time with them, rather than your business results without them, has the incentives backwards.
“One of the highlight presentations during OMP. Really enjoyed your wisdom and insight, thanks Kevin!”
— Liz Wotherspoon, Director, The Icehouse
Most owners are so relieved to find someone who says the right things in a sales call that they skip the vetting entirely, especially after a bad experience with a coach who talked mindset and delivered nothing practical. The obstacle isn't a lack of good coaches; it's that the burden of screening for fit has been left entirely on the business owner, who's rarely done it before and doesn't know what to ask.
Kevin works personally with a select group of SME owners specifically because fit determines results, and turns away engagements where it isn't there, which is exactly the standard this question is designed to test for.
Kevin works personally with a select group of SME owners, here's how to find out if that's the right fit for you.
...and you become the owner who chooses a coach on fit, not on a good sales call.
Friday, November 13, 2026
Equal effort on every enquiry feels fair. It just means you spend as much time on tyre-kickers as real buyers. The Sandler method shows SME owners how to qualify pain before they pitch.
Friday, November 13, 2026
US small businesses waste up to 40 cents of every marketing dollar on wrong-fit leads. A one-buyer Value Ladder exercise shows SME owners how to build a hook that actually lands.
Friday, November 13, 2026
Losing quotes to price feels like a pricing problem. It's usually a sameness problem. An OODA-loop exercise and a real client story show SME owners how to find the one line a competitor can't copy.
Friday, November 13, 2026
Three self-paced programs, three different jobs: faster sales, finishing what you plan, or deciding where the business is going. Prices, guarantees and a four-question chooser.
Friday, November 13, 2026
Four kinds of help, four different jobs. Here is what each one does, what it costs you in time and money, who it suits, and six questions that settle the choice.
Thursday, November 12, 2026
There is no single winner between ChatGPT, Claude and Copilot. Here is a one-afternoon test NZ owners can run on their own work to pick the right AI tool, with current prices and privacy checks.
Thursday, November 12, 2026
Do not document everything. Log what interrupts you for a week, write the top five jobs as one-page checklists, and give each one a named owner and a number.
Thursday, November 12, 2026
A practical two-week away test for owners who cannot switch off: name the few calls only you can make, write down the rest, pick one weekly number, then step away and log every interruption.
Thursday, November 12, 2026
Owners working 60-plus hours a week are 12x more likely to say the business has seriously damaged their personal life (BizCover, Australia, 2026). The Freedom Ledger shows SME owners how to build hours that actually buy freedom.
Thursday, November 12, 2026
Regional chambers now run business training, some with the Icehouse, and many carry Regional Business Partner funding. Here is what a Hamilton programme and a Nelson workshop actually offered, who each suits, and when a coach by video call is the better fit.
Thursday, November 12, 2026
New Zealand unemployment rose to 5.7% in the September 2026 quarter. More people are looking for work, but that does not make every hire a good one. Here is how to choose between a hire, a better system or a coach, with five questions and a 30-day plan.
Thursday, November 12, 2026
61% of surveyed US business owners have never had their company valued. The real cost isn't at exit — it's every day you're building something that might be worth nothing without you in the room.
Thursday, November 12, 2026
You've known for weeks exactly what needs doing. You still haven't started. Here's why "just do it" doesn't work, and the question that actually does.
Thursday, November 12, 2026
You fix the same problem for the third time this year. Here's why most SME "lessons learned" evaporate — and the 70-20-10 rule that makes them stick instead.
Thursday, November 12, 2026
You follow up on every lead the same way, hoping persistence wins the deal. The best salespeople do something closer to the opposite — and it's why they close more while working less.