Wednesday, November 04, 2026
Finding out how last month went three weeks too late? One OKR, checked weekly, beats a dashboard nobody opens.
It's 9pm. The laptop's still open. You told your partner you'd be five more minutes, forty minutes ago. You're not behind because you're bad at this — you're behind because every decision in this business currently gets made by exactly one person, and that person hasn't had anyone to talk it through with in weeks. That's not a character flaw. It's a structural problem, and it has a structural fix.
47% of NZ owners reported losing time with friends and family in the past 12 months (Xero Money Matters, NZ, 2023), and separately, 43% of US owners admitted to hiding how bad business stress really was from a partner or family member (Xero Emotional Tax Return 2026, US, as reported by CPA Practice Advisor). Put those two together and you get a very ordinary, very hidden pattern: owners quietly carrying a weight they've decided not to show anyone, including the people closest to them.
Not motivation. Three specific, practical things:
"Talking with Kevin the first time was so valuable and we were learning so much. Within an hour Kevin had us thinking about our business and our goals in a totally different way. In fact we were supposed to be catching a flight but we decided it was more important that we continued the meeting with Kevin."
— Angus & Cameron, Flatpack Co
Kevin has founded or co-founded nine companies. He still hired an Icehouse coach to accelerate his own growth, because knowing how to build a business and having someone to pressure-test your thinking are two different things. "I've been the client too" isn't a sales line — it's the reason he built Simple-Growth the way he did: as the guide who has sat in the client's chair, not just studied it from a stage.
This isn't for the owner who wants cheerleading. It's for the owner who wants someone to actually push back, because that's the version of support that changes something.
This won't make the business easier overnight. It could mean you stop carrying all of it alone — and for most owners, that's the moment it starts feeling possible again.
Kevin works personally with a select group of SME owners to build the clarity and accountability that make carrying this alone unnecessary.
Tuesday, October 13, 2026
New research shows 90 percent of small business owners are preoccupied with work outside normal hours. Michael Gerber's E-Myth explains why, and names the one shift that actually fixes it.
Tuesday, October 13, 2026
Workplace research puts the cost of refocusing after an interruption at around 23 minutes, and the average worker now fields well over 100 messages a day. Here is how to protect the hours that actually move your business.
Tuesday, October 13, 2026
Forrester research finds only 8 percent of B2B buyers name price as the biggest driver of their decision. Here is how to find out what a price objection is actually about, before you reach for a discount.
Tuesday, October 13, 2026
A new Gartner survey finds most B2B buyers would rather research and decide without ever speaking to a salesperson. If your marketing cannot carry the whole sale alone, here is the tool that fixes it.
Tuesday, October 13, 2026
New Gallup data shows only 11 percent of SME owners with staff have a detailed written plan, and most of the rest will try to write next year's in December. Here is the three-date fix to do this week instead.
Monday, October 12, 2026
EOS or Scaling Up? A fair, source-linked comparison for US owners, a five-point checklist to choose, and the growth questions neither operating system answers.
Monday, October 12, 2026
The seven concerns SME owners raise most often in coaching, why each one happens, and what actually helps.
Monday, October 12, 2026
Growth rarely needs you to do more. It needs you to stop five habits that quietly hold your business back.
Monday, October 12, 2026
Seven low-cost ways to lift sales this week, starting with the customers and quotes already in your business.
Monday, October 12, 2026
The 4 real reasons marketing fails for SME owners, and the practical, low-cost fix for each one.
Monday, October 12, 2026
New research shows 39% of small business owners blame admin, not the market, for stalling their growth. Here is how to find the real constraint before you spend another dollar fixing the wrong one.
Monday, October 12, 2026
Only 20-30% of businesses for sale actually sell, often because they can't run without their owner. Here's how to design yours so it can.
Monday, October 12, 2026
Writing your goals down is linked to real gains in achieving them. Here's the Vivid Vision exercise that turns a fuzzy dream into a measurable plan.
Monday, October 12, 2026
Owners using AI with purpose save 6 to 10 hours a week. Here's the simple audit that finds your first three tasks to hand over.
Monday, October 12, 2026
97% of buyers read reviews, but trust in them is falling. Here's how to build the review ask into your sales process, not just your marketing calendar.