The Age of the Owner©
Business coaching and advisory for ambitious SME owners in New Zealand and the USA
Find what’s really holding your business back.Fix that first.
You’re working flat out and it still isn’t moving as fast as it should. Too many owners spend money on the wrong problem. Kevin finds the real constraint first, before you spend another dollar. No theory. No guru talk.
No obligation. Online from anywhere, or in person at The Icehouse in Parnell, Auckland. RBPN co-funding may apply for eligible NZ businesses.
Agency years at DDB, Ogilvy and Saatchi & Saatchi
McDonald’s · BMW · General Mills · IBM · GSK · Heineken · Unilever · Telecom · Kimberly-Clark · Daewoo · Woolworths · Lion Breweries · NZ Dairy Foods · Monsanto · NZI
Clients of Motherbase Media, Kevin’s direct-to-parents media company
Samsung · Nestlé · Johnson & Johnson · Westpac · Mattel · BNZ · Fonterra · Colgate · Hasbro · Purina · Heinz · Reckitt · Procter & Gamble · Clarins · Fujifilm
The only specialist of its kind in New Zealand, giving global brands a personal line to new parents, targeted by life stage and the age of their child.
Sound familiar?
What you’re telling yourself, and what’s usually going on.
It’s 11pm. The laptop is still open, the bank app is open beside it, and you’re asking the question that never quite goes away: where is the money actually going?Illustrative scene
Most owners are sure they know the problem. The real one is often sitting just behind it.
Another year of Sundays lost to admin. Another quarter spent fixing the wrong thing. Would you rather find the real constraint now, or in twelve months?
The Age of the Owner©
The old rule said bigger wins. That rule is breaking.
The enemy isn’t a competitor. It’s the belief that you have to get bigger before you can win.
Where the three meet.
The sweet spot is The Age of the Owner©.
your local knowledge,
your customers
and systems, distilled
for SME owners
to work, now
for your business
scaled
automated
OF THE
OWNER©
Back yourself. Run the system.
Book my free 30-minute callHow it works
Find the constraint. Build the plan. Make it happen.
The Simple-Growth System™ gives you big-brand thinking at small-business scale, one clear step at a time.
Find the constraint
We work out the one thing that, fixed first, moves the most. Not a long list. One thing.
Build the plan
A practical plan across the four areas that drive growth, with owners, timeframes and measures.
Make it happen
Weekly accountability and a coach who has been there, so the plan gets done, not filed.
Business strategy
Know what success looks like in 3, 5 and 10 years, and which numbers prove you’re on track.
Explore strategy →Marketing and communications
Find your secret sauce and tell a story only you can tell, built the way global brands build theirs.
Explore marketing →Sales
Turn conversations into customers with the opening lines, offers and follow-up that do the heavy lifting.
Explore sales →Productivity and implementation
A weekly rhythm, clear priorities and real accountability, so the plan actually gets done.
Explore productivity →How it looks in real life
One number changed the whole season.
A mountain-bike park earned money eleven different ways, and the owner couldn’t see where to push. So we worked backwards from the target. 730 season passes, 300 coming back, 430 still to sell in ten weeks. That’s six a day.
“Suddenly you can get on the phone and make six sales a day.”
Then the mechanic needed $500 a day. His one job each morning: greet 50 customers and offer a free bike check. Repairs went up, rentals went up and accidents came down.
The constraint was never effort. It was knowing which number to chase. You could find yours in one call.
A client story, told as Kevin tells it in his trainings. Details anonymised. Results are specific to each business and are not typical.
Where the thinking comes from
Personalised marketing, before it had a name.
Kevin founded Motherbase Media, the only company in New Zealand specialising in direct, personalised communication with new mums and household shoppers. Banks, insurers and brands like Heinz, Kimberly-Clark, Mattel and Hasbro used it to reach parents by life stage and their child’s age, from first mortgages and life cover to nappies and age-matched toys.
It taught Kevin the lesson at the heart of Simple-Growth: know exactly who your customer is and what moment they’re in, then speak to them personally. That once took a corporate budget. Now AI puts it within reach of every owner.
A lesson I paid for
It cost us over $1 million.
My wife and I went into business with a partner our advisory board introduced. On paper he was perfect, and he had the Bentley, the Ferrari and the yacht on the harbour to prove it.
We didn’t ask enough questions, because we trusted the people who recommended him. His ethics weren’t ours. We stopped sleeping. When we tried to get out, the contract told us what that would cost: well over $1 million. It nearly took us down, and it took years to rebuild and win back our customers.
“Sometimes you win, sometimes you learn.”
Here’s what I’d tell you before you sign anything: do real due diligence on who you’re going into business with. If it doesn’t add up, back out. Take advice, then make your own call, because the people advising you aren’t the ones whose house is on the line.
That’s why I do this. I’ll help you grow faster, and help you avoid the mistakes we made.
Your guide
Meet Kevin D’Ambros-Smith.
Kevin is the founder of Simple-Growth. With over 30 years in business, he has worked with 60+ global brands across DDB, Ogilvy, Saatchi & Saatchi and his own businesses, founded or co-founded 9 companies, including Motherbase Media, and coached 200+ businesses one-on-one across 30+ industries.
He is an approved Regional Business Partners Network provider and a partner of The Icehouse. Based in Herne Bay, Auckland, he works with owners across New Zealand and, online, across the USA.
“My job as a business coach is to help you grow, but also to help you avoid mistakes.”
Nine businesses, some very successful and some failures. Those scars are your shortcut.In their words
Hear it from owners who’ve done it.
“I have grown my business 5x since working with Kevin. … Everything Kevin told me to do was the complete opposite of what I had been doing.”
“What we achieved in the last 3 months working with Kevin would have taken 2 years.”
“Kevin is an absolute powerhouse! He doubled our business's profits in the first month alone with lots more of his recommendations still to be rolled out.”
“Kevin worked with us at PhysioACTION to develop a positioning that sets us apart, 'PhysioACTION - A better experience', then helped us build the experience to match. In every part of the business we ask how to make it better for our customers and our team, and that's now the standard we hold ourselves to.”
“I catch up with Kevin once a week and it is definitely the highlight of my week. Kevin being from a creative, advertising agency background, he just sees different opportunities so clearly. I would not have considered the B2C market as an opportunity before working with Kevin and now it is a major focus for us…”
“Kevin understood a manufacturing and trades business from day one. No jargon, no theory, just clear advice on where to focus so that we had clear targets and ideas we could act on straight away to improve our customer acquisition and engagement.”
“Kevin has the ability to make everything so simple. He can take something that seems like a complicated task and break this down to 1 or 2 key things, so that achieving the desired outcome becomes easier and very achievable.”
“Kevin has been a game changer for us. I had tried a couple of high-profile US entrepreneur programs but found these just talked about 'mindset', whereas Kevin gives practical advice to grow your business that you can implement immediately.”
Results are specific to each business and are not typical.
The Inside Track
Big-brand growth ideas, before breakfast.
Kevin’s free newsletter lands every Tuesday and Thursday at 6:30am NZT, with ideas you can put to work that same day.
- A practical growth tip you can use this week
- A famous campaign from around the world, and the lesson inside it
- An idea from a great business leader, past or present
- Real stories from the coalface of growing a business
Start where you are
Free, low-cost or hands-on. Pick the step that fits.
The World’s Greatest Sales Line
A short free training to sharpen how you talk about what you sell.
Get the free trainingQuick Wins · Make It Happen · Know Your Future
Online programmes you can start today, each aimed at one clear result.
Show me the programmesBusiness coaching with Kevin
Weekly or fortnightly 1 or 2-hour sessions, online or in person at The Icehouse, Parnell. RBPN co-funding may be available to eligible NZ businesses.
Book my free callBusiness advisory with Kevin
Senior, practical advice on a specific decision or project.
Explore advisoryWant to put AI to work in your business? See AI for business owners → or take the free ME4SME audit →
Is this for you?
Right owner, right time.
This is for you if…
- You’re ready to act on one clear thing, not collect another list of ideas.
- You want to be challenged honestly, by someone who has been there.
- You’d rather have a practical plan than theory or guru talk.
This probably isn’t for you if…
- You’re looking for a magic bullet or an overnight fix.
- You’d rather keep doing what you’ve always done and hope.
- You want someone to do it for you while you stay out of it.
Questions
Straight answers.
What is the Simple-Growth System™?
A practical approach built on four areas: business strategy, marketing and communications, sales, and productivity and implementation. It starts by finding your real constraint, then builds a plan around it.
What does it cost?
Programmes start from US$97 and are priced on each programme page. One-on-one coaching is by application, and Kevin shares the investment on your free call once he understands what you need.
Do you work with owners in the USA?
Yes. Coaching runs by video call, so you can work with Kevin from anywhere. Kevin has worked and lived in the USA.
How does RBPN co-funding work?
Eligible New Zealand businesses may qualify for co-funding through the Regional Business Partners Network (RBPN). Eligibility is assessed by your regional Growth Advisor, and Kevin can help you with the process. See the official Regional Business Partners Network website for details.
What is The Age of the Owner©?
The idea that scale no longer decides who wins. Owners now have access to the same kinds of systems as big companies, and they hold local knowledge that nobody can buy. It’s why Simple-Growth combines you, Kevin and AI.
Who is Kevin?
A New Zealand business coach who has coached 200+ companies one-on-one across 30+ industries, after a career in advertising and founding or co-founding 9 companies.
Do you offer advisory as well as coaching?
Yes. Business advisory is senior, practical advice on a specific decision or project. Read more on the business advisory page, or book a free call and Kevin will tell you which suits you.
Ready to find your constraint?
Friday, 12:05. The laptop is closed, the phone is in the drawer, and you know exactly which number moves Monday. That’s what ninety days could look like.Illustrative scene
A free 30-minute call, online or in person in Auckland. No obligation.
Book my free 30-minute call