Business Coaching Case Study: From Losing Money Every Year to $250,000 in Profit

What happens in business coaching? Does it really work? What results can I expect?

This week, one of my clients has allowed me to pull back the curtain and take you behind the scenes to show you what happens in a coaching relationship.

I’ll let Jeff tell the story…

Like a lot of entrepreneurs, when I started this company, I had no formal business training.

That didn’t stop me from building a successful business. We had more work than we knew what to do with!

It seemed like we should be making good money, but we weren’t.

I’d asked my accountants about this, and they assured me that I was doing great. Yet, we were literally getting buried: losing money every year.

When I contacted John, he diagnosed the problem pretty much right away: we weren’t charging enough. We were taking on jobs where we weren’t even covering our costs.

When John asked me about my margins and explained how to cost jobs properly, I recognized that I was missing some basic “how to run a business” information. I hired John to help me fill in the gaps.

Fixed my financial systems

John helped us figure out the financial side of our business – in 2 big ways:

1. He taught me how to cost out jobs so that we made a profit – and how to turn down work that wasn’t worth our time.
2. He introduced me to a new accountant, Jason, who had the skills and knowledge to provide the information I needed to make good business decisions.

Then, the 3 of us would meet each month and together, we’d figure out the financial health of the company. They taught me concepts like amortization and how to read balance sheets. Now when I look at my numbers each month, they make sense to me.

Improved my hiring process

John showed me how to write ads in a different way.

Instead of doing what everyone else is doing “hey, we’re hiring, we pay $x, you need these skills…” now we write ads like we’re talking to a client. “This is what we have to offer you: a great work environment, benefits, an opportunity to learn and grow.”

We’re also casting a much wider net for recruitment. It’s not enough to just post something on Craigslist!

Doubled my productivity with better time management

Before I worked with John, if someone called and wanted to set up a meeting, I’d make myself available to meet whenever they wanted. “Tomorrow? Sure!”

This meant that I was taking meetings pretty much every day. I’d be in the middle of putting together an estimate and I’d have to set it aside to head out to a meeting. Then I’d have to come back and try to pick up where I left off.

John suggested that I set aside specific days for meetings and running around, so that I would have uninterrupted time to do the work that requires focus.

Now when people want to set up a meeting, I tell them when I’m available. We also have a system for handling inquiries and setting up appointments.

By organizing my weeks with a default calendar, I practically doubled my productivity. I can get so much more done in the same amount of time.

Working with John is easy. He’s personable, easy to talk to, and very helpful. The results have been fantastic.

We’re making more money than we’ve ever made before.

Without a doubt, our main issue was that we weren’t charging properly. John was the only person who identified the problem – and fixing this literally turned the company around. Now, our margins are great and we’re on pace for record profitability this year. After paying ourselves, we’ll have a quarter million in profit – maybe even more.

John also taught me how to work through the down times, so I feel like if there’s a downturn in the market, I’m prepared, and I know what to do.

If we kept going the way we were before, I’m not sure we’d even be open anymore.

Instead, we’re established. We know what we’re doing. We’re making lots of money.

After working with John, I’m absolutely confident that we can get through anything!

~ Jeff Boyer, Mountain West Roofing

Would you like similar results in your business?

Since 2004, as a professional business coach, I’ve taken over 300 clients through a proven process that helps them increase profit, remove the stress and chaos from their businesses and get their lives back.

At W5 Coaching we employ the Socratic style of leadership and teaching: a method of teaching by using questions to arrive at the right answer for YOU.

If you’d like to chat about how business coaching can help you with your business, I invite you to book a 15-minute call on my calendar here: time with John