Business Coaching for Advisory Practices

Build a business that runs smoothy, profitably (and mostly without you)

Are you experiencing any of these common advisory practice problems?

If you’re like a lot of business owners, you’re probably struggling with the “Big 3”:

Time Problems

It feels like you’re busy all the time, but you’re not making any progress. You feel disorganized, like things are slipping. You know you should create systems and streamline processes, but you’re too busy putting out fires. Vacation? What’s that??

“I can’t take time off. The place would fall apart without me.”

Team Problems

You can’t seem to hire the right people. Sometimes it seems like it would be easier to do the work yourself than manage your employees. Yet you know you need people in order to expand and make your business profitable.

“I’m putting up with shit from my staff, but I can’t confront them for fear they’ll quit.”

Money Problems

Sleepless nights worried about cashflow and making payroll. Maybe some months you don’t get paid because everything else comes first. No matter how much is coming in, it’s never enough.

“I get statements from my accountant, but I don’t really understand them. It seems like the business is making money but I’m not really sure.”

All of this leads to confusion and frustration: what am I doing wrong?

Here's why you're in this situation

In my experience of over 15 years of business coaching, the problem always boils down to 2 things.

1. Lack of business education & training

You are awesome at what you DO. You have great customer service and an excellent product.

You’re less excellent at business – because you never got that education or training. You’ve managed to get this far without it…and now you’re faced with issues you’re not prepared to handle.

This leads to problems with managing time and money, developing business systems and, of course, sales and marketing.

2. Inexperience leading a team

You started off as a one or two person operation and now you have employees to manage.

Your team is growing and you need to make the adjustment from being the person who does the work into the person who leads the people who do the work.

You have spent so much time and effort to learn about the service or product your business provides. Now is the time to develop your leadership, delegation, recruiting and training skills. After all you don’t get the team you want, you get the team you deserve. If you want a better team, now is the time to grow YOUR skills so that you can get and keep better people to make your business flourish.

There is no business education in Grad School for psychology or medicine.

You learn your trade and you come out of that well prepared to practice in your field, but with zero knowledge about the business world.

Most people end up just working for a hospital or a university or for somebody else. But those like me who want to build something that stands on its own and maybe employs other people - you're on your own.

How business coaching can help

Advisory business owners come to me for assistance in:

  • Developing systems and processes to create smoother operations
  • Implementing team management practices including meetings, delegation and working with challenging communication issues
  • Interpreting financial statements and using the information to make better decisions and become more profitable

See specific examples from clients below - or click the button to learn more about how business coaching works.

What advisory practice owners have to say about our work together

Working with John was like getting a business degree

John helped me develop our competitive strategy – to see who our actual clients were, the value we were bringing to them, why they were committed to us and how we were different from our competition. He helped build my confidence around our pricing.

He helped me believe in the quality that we were putting out in our product and why that was worth what it was worth.

John modeled how to be assertive while still staying heart-centered. I’d feel stuck a lot of the time – avoiding harder conversations or implementing changes that might be more challenging for me.

John taught me to see options for solving problems in a way where everyone ends up feeling good and cared for.

My company needed leadership - they were looking to me for direction

We'd been in business for 13 years, turning a profit every year, growing every year, adding people to it. But I felt like I was sinking.

The company needed leadership. People were looking up to me for direction.

John provided a very efficient, effective, accelerated learning process to get me up to speed in things that are not my background yet are essential to achieving my goals for my company.

I've made some significant structural changes to the company. I've been able to delegate the key functions effectively. I now have people dealing with those things that I was trying to juggle. I hear John's voice: “isn't there somebody else who can do that?”

When John met me, I was getting 3-4 clients a week now my practice is full.

When I first began working with John, I was just starting my practice. I had no business education or training, and was doing my best to learn on my own.

It became very clear that I needed help and through a stroke of luck, I connected with John.

We worked together for 4 months. In those 4 months, he helped me go from 3-4 clients per week to 13-14, which according to other professionals in my line of work shouldn’t have been possible at that stage of my career. Another 3 months later and my practice was full.

Are you ready for a business that supports your life? (instead of the other way around)

With some targeted education and training – along with perspective and insight from an experienced business mentor, you can achieve the same results my clients report:

  • Increased sales and revenue

  • Productivity gains – more time for self, family and “a life”

  • Increased clarity and confidence

  • Employees you can delegate to with confidence

More Praise for John

John has a gift for quickly assessing what is needed and offering clear, personalized solutions for business success.

I am grateful to the woman who recommended me to John Nieuwenburg.

The day I sat down with John was the day my business trajectory changed. My flight was slow until John provided me with clear strategies for positive change and helped me to see that much of what I need to be more successful are learn-able business skills.

John is an amazing teacher, task master and friend.

"I am so grateful that John exists! I'm one of his "raving fans"!

He is able to not only help business owners figure out what they want, he is able to give them the practical skills to get them to where they want to be.