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| OUR PANEL | Jane Tweedy
FAQ Business | Meredith Bell
Glass Elevator Consulting |
| Why should an electrical contractor consider business coaching? | For everyone who wants or needs to grow, having support from someone like a business coach is a great idea. In addition to what you don’t know, a good coach can explore what you know but is not working, plus open you up to what you may not even be aware of. | We all have different skill sets. I certainly do not know how to rewire a house or fault-find, but I do have lots of training and experience in developing businesses, streamlining operational systems, marketing as well as leadership development and training. My job is to help business owners develop strategies to grow their businesses, attract new clients, hold onto their staff longer and increase profitability through reduced downtime and optimising resources. |
| How does business coaching work? | Business coaching can work very differently, depending on who offers it and whether they’re a true coach (extract the best from you) or offer complementary services like advice (suggesting things to give a go or consider), or training (actually fill in your knowledge gaps). | Regular one-on-one sessions give practical guidance to address any challenges and take advantage of any opportunities, while assessments for new market opportunities, mentorship and accountability and help to create actionable plans for growth, are all valuable, too. |
| What business areas do you typically find contractors need to work on to grow? | Do they understand their numbers? Do they get stuck doing quotes after hours? Many also don’t know how or where to sell themselves. Do they have a digital presence? How can customers find them? These things can be non-existent. Staffing is another major challenge. When, who and how to hire? How to manage them? How to afford them when workloads can change? | We see a wide range of skill sets and businesses at all stages of their business journey, so the focus changes a lot, but commonly some of the key areas are business strategy and planning – ensuring that goals are set out and strategies are in place to get there; marketing and client acquisition, particularly for new businesses; and operational efficiency, often the clients are there but there is a level of chaos behind the scenes! |
| What changes do you typically see with the contractors you work with? | It’s the flow-on from business coaching, like being less stressed, reducing worry, managing time boundaries, or learning techniques to communicate better with everyone. Plus, changing your thinking can absolutely change your life. What we believe and think, leads to how we feel and what we do. Changing your thinking is, therefore, game-changing in your personal life as well as in business. | A weight off their shoulders! We see the people we work with have a greater strength and confidence, knowing it’s not all on their shoulders. We see improved work-life balance, and a renewed motivation for their business. They can see growth on the horizon and it feels good for them. |
| What sorts of outcomes have you typically seen contractors achieve through coaching? | One electrician got assistance when he first started, and then again to work on some search engine optimisation (SEO) of his website to target his location and a particular service. So we focused on optimising two pages on his site. This led to a massive influx of leads. He went from having to have a side contracting gig, to hiring his own teams and looking into starting a second business purely for the specialist service. | We have some clients grow teams and cover greater areas or new cities, we have seen staff turnover drop due to a little bit of leadership coaching and smoother systems internally being implemented. We have had a sparkie start playing in the local football team again after not having time to play for five years since he started his business. It might sound small, but his mindset and sense of self in his personal life have made him feel more accomplished in all areas of his life. |
