The bob Story
Alan, over many years has created and grown many business enterprises, and yet he knows how lonely and difficult, and yet rewarding, the world of small business ownership is.
One of Alan’s business was twice listed as one of the fastest growing companies in Australia. He has realised many times in his business career that he is not an island and needs help and expertise to enable him to run his organisations effectively.
In 1991, when the concept of a business coach was not even considered, he decided he needed someone to work with him. The person he selected was ex-military and gave him some structure and discipline at a time when his organisation needed those attributes. Seeing the benefits of coaching he then became an executive coach to many CEOs in both Australia and overseas.
There are many business networking coaching organisations and groups that focus on assisting business leaders. However, Alan identified that there was an opportunity for a group that acted like a Board that was focussed on only small business owners and importantly at a cost that they could afford.
The discipline and accountability that a monthly board and structure that brings to a business is what BoB is about, but it is also about help and guidance.
Managing and owning a business today is difficult and complex. Alan has owned and managed over 40 businesses in his career and he has been through the cashflow, growth, restructuring, managing in crisis, human resource issues, contractual disputes, licensing arrangement, how to market, new product development, raising capital, dealing with banks and all the other multitude of issues a business owner has to deal with. In short, there are not many situations that he is not experienced with. This is perhaps where he stands out from other coaches / mentors
Over the years Alan has received feedback from many business owners that they required help, but were unsure whether to choose coaches, groups or mentors. There are a multitude of organisations and individuals who offer advice and guidance, but many have not had experience of running a small business. The other alternative is an advisory board with Alan, or one of his Chairs acting as both a coach, mentor and business advisor, but also to hold the business owner accountable for achieving what they want to achieve for both themself and their business.