Business Coaching

Do you have a business idea but need help making your dream a reality? Or perhaps you already have a business, but it isn't doing well -- and you don't know why. Are you wondering how to make your business grow into something you can pass along when you're ready to retire?

Whether you want to build the business of your dreams, or want to find ways to increase profits and serve your customers better, having someone who can work with you to find the answers is a powerful way to get clarity. Someone who has business experience, process expertise, a creative bent, and the ability to listen.

That's where I come in.

I help people start businesses by helping them explore possibilities and narrow down their range of choices. I work with business owners to help them solve their most pressing problems and start enjoying their businesses again. And I create business documentation packages that help business owners get their processes nailed down to eliminate inefficiency and, when the time is right, prepare that business for successful sale.

Business Formation

Doing what needs to be done. Building a business that lasts. Knowing what you love and finding the best way to build a business from what you love to do. Competitive analysis and business strategy.

Business Process Design, Analysis, and Troubleshooting

When your business is suffering, you suffer. Business problems drain your energy, create morale problems with employees (and yourself!), and reduce your profits because of inefficient processes.

The fact is, most business problems revolve around faulty business processes. How do you troubleshoot them? And how do you design processes that not only work, but are flexible enough to accommodate the needs of your business as it grows?

That's where I come in.

I help business owners record their business processes to reduce costs and eliminate inefficiencies. As a professional technical writer, I wrote thousands of business process documents for many corporations. As a business coach, I bring that expertise to bear on your business processes. Not only can I help you identify the problems in your business, but I'll write them down in a format that anyone can understand.

What does that do for you?

• Simplifies new hire training: When you bring a new employee on board, training is a snap because everything is written down already. Nothing is left to chance. You end up with better, happier employees, and you're able to manage them better because the job requirements are clearly defined.
• Simplifies manager training.
• Frees you to run your business instead of operating it day after day.

Preparing Your Business for Sale

Here's a fact for you: Most small business owners simply close their businesses down when they're ready to retire. They never consider the value their business has to others who might want to start their own businesses by purchasing one that's already in place. Why?

"I am my business. How can you sell that?" one business owner told me recently. Yet over time, he learned to see his business as something he created that had a value all its own. And if he packaged that business properly, he could offer it for sale and make his retirement a lot more than it otherwise might be.

Fact: Your business is worth four times its annual revenue.

Whether you want to have something more to leave your children, or enjoy the sort of retirement you deserve after years of hard work, selling your business is the right thing to do.

But how do you prepare your business for sale? One of the first steps is making sure you've documented all the processes required to run your business. All the steps needed to open every day...close every night...handle billing and invoices...operate the equipment...and do the dozens of other tasks that must be done to ensure business success.

Most business owners take those processes for granted. But by fleshing those processes out, writing them down, and packaging them properly, you can offer potential buyers a turnkey operation. Not to mention be able to take a couple of nice vacations each year yourself, because your employees will know exactly how to keep your business running smoothly.

Copyright (c) 2002-2006 by Michael Knowles. All Rights Reserved.
Contact me by e-mail at , or call 831-531-2896.