Do you want to create your own successful business that gives you income and freedom?
A business that you can be proud of, that gives you satisfaction and brings value to the world?
Excellent sound advice... from his vast experience as an Accountant and his years in the business world.
Ruth Ball, Ruth Ball Bookkeeping
“I have worked with Noel over the past couple of months and he has helped my business immensely. He has given me excellent sound advice to improve the way I work, which comes from his vast experience as an Accountant and his years in the business world. Noel is a pleasure to work with, very easy to get on with and has a great positive attitude. I can't thank him enough and highly recommend him to others.”
For many of us 2020 was a year in which we were under enormous pressure or feeling anxiety due to the uncertainty of the situation we were facing. Others have had the misfortune of being made redundant or lost their jobs.
Some of us have felt unfulfilled and have used the lockdowns to reflect and question whether there is more to life than the stress involved in our current roles. Yet we carry on. It’s too easy to keep on the same track.
Sound familiar?
Creating your own business – or building an existing one to become more successful - is a dream for many people, but too many questions get in the way:
It doesn’t have to be like this.
This message is for you if you are:
Who Am I?
I’m Noel Guilford, a chartered accountant and business coach I’ve created, launched and built several successful businesses - and helped numerous others do so too – over the last 20 years from scratch and on a limited budget.
If you want to escape from the frustrations of working for someone else or what to take your existing business and make it into a real, value-based sustainable business that gives you the freedom and lifestyle you want then I can show you how to do it.
But can you really trust me? After all, there are lots of ‘gurus’ and ‘experts’ out there promising the earth who don’t really know what they are talking about or only show you part of the process.
But coaching business owners is not the only thing I do. In fact, I have set up, managed and grown three different businesses using exactly the system I will show you, and now I’m busy running my own successful accountancy and bookkeeping practice – which I set up from scratch - or building more businesses of my own. Now, for the first time, I’m revealing my exact blueprint.
“Noel is the ideal coach for a bookkeeping business - not only does he understand the nitty gritty of the client work, he also has vast experience in growing and developing similar businesses, so his advice works across everything we do. He's easy to talk to, and holds me accountable without putting me under too much pressure. If you run a bookkeeping business and need someone to guide you through the maze, Noel is the coach for you.” Kate Brown, SOS Bookkeeping Limited
How can a business coach help me?
Unlike a friend, partner or colleague, a professionally qualified coach is completely independent and 100% focused on you, asking challenging questions to open up your thinking and help you identify the steps to achieve your goals and maximise your income.
How often do you get to spend time with someone totally focused on you and your business?
Am I ready to be coached?
While you may be aware that you need to make changes — in behaviour, mindset, or both — to grow your business, you won’t reap the benefits of coaching unless you’re prepared to fully engage in the process. This requires an investment of time and effort, so before you move forward, the most important question you should ask yourself is, “Am I ready to be coached?”
To help you answer there are seven core characteristics that differentiate business owners who develop through coaching from those who don’t.
- Tolerance for discomfort. Successful coaching requires you to be proactive in embracing new ways of thinking and acting. In doing so, you will likely experience fear or emotional blocks about new realities. You must be able to endure these periods of discomfort to realise the rewards of taking new and different approaches.
- Openness to experimentation. Trying something new means taking risks, and experiments with new behaviours may not work the first time. Waiting for the perfect timing or perfect performance will stand in the way of progress. If you think you already have the answers and are unwilling to explore new options, you are unlikely to be open or do the necessary reflection to change. You have to try out new ideas and actions, fail, learn, and try again.
- Ability to look beyond the rational. Behaviour is not rational — it’s driven by emotions like fear, anger, and pride. Just because you “know” what to do doesn’t mean that you’ll act accordingly. You’ll gain a deeper understanding of your own behaviours and relationships if you explore their emotional dimensions.
- Willingness to take responsibility. It’s hard to change if you don’t believe you have the power to shape your future. Blaming the lockdowns, the government, too many responsibilities, and so on will block you from growth. Even if there is some truth in your reasoning, it’s impossible to move forward if you see yourself as a victim. You have to hold yourself accountable for making progress.
- Capacity for forgiveness. Even if you feel you’ve been mistreated, it’s essential to make peace with the past and channel your energy into progress. The need to “be right” or “show them” is rarely helpful for you or the people you work with. You must be willing to forgive and move on.
- Self-discipline. Somewhat counterintuitively, your development as a business owner will likely require you to let go of ways of thinking and behaving that helped make you successful in the past. It may be hard for others to accept changes in your personal or work relationships. For example, you may have succeeded up to this point by saying yes to helping out colleagues and making yourself available. But disciplining yourself to say no and learning to focus on what’s important are essential parts of becoming a more effective business owner. You have to stay focused on your coaching goals.
- Ability to ask for support. You must be engaged with other people who will support you, not just your coach, throughout the coaching process. You are accountable for change, but you will develop faster if you make yourself vulnerable to others (judiciously), including your peers and even direct reports. Share goals, ask for advice, listen with curiosity, and most critically, accept and act on the constructive feedback you receive.
It’s normal to feel both excitement and trepidation when deciding to work with a coach. Start by assessing the degree to which you have these seven characteristics, then decide which are the most challenging for you. You may decide that it’s not the right time to proceed. More likely, it will help you develop a stronger relationship and a deeper awareness of how to meaningfully develop as a business owner through coaching.
Why is an accountant talking about business coaching?
Although I am best known as a chartered accountant, I built up my expertise in my own businesses as well as advising others and have been mentoring and coaching my accountancy clients for almost 20 years through my business advisory services.
As their accountant, I soon became their trusted adviser on matters such as how to get more customers, develop their systems, recruit key staff and much more.
And having launched two separate accountancy practices, I was in demand to show other accountants and bookkeepers how to do it, which is when my first ‘Start your own business’ programme launched with ‘Start your own Bookkeeping Business’.
But not only that, as I got to know my clients they thanked me for the programme I’d created, how useful it was and how much difference it made in helping them set up on their own.
Creating something of real value and selling it to people for whom it makes a positive difference to their lives is hugely rewarding.
A great way to feel mentored and supported on what could have been a very lonely journey starting a one person business.
Heather Prendergast - bookkeeper
“[I’m] partway through the Start your own Bookkeeping Business course and couldn’t be happier with the resources and support included. Well structured, accessible learning pitched at exactly the right level, with enough flexibility from our tutor [Noel] to adjust, when required, to the individual needs of each member of the class cohort. A great way to feel mentored and supported on what could have been a very lonely journey starting a one person business. Invaluable access to a huge pile of resources online to ensure you have everything you need to succeed.”
- Not ensuring there is sufficient demand for their product or service
- Not identifying their ideal customer and niche
- Not understanding their business numbers
- Getting their pricing wrong
- Investing too much in premises, equipment and inventory
- Giving too much credit to customers
- Trying to do it all alone and not asking for help
- Not staying on top of cash flow.
What can go wrong?
Most people who try to start their own business, quite frankly, go about it the wrong way. That’s why the statistics on business failures are so high. Let’s look at the typical mistakes that lead to business failures.
Frankly, this list could go on. You’re an expert at what you do, not running a business, marketing, selling, or customer service, but these are skills you can learn with the help of a coach to guide you.
Noel is super helpful and there is no request too mundane for him to look into.
Danny O'fodile - bookkeeper
“Noel has been an ideal coach for setting up my bookkeeping business. He is very knowledgeable with vast experience not only in accounting but in sales, marketing and other business processes. Noel is super helpful and there is no request too mundane for him to look into. He is also very generous with his resources and has a true passion for helping businesses succeed. I have really enjoyed working with him.”
What’s stopping you?
There is nothing stopping you from starting your own business ….. even if you think there is. Some of the reasons people have given me for not starting are:
- It’s not the right time. If this is the case it never will be. Nor will it will never feel perfect or comfortable. You will always have a wobble in the midst of change. That’s just part of life when you take a step into the unknown. But this is a new journey which also brings excitement and personal growth. When would now be a good time to start?
- I don’t have the money. In reality it takes very little; you aren’t going to move into swanky offices and take on staff (not yet at least!). All my businesses have been bootstrapped (set up with little initial investment) and funded as I’ve gone along. A few hundred pounds is all you need.
- It’s too risky. Is that you, the voice in your head or friends and family saying that? Fortunately with my ‘no-fail’ guarantee I take all the risk away.
- I’ve got a family to look after and pay the bills. Well if you keep doing what you’re doing now, you’re going to keep getting what you’re getting.
- I don’t have time? If you think you don’t have time to start your own business then you never will. We all have the same amount of time, you can’t create more but you can make more of the time you’ve got. You just need to prioritise. If you’re serious about starting a business then find the time to work on it.
- I’ll have to quit my job. Why? You don’t need to quit your job yet. Lots of freelancers and solopreneurs have a job as well as a business, it’s where most of us started. Investing your time is the new cash and although we’re taught to believe that jobs provide security, unfortunately this is rarely the case.
- I’ve never run a business. What, you’ve never run a business before? Join the club. Focus on helping customers, building an audience and developing processes to deliver your skill. Think of it like this: I am building a system to give me more income and more freedom. So what if it’s called a business?
What if the quality of your life is not determined by the quality of your positive experiences, but your willingness to tolerate negative experiences? Could it be that the barriers in life are put there to show how badly you want something?
Ready for a change
If you want to start your own business – or build an existing one to be more successful and profitable - and make it into a real, value-based sustainable business that gives you the freedom and lifestyle you want then I can show you how to do it by sharing with you my well-structured, high-value step-by-step guide.
Do your programmes really work?
I won’t make a claim I cannot back up. Early in 2020 I created a pilot programme for just a few business, who trusted me enough to invest in me, to prove that my system works.
It was so successful I even wrote a book called ‘The Entrepreneurs’ Marketing System’ which was published in August 2020 based on the system I’ve devised (you’ll get a free copy if we work together).
I’m not talking about just the principle of turning your idea or business into a lead and income generating machine. It isn’t a training programme, it’s about implementing a system and creating a business based on a very specific tried and tested formula that works.
I’ve developed a marketing system that combines knowing your numbers and each of the key marketing pillars: that’s it’s key difference. You don’t just start out and hope for the best. That’s never going to work (and is why so many businesses fail). But if you understand your target market and follow the system you’ll grow a successful and profitable business.
There are 3 parts to the programme
- Online lessons in our bespoke training resource centre
- Live online coaching and support sessions
- Ongoing coaching support (you will have my personal mobile phone number)
What my programmes are NOT
I want to set the right expectations here. My programmes are not what you might expect from a typical online course or coaching course.
- They are not just an information download where you can sit back and learn a load of theory. They are implementation-focused programmes to guide you through a system of exercises and actions to lead you to the outcome of a successful and growing business.
- They are is not a business opportunity to make money with very little effort. If you aren’t excited about creating a real, valuable, high-quality business serving multiple clients then they are not for you.
- To create a successful business you need to understand how your prospective customers or clients think, what they want and what they need. To address these issues I’ve built my proven marketing system into the process, which involves regular communication with your clients and prospects and a willingness to move outside your comfort zone.
Disclaimer
- Nothing on this page is to be construed as an income guarantee; remember you’re an entrepreneur, not an employee. There are no guarantees for entrepreneurs.
- I know that most people reading this get it and you can skip this part, but I just want to make it crystal clear that marketing and growing your own business requires hard work, dedication and great customer service – attributes only you can bring to the table.
Find out if this is for you
If you are interested in working with me there is a simple application process to make sure we are a good fit, after which you can also book a call with me to go through your application. If I don’t take you on as a client it’s because I don’t believe it will work for you and I don’t want to take your money.
You can find all my programmes – with details of how to apply
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