An Open Letter to Business Coaches

Business coaches face an ongoing dilemma – time constraints. The more business owners you serve, the less time you have availability to work with each owner individually in overcoming obstacles and addressing challenges.

Financial control is one of the seven major areas of concentration in effective management. The others being:

• Administrative functions

• Managing the physical assets

• Marketing, advertising and leasing

• Personnel, vendor and customer relationships

• Research, development and training [continuing education]

• Networking

Although it’s only one area of effective management, it’s critical to the survival of the business.

A business cannot last one day without cash. With this in mind, we developed a process to help business coaches free up more time to work with their clients. By providing them with a program that:

1. Anchors business owners in financial reality

2. Measures performance, productivity and profitability accurately and effectively, and

3. Supplies adaptable and editable worksheets and templates to document business activity,

A business coach can concentrate on coaching instead of report preparation.

The time that had previously been devoted to understanding and interpreting financial information in a client’s business can now be redirected to hands-on guidance and direction. More personal time with a client one on one yields a deepened trust, which translates into a stronger and longer business relationship. The end result for the business coach and business owner is greater profitability.

Here is an overview of how our process works.

We combine three methodologies into an integrated program:

1. The Pareto Principle [the 80/20 rule]

2. The Common Denominator of Success [Lecture given by Albert E.N. Gray]

3. The 137 awareness to action Blueprint [Our own proprietary approach to focus, priorities and targeted objectives]

Together, these show you what to concentrate on and what to avoid financially.

We rely on three time tested and proven resources to use as textbooks for financial instruction:

1. SCALING UP! How a Few Companies Make It…and Why the Rest Don’t by Verne Harnish

2. SIMPLE NUMBERS, STRAIGHT TALK, BIG PROFITS! 4 Keys to Unlock Your Business Potential by Greg Crabtree, and

3. MANAGING BY THE NUMBERS A Commonsense Guide to Understanding and Using Your Company’s Financials by Chuck Kremer and Ron Rizzuto with John Case.

Together they show you what is really happening financially in your business, why it’s happening, and perhaps more importantly, what you can do about it.

We embrace three financial truths and concepts to frame our process:

1. See the big picture. You can’t afford to fool yourself.

2. Keep score and learn how to win. Know where you’re at any given moment in time, and in which direction you’re moving.

3. Create a roadmap that will guide you from where you’re today financially, to where you want to be tomorrow. Be able to change course when necessary.

Together they show you how to avoid problems instead of continually having to solve one problem after another.

Our process is designed to provide business coaches with the critical financial information they need to:

• Get accurate, complete and timely financial reports

• Understand and interpret the story the numbers are telling, and

• Use the information to make better-informed business decisions, and stop guessing about what to do when faced with making critical choices.

The process provides an action checklist to help business owners develop a rhythm in financial control.

The checklist is broken down into what reports and actions are needed and when to review and evaluate them. The financial rhythm time frame covers activity: daily, weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, quarterly, semi-annually and annually.

In addition, our process provides a collection of free resources to business coaches that they can make available to their clients. The collection contains:

1. Guide to Understanding and Interpreting Financial Statements

2. A Blueprint Action Checklist for charting financial rhythms

3. A 91-page ebook on Running A Business Like A Business

4. A detailed Cash Flow Story Report and Analysis used by bankers to determine performance and evaluate creditworthiness

5. A Self-test Question and Answer Examination owners can use to see for themselves the strengths and weaknesses of their business

6. A Business Health Quiz for determining the current health of the business

7. A Bibliography, that we use ourselves, to serve as a foundation for business owners in building their own resource library

8. '11 Milepost Numbers’ that track cash and debt balance drivers

9. Excel worksheets and templates to track activity and build a history for trend analysis

10. Key Financial Indicators used for building a trend analysis table and tracking key numbers

11. Direct Cash Flow Statement Worksheet for converting an Indirect Cash Flow Statement into one that works like your checkbook [easy to understand]

We also provide the following continuing education tools and help that business coaches can make available to their clients and facilitate better communication between them.

• A ten lesson course in How To Build Business Cash Flow

• Financial thoughts for the week [Short financial reminders, thoughts and posts for repetitive contact]

• Access to our network, where questions can be asked and answered.

When you as a trusted advisor can help business owners survive and thrive, everyone benefits.

Our process can make your job easier and more profitable for all involved. If you’re interested in learning more about our process, and how it can help you, contact us today at:

1. Our website: 137awareness.com

2. Our email: info@137awareness.com

3. Our phone: 405-657-6889

The service you provide is vital to help business owners avoid failure and take advantage of opportunities that pass others by.

Thank you for the untold hours you invest in your clients. We are all grateful for you!