How a Marketing Consultant discovered the joy of business again

H.B. owns a marketing consultancy which specialises in image development and integrated marketing campaigns for her clients. After a long period of frustration, waning sales, significant business challenges and staffing issues, H.B. was ready to throw it all in and find a job. We worked with her in our coaching program over 12 weeks and showed her how to make her business work for her, not her for it. Now she has more clients than she can manage, she loves going into the office every day and has 1 day off every fortnight (in addition to weekends!).

Key lesson: Business is a vehicle – if you know where you’re going and how to drive it you can go anywhere you want.

How the owner of a Registered Training Organisation regained control of her rapidly expanding business

N.C. owns a registered training organisation, specialising in providing accredited training and education programs. Having grown from 1 local employee to 30 throughout the state of QLD in the space of just one year N.C. was constantly dealing with staff enquiries, ‘issues’, paperwork and ‘dramas’ – preventing her from working on the strategic direction of the business and marketing. By using a combination of coaching and consulting over six months, N.C. now has sound structures, policies and procedures in place, her staff know how to complete each component of their job and N.C. now works solely on the development of the business. She is confident in the abilities of her staff and the business itself and now founds her day less stressful and more enjoyable.

Key lesson: Structure and clarity for everyone in the business enhances productivity and efficiency

How a national company successfully managed change to rebuild a floundering business

A.P.M. is a medium-size firm that over a number of years had suffered from dramatic market changes, significant cashflow challenges, changes to management personnel and structure and had a number of times been close to collapse. CATALYST was engaged to manage the change process when new owners took over the business, requiring six-months of on-site consulting and management to restructure the business, reassure and develop the staff team, manage the still-tight cashflow situation and regain the company’s position as one of the leaders in its field. After six-months our mission was accomplished with long-standing staff members commenting the company was now better than it had ever been, and the new owner’s in a position to successfully pursue strategic objectives.

Key lesson: People don’t like change – particularly when they don’t understand it. Change Management expertise in all business disciplines is vital to the success of any change program.

How a family-owned business acquired capital to expand by going back to basics

The Directors were facing significant choices about their business direction but lacked the funding to pursue any of their preferred options. CATALYST played the role of ‘part-time Business Director’. After a series of strategic development sessions which clarified the true purpose of their business, plans were set to rationalise operations. Then a program of financial management education, analysis and ongoing assistance uncovered the potential for the sale of a business unit. The subsequent sale not only provided much needed capital but freed critical human and organisational resources to be applied to the newly identified core business areas.

Key Lesson: An outside perspective can see possibilities that you may not.