Business Growth Coaching

This is the first of a series of reviews which will introduce you to the business growth coaching concepts included in Scott Hallman's Small Business Growth Club.

Scott Hallman is one of my ten Business Growth Superstars and if you are a regular reader of my blog, you will have read some of his excellent Tuesday Profit Tips which are re-published in my Business Coaching blog. (just click on the Scott Hallman link)

If you are not familiar with Scott Hallman and his background, I have written a "Who Is Scott Hallman?" blog posting which includes testimonials from Jay Abraham, Chet Holmes and Jay Conrad Levinson.

Just seeing that list and then adding in Scott's commitment to systemisation a la Michael Gerber and the E Myth means that you will understand why his ideas strike such a strong chord with me.

The Small Business Growth Club

The Small Business Growth Club is the membership site which I wish I had created but Scott beat me to it. (see my guide to finding your way around the website further down the article)

The Small Business Growth Club is full of high quality materials organised in flexible learning channels and with the emphasis on practical implementation to generate measurable results.

Have you noticed that most of the time when you buy a business book or audio/video program you are told what to do but not how to do it?

This makes the jump from knowledge to purposeful action difficult and is one of the reasons why too many programs are bought as intellectual entertainment but don't translate into the promised extra profit.

Scott Hallman noticed this problem and has developed a solution by developing training lessons  to lead you through the process step by step and then tell you to monitor your improved results.

The Small Business Growth Club Is Not Perfect

I joined the Small Business Growth Club back in September 2007 with the intention of "spying on a competitor" to see what I could pick up and learn.

I was blown away by what I found and it has caused me to re-think my approach to business growth coaching because of the quality of program that Scott Hallman is providing for less than a dollar a day.

But the Small Business Growth Club does have some flaws, one of which has held back my progress through the materials and reduced the recommendations I have given it.

1. The audio lessons cannot be downloaded and have to be played while you sit at the PC.
   
   I am a big believer in audio learning but the two times I listen to most of the programs are a) in my car when I am driving on my own and b) when I am walking my dog or just generally out and about.
   
   Soon after I subscribed to the Small Business Growth Club, Scott contacted me to ask me what I thought. Great customer care but I took up this issue with him and Scott explained that he didn't allow downloads because of the intellectual property issue.
   
   More recent communications have been much more positive and Scott has assured me that download facilities will be included in the Small Business Growth Club soon which from my perspective has opened it up to making much more positive recommendations. As of 10th June 2008, we are not there yet.
   
   Update - the audios can now be downloaded.
    
   
2. I find the Small Business Growth website confusing to navigate around and find myself going around in circles unsure whether I have found everything. A site map would definitely help or an updated contents list which you could mark off what you've gone through. I haven't found the Members Forum yet!
   
   Update I have spoken to Scott about this and he is adding videos to guide you through the website and introduce you to the Small Business Growth Club.
    
   
3. I also found that the membership site would log me out unexpectedly and until recently I have been using Internet Explorer which didn't seem to want to hold the password cookies so I struggled to log back on. Now I've switched to Firefox things are much easier but the Small Business Growth Club does log you out after a time period and I am not convinced that all the paths are cleared for members as I find myself unexpectedly back in the public site.
   

These last two are minor gripes compared to the quality of the business growth training materials and the incredibly low price of the Small Business Growth Club.

The confusing website design in point two is partly caused by one of the big advantages I see in the Small Business Growth Club and that is the flexibility of approaches into the materials. It may be a case that I can't have my cake and eat it.

Let me explain.

At the heart of the Small Business Growth Club are a series of 99% standalone modules and instead of just listing them in order, Scott has put them into work streams so a key module will occur in a number of different work streams which take you progressively through a business development course.

I think this is a great idea turning the Small Business Growth Club into a structured business training program, whatever your business needs.

The Three Main Business Growth Coaching Work Streams

Scott has identified three main work streams through the material

1. Generate New Business - this is designed to turn your business into a systematic marketing machine and produce a continuous stream of new customers.
    
   
2. Implement / Manage - this work stream teaches you to implement new systems and procedures, overcome barriers to change and improve the control over your business.
    
   
3. Optimise Profits - this works stream contains a series of modules mainly aimed around increasing the profit you make from your existing customers.
   

It is the last of these three work streams, Optimise Profits which I will be reviewing first because I firmly believe that many businesses are sitting on a fortune of hidden opportunities and assets, just waiting for someone to turn into profit. (You can tell that I have been indoctrinated by Jay Abraham's ideas).

The Alternative Routes In The Small Business Growth Club

It may be that you would prefer to tackle the Small Business Growth Club by function rather than effectively by management process.

This isn't a problem as Scott Hallman has built this flexibility into the program so you have the option to work through the modules organised into sections from the Business Success Cycle:

1. Marketing
    
   
2. Sales
    
   
3. Management
    
   
4. Profits
    
   
5. Success Mindset
    
   
6. Health

You can also tackle the modules on a free form basis so if you decide that you want to improve your referrals, you do the referrals module.

Focus on Implementation

What makes Scott Hallman and his business growth coaching stand out is his focus on implementation.

He knows that as an entrepreneur, you are busy. In fact it's impossible to get everything you want done.

So Scott makes implementation simple with a step by step procedure and only wants you to focus on ONE introducing one idea at a time. Each program takes you through the process with lots of examples, ideas and recommendations but Scott encourages you to narrow down your options and pick one thing.

Then you try it, test it, improve it and then build it into your standard procedures and then you move on to the next idea. That way you move up the staircase of performance gradually, effectively but persistently.

A compound 1% improvement every week means over 50% improvement in a 12 month period all from taking one step, making it work in your business and then moving on.

Reviewing The Small Business Growth Club

I will be reviewing the work streams and individual modules but if you want to have a look at the Small Business Growth Club before I have reported back, can I suggest the easiest way through the site.

Click on the Small Business Growth Club  and do you see the "Not A Member Yet Take A Guided Tour" banner advertisement which is flashing on the left hand side. Click on that and open it up in another window. This takes you to a gentle sales letter but before you read it I'd like you to have a little look around by clicking on the different streams.

That way you can see what's included, then return back to the Home page and take a look at the testimonials. Then come back to the sales letter page when you have a much better idea of what's included.

For less than a dollar a day I recommend that you sign up, begin your business growth coaching and start working ON your business. 

If you are not yet convinced you can wait for my reviews on the contents of the club.

But why wait. I am certain that you will be delighted with the contents of the business growth coaching / training program and the price is tiny compared to the value. I should be advising Scott to put the price up (I would be charging much more) but I know that he wants to have a major effect on entrepreneurs and small businesses around the world.