Our business coaching services create real results that bring your retail dream to life.
Why should I have a retail business coach?
“Usus est optimum magister” Experience is the best teacher.
- Learn new skills and practice new behaviours.
- Expert advice: our coaches share professional wisdom, make suggestions and warn of dangers.
- A supportive sounding board: by understanding the obstacles you face, we’ll help you overcome them.
- Encouragement and guidance: so you can undertake complex tasks to reach your goals.
- Bridging the gap in knowledge, experience, systems, processes etc.
How can a business coach help?
By tapping into the skills, various disciplines and experience of open-minded professional people, companies can introduce a perspective and vision needed to deliver the performance they require to compete profitably.
- Better understand the market you’re in, or looking to enter
- Identify opportunities within that market
- Reach your target audience
Rowland asks questions. He brings a fresh pair of eyes while emphasising what I already know. Also, he has the insight and introductions to help this business become global and successful.
Sherry Roberts, CEO and founder of The Longest Stay
I’m just thinking of starting up a business, can you help?
Yes! We wrote The Retail Start-Up Book
- Discover your unique skill sets and competitive advantage
- Help develop a business plan to secure investment
- Clarify your offer to customers
- Make strategic suggestions and warn of dangers.
- Listen and be a sounding board for ideas
- Build your confidence that you can and will succeed
- Develop a business proposition that will help you find the right approach to raise money or refinance your business.
I would recommend Grey4Gold … to everybody because if you don’t get the foundations of your business right then everything on top will just collapse.
James Hobbley, Ark Pet Supplies
I have a business, what can you do for me?
Provide invaluable advice that will help you grow.
- Assist the business to adapt to new skills, practice new behaviours and improve business performance.
- Share professional wisdom, make strategic suggestions and warn of dangers.
- Listen carefully and understand the issues the business needs to overcome.
- Build your confidence to undertake complex tasks to reach their goals.
- Develop a business proposition that will help you find the right approach to raise money or refinance your business.
The [one to one] was quite positive really and it was just nice to have some feedback from somebody who’s got retail expertise and can look at your business in a different way. To have a mentor like Lynne was a win-win situation because I went through ideas where I would like to go with my business and the advice was invaluable. I also found out about the areas that I’m doing right so that gave me a lot of confidence to move forward.
Melanie Jenkins, Mossies
Expand your business
Expanding a small to medium size company is complicated. Quirky and adaptable can and often leads to cautious and boring. Motivation gets diluted as process takes over. As banks and shareholders get involved, pressures to perform mount. Distinctive features can fade as the treadmill takes over. Independents and SMEs can thrive working with experienced business coaches.
Whether it’s growing your brand, setting a new strategy or entering a new market, we can help.
What would coaching involve?
Trust and good chemistry are crucial.
We offer 2 free hours and then an hourly rate with no minimum hours required. We are London-based and are happy to connect with you in London or speak to you on the phone.
The initial conversation is focused on:
- establishing your vision
- the market you want to enter / have entered
- your method of communciation
- key issues you want us to help you resolve
We’ll ask you to complete a SWOT analysis prior to our first meeting so we have a clearer understanding of you and your business. This helps to develop an in-depth understanding of your needs.
The Grey4Gold business coach is never a threat to the owner or critical of past endeavours. It’s all about understanding the business and then developing the trading strengths and ensuring that simple controls are in place to guarantee that the owner knows precisely what is going on in the business and can anticipate issues, before they hit.
Mark asked me lots of questions about both the business but also about myself and my skills and experience. Mark wasn’t in any way critical, in fact he helped me realise that I had a unique skills set and this gave me a potential competitive advantage over other similar businesses.
Helen Dale, Sew and Sews Attic
For established businesses, we’ll also ask you to complete our ‘health check’ template, which will help us identify any immediate concerns. The Grey4Gold process explains clearly to start-ups the crucial steps needed to establish a small enterprise on a firm footing, while assisting those who are already in business to go from strength to strength.
Opportunities are there and working alongside an experienced and knowledgeable coach from Grey4Gold can help a business enormously.
How will a business coach help me?
Independent coaches are an essential resource for retailers.
- The ability to guide and provoke ideas
- Quality advice, not just opinions
- An influential voice
Example: In Cherwell we got Crown Walk’s landlord, who had never visited before, to go to the town and take his responsibilities seriously as a major stakeholder
The best coaches, of which Rowland and Mark from Grey4Gold have the ability to guide and provoke ideas whilst respecting that they are dealing with the business owners dreams and aspirations – quality advice goes well beyond just having an opinion – and it’s really hard to find.
Nigel French, Coles Books Bicester
What can a business coach help with?
A business coach helps with strategy and business or brand development as well as operational activities like finance and details such as in-store lighting and merchandising.
- Developing a retail strategy
- Brand development and growth
- Financials
- Bringing a product to market
- Entering new markets
- Operational activities
- Merchandising
Why Grey4Gold?
A Grey4Gold business coach’s qualifications are rooted in on the job experience, not training courses or theory. Our coaches have had successful careers as senior executives in retail. They have, quite simply, been there, done that, learned from it and can apply those lessons to solve business issues.
Andrew gave me a lot more reassurance that I am doing the right thing. He said I was on the right track and just needed to tweak this and tweak that. I’ve seen an increase in sales since Andrew’s involvement.
Michelle Smith, Divine