Get down to business
ActionCOACH
Gary Keating launched his ActionCOACH business in Bristol in February 2016
What did you do before franchising and what prompted you to make the change? After becoming self-employed straight from school, I built a chain of music shops in the South West and became a businessman and a multi-millionaire at the age of 25. But I lost the company two years later due to my lack of business knowledge. Undeterred by this setback, I bought a fi nancial services company for £1 and grew it into three companies specialising in investments, mortgages and fi nancial advice. I sold that fi rm and went to Hong Kong to start another fi nancial services business. My business partner and I ended up creating a group of six companies with 70 employees, administrating and managing an investment portfolio of over HK$1billion (£96.2million). I decided to retire in 2011 but got itchy feet when I realised that I wasn’t actually any good at being retired.
How did you fi nd out about franchising and ActionCOACH in particular? I saw an advertisement for ActionCOACH in the Sunday Telegraph and, after some more research, their coaching system and values blew me away.
Describe the process for getting on board – how long did it take? I attended a discovery day in April 2015 where ActionCOACH UK co-founder Ian Christelow’s passion for the business was engaging but, more than anything else, I realised that I didn’t know as much as I thought about running a business! My ego was banished for a short time. I wasn’t in a rush to start the ActionCOACH franchise, as my other businesses were providing a good income, and in November 2015 I completed the initial training. I eventually launched in February 2016.
What attracted you to this franchise opportunity? I could see with clarity that ActionCOACH would work for business owners whether they were based in Hong Kong or Bristol.
What was the initial training and support like? The initial training takes you back to the very fi rst lesson in business ownership and is a shock to the system. They now have Step-Up Week immediately following the initial training week, giving you hands-on experience of generating client enquiries, turning them into meetings and paying customers.
What ongoing training and support is available? The ongoing support and training is fantastic! It includes things like weekly coaching with a world-class Master Coach, weekly webinars, quarterly sales and training meetings, and a conference three times a year. We also have a resource dashboard, as well as an active forum that can be accessed by all the Action Coaches globally – it’s great to be involved with some of the leading coaches from all over the world.
How was trading in the beginning and how is business today? To get traction, you have to invest in
marketing and work at it. You have to be all in. While my property portfolio provided my main income, I still set a goal to reach £10,000 in client income a month by month six and £20,000 by year one. I harnessed my business connections and got my fi rst three clients through referrals and identifying businesses I knew that could be hugely improved by the ActionCOACH system.
What are the benefi ts of operating within the B2B sector? One of the main benefi ts of being in the B2B sector is being able to physically see that I am making a change to the community. Whether it’s creating jobs or helping businesses grow, it’s a great feeling when it works. The other advantage is being able to
work on short- to long-term outcome goal setting. Working in B2B means working
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