COVER STORY


A PASSION FOR POSITIVITY


ary changed his own life and contines to tra nsfo those of his clients with his ActionCOACHfra nchise


Finding the right coach for you as a franchisee Business coaching journeys don’t tend to start at the hairdressers, but for Puddle Ducks franchisee Sarah Austin a trip to the local salon was just the ticket to fi nd a coach that would work for her and her business. Sarah is a big believer in


fi nding the right coach for you. When ActionCOACH Gary Keating came on board to aid with her Puddle Ducks franchise in Bristol and Bath, Sarah knew it was the perfect match.


A cut above the rest “I go to NOCO hair salon, which is another client of Gary’s. Noel and I would always start chatting about our businesses, what was going right, what wasn’t working, and he would always recommend that I speak to Gary and ActionCOACH. I kept delaying and delaying until one day I decided to go for it and, well… the rest is history!” Sarah’s business, a Puddle


Ducks franchise for Bristol and Bath, provides high-quality swimming lessons for babies, toddlers and school-aged children in the area. “I’ve always loved what Puddle Ducks offers, and it has been such a rewarding journey for me since I launched


12


the franchise in September 2008. “However,


COVID came around and I was feeling a little fl at about the business. I’d put in an enormous amount of work throughout COVID and I felt so proud to have got through that really challenging time. After 14 years of running my business, combined with being exhausted from the COVID challenges, I felt a bit lost. I really needed some guidance to help me plan for the team, our customers and my future”.


Recruiting right Starting coaching in the summer of 2022, Gary knew how to strike the right chords to get Sarah motivated as the effects of the pandemic on business dissipated. “The fi rst thing Gary worked on with me was my confi dence and self- belief. He told me I had such a great business, that we were doing so much for so many and I should be proud of that. Instilling more confi dence in me was a massive step to re- energise my work so we could move on to improving other areas of the business.


Puddle Ducks' Sarah Austin has found Gary's ActionCOACH services invaluable to the growth of her business


“We talked about the


recruiting challenges I faced because of the pandemic. I wasn’t hiring anyone off the street, but something was missing and many of our new recruits weren’t hitting the mark,” explained Sarah. “Gary made me stop, take a step back, take a breath and evaluate my recruitment strategy. Who did I want to recruit, what did they look like, what were their values and so on. What he made me consider was recruiting people who aligned with the business’ vision. “Straight off the bat, I


could see the improvements. Knowing I had a coach I could trust was a big help. When we were talking about developing


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61