What's different about this course? There are other courses out there which are geared towards helping you to grow your business—some are even free. Why should you book your place on this one and give up your valuable time to attend the sessions?
This is a practical course based on real-life experience. Developed and run by multi-millionaire serial entrepreneur Patrick White (who has owned and run over 14 businesses) this course will show you insider’s tips that Patrick has actually used to take existing businesses, turn them around and sell them at a profit.
Once you’re on the course, you’ll be able to talk over your specific situation and get tips from Patrick. Often these tips are worth several thousands of pounds because they stop you making costly business mistakes or they help you to maximise the new opportunities that are open to you.
Can’t I read this in a book—a business biography, for example? In order to get access to insiders’ tips like these, you need to be working personally with someone who has actually built businesses and helped others do the same, otherwise you can’t be sure that the tips are going to be right for your business. You cannot pick this wisdom up from books or from free articles on the internet, because the information covered on this course is far too valuable to be in the public eye!
How does the course work? There are two parts to the course:
Sessions 1-6:
Every week you meet up with like-minded business people who have their sights set on growing a successful, thriving business which can exist without their daily input. You get to know one another and you share ideas and tips on the course.
The sessions begin with Patrick talking you through one of the topics covered in the course. Then you work through exercises and business tools together, discussing how you can put them into practice. Between sessions you are set ‘homework’ to work on and discuss at the following session. By the end of the course, you will have a practical, comprehensive strategic business plan which is designed especially for your business.
Group sizes are 10-15 people to ensure that you get a high level of access to Patrick White throughout the course and so that you really get to know the other people on the course – a great opportunity for networking, partnerships and joint ventures!
Sessions 7-8:
Sessions 7 and 8 are one-to-one progress review sessions with an expert business coach/mentor who helps you with the issues specific to your own business. Each session lasts one hour and is delivered by telephone. You arrange a convenient time and date with your coach.
Depending on what you would like to be coached on, you could be working directly with Patrick or if you have specialist queries, we will arrange for you to have sessions with the expert coach on our team who has the right experience and knowledge to help you.
Most clients find these sessions to be invaluable because they help them to stay on track.
What You'll be Learning Session 1: Vision and Goal Setting
Being clear about the company’s vision and where you are heading is essential if you are going to include other people in your plans. Indeed without a clear vision you can find yourself operating in a purely reactive way and never truly moving forward in any meaningful way.
In this session, Patrick will guide you through the key essentials of creating (or refining) your Vision Statement and show you how to set powerful business goals that give you the energy to see you through the tough times and keep you on a high when everything is running according to your plans.
What you’ll be covering in this session:
The difference between Vision and Mission—they are absolutely NOT the same and shouldn’t be used as interchangeable terms, you’ll find out why
Examples of the Vision Statements that are behind some of the greatest business successes in recent years, plus how to create your own Vision Statement
Defining the Mission of your business
Communicating the Vision and Mission internally to all your people, including ways to engage your staff with the principles of the Vision and Mission statements to ensure that they are properly understood
Implementing the Vision and Mission—what needs to happen on a practical level to make them a reality
What is a BHAG and how is it relevant to your business? You will be shown examples which illustrate how you can come up with your own BHAG
Using the Balanced Scorecard and how to apply it to the key areas of your business from the Financial Perspective, the Customer Perspective, the Business Process Perspective and the Learning and Growth Perspective
Setting realistic yet motivating Objectives, Measures, Targets and Initiatives
Using Outcome Metrics
Session 2: Diagnostics
Decisions made reactively, on gut instincts, to take advantage of immediate opportunities can help to make a businesses successful in the early stages. One of the main drawbacks of using this approach is that it can be very hard to replicate success in the future if you don’t know what made you successful in the first place! It can also make you vulnerable to external and internal forces that you are simply not aware of.
The chances are that now your business is moving to the next stage in its evolution, that you will want to understand how to analyse the current position of your business, identify where there are opportunities to grow and to stop doing non-profitable activities.
In this revealing session, you’ll find out about the tools used to uncover exactly what’s happening in your business and in the outside world so that you can make informed strategic decisions on what to do next to grow your business.
What you’ll be covering in this session:
The 10 Steps to Excellence
The three steps to grow your business
Using a SWOT Analysis in your business
Understanding and using a PESTLE Analysis—find out how different external forces impact on your business and how your customers and clients will buy in the future.
Strategic Plan Assessment Tool—you’ll work through this in-depth tool which examines your Strategic Focus, Organisational Identity, Environmental Scans and Plans, Internal Scans and Plans, Products and Services, Reinvention and Renewal, Performance Measurement, Leadership and Strategy Process Effectiveness
Session 3: Strategy
The saying goes, “if you fail to plan, you plan to fail”. When preparing for growth in your business, it is essential to know exactly where the business is heading and how you are going to get there.
In this session you will be building on the work you have already done to set your Vision and Goals, and combining that with the in-depth knowledge you now have about your business from the Diagnostics session, to create a realistic plan for growth. During this session, you will start to work on the Strategy Document for your own business.
What you’ll be covering in this session:
How far ahead can you realistically plan for?
The key elements of Strategic Planning—Competitive Advantage, Adding Value, Mass markets vs. Niche Markets, Cost-Based Strategies & Market-Based Strategies
Examining Contingency Plans and Growth Plans
Corporate Culture—what is it, what drives it and how do you go about defining the culture of your company?
Integrating your Strategic Plan with your Vision, Aims and Objectives
Using Analysis tools such as SWOT and PEST within your Strategic Plan
Porter’s Five Forces model and how this can be applied on a practical level within your business
The resources that you need to implement your strategy
11 Different types of Strategies and how to choose the strategy/strategies that will enable your business to grow and meet your objectives
Session 4: Marketing
A good Marketing strategy is at the heart of a solid growth strategy. In order to increase your revenue and profitability, you first need to understand your customers’ needs, provide a product or service to meets those needs and let your customers know that the solution they are looking for exists!
What you’ll be covering in this session:
The concepts behind a Marketing-led approach to business and the POISE model of Marketing
Contents and Structure of a Marketing Plan and how each section is relevant to your business
Marketing Research—working within the process, different types of Marketing research
Using Marketing Research tools and techniques
Applying analytical tools to your Marketing Plan
Understanding Buyer Behaviour and what makes people decide to buy from you—you’ll be shown how this applies to both B2B and B2C customers
Classification and segmentation of customers according to type and buyer behaviour
Setting strategies according to the current stage of the Product Life Cycle and planning for New Product Development and Launch
Applying the Boston Matrix and Ansoff’s Matrix to your business to identify which products you should be offering to which markets
Pricing Strategies—you’ll be shown 13 different short-term and long-term strategies for using your price to position your products and services in the marketplace; as well as in the minds of your customers, and to generate sales
Channel and Distribution Tactics—selling via agents, wholesalers, retailers and other intermediaries
Communicating your message and promoting your products and services through appropriate media
Relationship Marketing and Business Development strategies for forging strong business contacts
Creating your own Marketing Flowchart which illustrates how you will execute your plans
Session 5: Business Planning
By this stage of the course, you will have covered a lot of ground in the group sessions and will have been working on your own strategy document for your business as part of your ‘homework’ between sessions.
In this interactive session you’ll translate your ‘big picture’ plans into financial forecasts and set measureable milestones. Even if financial planning isn’t your strongest skill, you’ll leave this session confident that you know how to manage your cash flow effectively and have the resources you need in place, when you need them, to grow your business in line with your strategy.
What you’ll be covering in this session:
Financial Strategy—turning both your Growth Strategy Plan and your Marketing Plan into numbers, planning resources and creating a Cash Flow worksheet
Recommended software to help you to plan and manage your finances
Cash Flow and Profitability—why even very profitable businesses can fail due to cash flow problems
Designing financial projections and forecasts for different audiences, e.g. directors, bank manager, investors
Step-by-step details how to put together a forecast
Common pitfalls in financial planning and how to avoid making the kinds of mistakes that could seriously harm your business
Over 30 ways to improve your net Cash Flow, including ideas such as billing as soon as work has been done rather than waiting for the end of the month, adding late payment charges for slow payers, negotiating extended credit terms from your suppliers, factoring debts, using alternative financing methods, selling off obsolete or excess inventory, deferring dividend payments and more
You’ll also be shown that relatively small changes in your sales, pricing and cost structure can have a dramatic impact on your profitability. You may even be able to put this small change into practice as soon as you leave this session and see the difference it makes immediately to your bottom line.
Session 6: Project Management
Now that you have all of your plans in place, the next stage is to set out exactly what you’re going to do to start building momentum and growing your business.
This session will arm you with the key skills necessary to ensure that your business continues to operate efficiently and meets the needs of your current customers, while at the same time implementing a strategy for future growth.
What you’ll be covering in this session:
Breaking down the key components of your strategic plans into projects with a start and end date.
Defining types of projects and the implications on cost
Step-by-step details how to establish what needs to be done and at which stage in the business’s growth
Organising the people in your business into project teams and assigning roles and responsibilities, with clear-cut action plans and deadlines
How to set out a clear project brief that can be followed easily and with the minimum of fuss
Planning the project framework—the nuts and bolts of what needs to happen, who is responsible and how progress will be communicated internally
Setting timescales for each stage of each project
Creating a Work Breakdown Structure and dependency diagram with your team
Using a Gantt chart to visually plan projects and keep on track with progress against schedules
How to analyse resources and ensure that the business continues to operate efficiently while making progress on the projects
Developing a Risk Management Plan—making sure that you have planned for all likely eventualities
Key actions for Collect Status and Take Adaptive action
Steps to take when the project starts to fall behind
Key questions and actions for Close-Out of the project
10 ways to improve your Project Management
Sessions 7 and 8: Individual Coaching
Now that the group sessions have been completed, you will have your own personalised draft Strategic Plan, Marketing Plan, Business Plan and Project Plan.
You now have two private one-to-one coaching sessions with an expert coach on the subject of your choice to enable you to get private help and support on putting your plans into action.
What is coaching?
You may have heard of Life Coaching or Executive Coaching before. These two types of coaching usually focus on personal development which can include setting and achieving personal goals and objectives, planning career development, leadership development or improving ‘soft skills’.
The coaching sessions provided as part of this programme are Business Coaching sessions.
What’s the difference?
Business Coaching focuses primarily on what you as a business owner or company director needs to do next to make your plans happen. It’s very action-orientated and because you may be venturing into new territory where you will need a certain amount of guidance, you will work with the coach who has the most relevant experience to help you.
How do the coaching sessions work?
You have 2 x one hour coaching sessions as part of this course. Each session takes place at a pre-arranged time telephonically—you set the dates and times with your coach according to your schedule.
Before your coaching session, you need to let your coach know what you would like to focus on during that session and it is best to spend some time thinking about whether you have any specific questions or challenges that you would like to discuss with your coach.
What will I be covering in coaching sessions?
You set the topic for the coaching sessions, so what you cover is entirely up to you—within reason!
Typically people who take part in the course use the sessions for:
Clarifying certain points covered on the course
Getting honest feedback on their plans
Planning how to communicate the strategy to other people in the business
Using the coach as a sounding-board for ideas
Planning for important meetings, e.g. presentations to the bank or investors, negotiations with customers or suppliers, or briefing the other directors on taking the plans forward.
Working on ‘soft skills’ such as time management, interpersonal skills, being more assertive, presentation skills and managing people effectively
Discussing Marketing Strategies and how to best position their company in the marketplace
Dealing with challenges from competitors
Adjusting to their new role as a Leader, not a ‘do-er’
Who will be coaching me?
Depending on what you would like to focus on in your coaching sessions, you may be working with Patrick White one-on-one or it may mean that you work with another coach from our team who is the expert in the area where you need more assistance. We will discuss this with you when you enrol on the course.
Is there an option to continue having coaching sessions after this course?
Yes, if you do wish to continue to have private sessions with your coach, please let us know and this can be arranged. We will discuss fees with you before you make a decision.
If I can’t attend one of the sessions, can I send someone else in my place?
For you to get the most from this course, you really need to be able to commit to attending every session of the course otherwise you will be left behind. Each session builds on what you have done in prior sessions, so even if you were to send a substitute it is unlikely that your business will benefit to the same extent as if you attended all of the sessions yourself. Much of the learning on the course comes from the discussions and case studies. You will not be able to get the same insights by reading the course material on its own or by talking to someone who attended the course in your place.
What if I have an emergency and can’t attend at short notice or I am delayed and have to arrive late?
The decision to miss a session or to arrive late is yours alone. Please understand that you will miss out on the content covered on the course and that arriving late can be disruptive to other members of the group. It is your responsibility to do whatever you can to make sure that you can attend all of the sessions. In the event that you absolutely have to miss a session, you can opt to take one of your coaching sessions early to enable you to catch-up before the next session.
Do you offer any kinds of guarantees about the results I’ll get from coming on this course?
How much you get from the course hugely depends on how much you put into the course. Our experience shows us that our clients typically double or triple their business as a result of coming on the course—you might have a different experience and could achieve even better results.
5 Reasons to Choose SME Academy's
Business Growth Course
Our training really works!
Business owners and directors consistently report that they leave our courses energised and motivated to put their plans into action—and they do!
We put our money where our mouth is!
We are so confident in the quality of our courses that we are one of the few (if not the only) training company prepared to offer clients a 100% Full Money-Back Guarantee if you fail to get results from this course.
We are specialists in Business Growth
We know how to grow a business successfully because we’ve done it ourselves and helped others to do the same. Your trainer on the Business Growth Course has first-hand experience of exactly what it takes to make a business grow and he’ll show you how to implement this success in your business.
We are committed to your success
We only consider ourselves to be successful if you’re successful as a result of attending our courses. That’s why we build one-to-one coaching into the Business Growth Course so that you have access to tailored help and support when putting your plans into action. We are with you every step of the way for as long as you want us to be!
The results are lasting
We have spent years perfecting a training model that produces long-lasting results. We give you materials that are practical and easy to use so that the course manual becomes a working document rather than something to prop up a wobbly desk or lift up your computer screen!
Introducing Your Trainer Dr Patrick White is an international business growth consultant and trainer who is a very successful businessman and entrepreneur in his own right.
Leaving behind a corporate career where he rapidly rose through the ranks to the level of CEO, he started investing in small businesses with potential for growth. He rolled up his sleeves and transformed the businesses he acquired within a short period of time and then sold them on either to the existing management team or to private investors. Unlike some investors who achieve improved profitability through slashing costs and selling off assets (which ultimately is unsustainable), he always left a solid business in the hands of capable staff who were well placed to continue in the business’ success.
Patrick initially trained as a Chartered Accountant and holds a PhD in Organisational Behaviour, an MBA and good deal of common sense!
