Coaching Services
Who We Work With
I’ve worked with mostly retailers, with a smattering of wholesalers and manufacturers as well, both as an employee and as a coach / consultant / advisor. Past clients have included a Canadian industrial parts manufacturer, a gift shop operation in the travel industry, several small jewelry companies, an aftermarket vehicle parts retailer, an ink cartridge retailer, a B2B uniform and apparel manufacturer, a crafts supplies retailer, a health products retailer, and a small garden center, to name a few.
Many entrepreneurs lack the time, expertise, energy, or budget to do the research and develop effective ecommerce and digital marketing staff, processes, and technology.
Our mission is to support you by providing expertise, advice, and do hands-on work. It’s also to teach you (teach a man to fish…).
The most common service performed by SmallBizCoach is the Customer Experience (CX) Site Audit.
How SmallBizCoach Works
First, we’ll conduct a free one-hour consultation. We want to understand your business and what challenges you and your team face. We want to document your goals and objectives, and start thinking about how we can help. You provide the vision; we provide the roadmap to get there. Contact Rick now to schedule a video call.
Next, after our initial conversation, we will collaborate on a proposal outlining the objectives and work to be done. This can include a wide variety of activities, including research, strategy development, project outlines, specialist vendor selection, and many more possibilities (Here's a listing of our Areas of Expertise). We’ll estimate the hours required for each activity and associated costs. If you know your budget, we’ll only suggest projects and suitable solutions within that budget. This may require additional conversations to refine the project and/or scope of work.
Third, we’ll get to work! We’ll plan timelines, video or phone call meetings (We like to be informal, flexible, and transparent), get accesses we may need to share, and sign an Agreement. We place a high value on flexibility in order to meet the needs of entreprenuers and their businesses. We’ll keep you in the loop about the tasks we are working on and the hours we are using. SmallBizCoach’s strategic and tactical support is flexible; we can operate on a hourly, daily, or weekly basis, or by project need. We can also connect on nights and weekends – it’s not a problem!
Warning! Let's dispel a common misconception. There are no magic bullets in marketing. There are unfortunately too many one-trick wonders out there who want you to think you can do one or two things, and the customers and money will come rolling in. The truth is, it doesn't work like that. It takes a lot of WORK, just like operations, finance, or merchandising, to develop a long-term successful ecommerce and marketing operation. It does not happen overnight. If you're convinced that it does or that it can, call someone else. But if you understand that fundamentals are important, that marketing fads are not, and you'd rather have a website and marketing program that relies on your brand, great user experiences, and great products (as opposed to endless discounting), then call me.
If this sounds like a good fit for you and your business, then schedule a meeting with Rick now.
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SmallBizCoach's advising services are available remotely and/or on-site.
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Services are part-time as we support multiple clients.