Sometimes it’s hard to see the forest for the trees.

We believe in keeping our skills sharp and up to date! Equipping ourselves with knowledge and training is super important here at Released—hard and soft skills alike. 

It’s the job of Kellie and her management team to, amidst the work they do for our clients, grow and develop the business itself. It’s all too easy to get bogged down in the day-to-day tasks of running a company and forget that what’s not watered won’t grow. (Huge shoutout here to our support crew of Nat Tolhopf, Jason Topp and Nat Coombe for helping us to bloom!)

And thankfully, there is help and resources available for those seeking to improve their skills in business management and leadership.

In this article, we’re highlighting some fantastic business coaches and consultants. Is it time for you as a business owner to get serious and get advice from the experts? If so, keep reading…

Rob at Plexus Consulting

Rob Bull is all about SMEs! He started Plexus Consulting to reverse the trend of poor performance in Kiwi small-to-medium businesses and create smarter business owners.  His Why? Watching teams achieve things that they never thought was possible is what gets him out of bed! That and the opportunity to play with Lego!

With more than 20 years of experience, Rob knows what he’s talking about. He’s comfortable in both suits and PPE, unafraid to get out on the shop floor to see what’s going on. He loves working alongside organisations to drive business improvement, excellence, and empowerment of staff to make businesses get better at getting better. Because of this passion, he is more interested in achieving outcomes than worrying about the methodology or tools used. Every workplace is different, and he believes because your business is unique,  why try and wedge a specific method in there just because a textbook says you should.

Unique services on offer at Plexus Consulting include his practical Lean services and also Lego Serious Play, a fantastic workshop designed to help teams have different conversations around a strategic challenge.

Jerome at Rise Advisory

Jerome Jacobs has coached and advised more than 350 business owners since 2003, from sole traders/ business partnerships/ husband and wife teams/ family businesses, he specialises in the trade & professional industries. 

His focus is on clear business strategy, simple and fundamental KPIs, engagement, and strong money management. He uses proven frameworks to help business owners/leaders create focused action plans and create an engaged team that understands, takes ownership of, and implements the business strategy and plans to achieve business stability and growth through having controls.

His offerings include:

• support with starting up (minimum of 2 years in business).

• creating stability (chaos to control).

• business growth (organic or acquisition or group/multiple entities).

• creating an exit strategy (management or strategic buyout options).

Jerome is a fantastic person to have on your team and also has a network of other business service providers who can join with him to provide comprehensive support and guidance

Natalie Tolhopf - Sales and mindset coach

Nat is a force of nature, empowering business owners to shift their mindset and gain the confidence they need to succeed. 

Clients call Nat the “best investment they make in their business”. Women in business are her specialty, and her straight-talking enthusiasm pulls them out of imposter syndrome to focus on reaching the next level. She’s written two books, produces a podcast, and is a motivational speaker as well as a top NZ coach.

Not a fan of the Instagram highlights reel of business, Nat is looking for women wanting to take action and keep business real.

Fiona at BreakThrough Business Solutions

Fiona is a business growth specialist, coach, and consultant with a legacy of client results. From startups to multi-million-dollar companies, BreakThrough Business Solutions has worked with a wide array of businesses and helped them to succeed.

Fiona loves to work with women in business and also women in trades—both groups that are close to our heart here at Released! Her broad offering covers general business consulting, sales training, and marketing consulting and she often works with couples in business together to help them carve out their roles and grow a business together. Her 1-hour FREE Power Profit Growth Session is a fantastic way to dip your toes in and find out what you could achieve by working with BreakThrough.

Andy at The Trades Coach

Are you a tradie trying to navigate the world of business ownership? The Trades Coach is here to help! Andy’s goal is to turn great tradespeople into great trades businesses. He has an extensive background in business ownerships and management, and his wide skill set allows him to tailor advice and guidance to each individual client according to what they need.

Typically, his clients are highly skilled at their trade, but often have not received the business management training required to run an effective, modern business. His expertise focuses on these missing pieces of the business jigsaw puzzle:

▶ Financial management

▶ Planning

▶ Marketing and sales processes

▶ Business systems, and

▶ Leadership.

His blog is a fantastic resource, and he also has downloadable guides on his site available to those looking to learn. His one-on-one coaching is rocket fuel for growth, and he also offers quarterly accountability sessions plus a Trades Coach Academy for young businesses.

Dave at Experience on Tap

Experience on Tap exists to add business management skill and experience to the technical skills and enthusiasm that so many SME owners have in spades! Dave sees the massive potential of these businesses and founded his own to enhance and support their endeavours. Experience On Tap is all about “Helping business owners function to the best of their ability.”

The advisory and implementation services that he and his team provide are based on their values of honest, integrity, respect, flexibility, innovation, and bespoke solutions customised to each client. They come in the form of business coaching, mentoring, project management, and business planning. Additionally, EOT has developed their own cloud-based software suite that covers a range of business functions.

If you have ideas, enthusiasm, and technical skills but need some quality experience and expertise to help you grow and scale your SME, get in touch with Dave.

Daniel at Next Level Tradie

Daniel’s value proposition is simple: he helps tradies get the business side right. That’s being more profitable, creating more leads, winning more jobs, building great teams, and getting their nights and weekends back. You could say he takes them to the next level!

With expertise that comes from decades of experience in business himself, Daniel is the real deal. He focuses on tradies and loves to help them win which allows them to take some pressure off and free time back and enjoy the business and lifestyle they’ve always wanted.

Daniel helps tradies focus on two key areas:

1. Profitability: helping his clients make more money and build a highly profitable business for now and the future. 

2. Lifestyle: helping his clients free up their time to work on the business rather than in it, which also allows them to stop working endless nights and weekends and have more time off to enjoy life again. 

Jason Topp at SMYD

For small business owners, the financial component of their operations can be a source of stress and bewilderment. Jason and his team are accountants and financial advisors with modern practices, straight-talking advice, and proactive, goal-oriented advice.

There’s no stuffy, confusing money jargon when you’re working with SMYD! They can take the finance function off your hands by acting as your CFO, equip you for success with business coaching and financial advisory services, or take care of all the tax stuff that’s weighing on your mind.

They are an accountancy powerhouse and a very valuable resource for any small business! Check out their comprehensive resources page and fill out the contact form on their site to get the ball rolling towards freedom from financial stress.

Jason has also launched an amazing podcast called Strength in Numbers where real business owners share their raw, unfiltered stories. He brings you the incredible journeys of remarkable individuals he’s been fortunate to work with and delves into the highs, lows, victories, and setbacks of entrepreneurship across diverse industries.

As a business owner, it’s your job to see the bigger picture—to lead, plan, dream, and implement change. That’s a skill that needs to be honed, and business coaches like the ones we’ve mentioned above are how you take your capabilities higher.

Released can provide the business support to free you up for that bigger-picture role! Get in touch with the team and start working on your business as well as in it.