Business coaching in Guildford
98% positive rating from our members
Business coaching that means you're not alone
One-to-one business coaching in Guildford
Keep focused, accountable, and on track to achieve your business and personal goals.
Our members get a monthly one-to-one session with their TAB facilitator and coach.
Leslie Woodcock is our dedicated business coach in Guildford.
Let us know how to get in touch
Leslie will contact you to arrange an introductory chat.
Your business coaches in Guildford
Start your TAB journey by contacting Leslie
Leslie is the local Facilitator and Coach for the Guildford and Woking areas.
I started running TAB boards in the Summer of 2014. My original motivation for starting the TAB business was that I have worked with the owners and leaders of many private businesses, large and small, throughout the last 20 years of my career.
In my experience, the most successful business owners benefit from really good independent advice. I have seen first-hand the value that boards of directors provide to the larger businesses that I have both worked in and for but not all businesses have a fully-fledged internal board of directors.
While consultants, non-executive directors, family members and employees can provide a useful sounding board, it is only business owners that can truly appreciate what other business owners are going through.
So, when I learned about TAB and the model of establishing Business Owner Advisory Boards I immediately felt that I had found the perfect vehicle through which to offer the experience that I have accumulated over my career, express my passion for owner managed businesses and to make a real difference to the lives of the business owners.
I bring together business owners and leaders from non-competing sectors in a confidential group setting – similar to a board of directors – and each month members identify opportunities and solve the challenges that they face in their own companies. These board meetings are linked by personal 121 sessions with myself to focus on the outcome of the meeting and help members drive their business forward.
I launched my first board in West Surrey in 2014 with members from the Guildford, Woking and Farnham area. I am actively engaged in recruiting members to create 2 more TAB boards in 2019 and 2020.
My board members are a mixture of entrepreneurs who have started their own businesses and who have grown them very successfully along with business leaders. All of my members are keen to know what they don’t know and they see their TAB Board as the perfect forum to learn this.
They have bonded with each other at a very profound level and are deriving tremendous value from being part of a TAB Board. They all now make bigger, better, faster decisions.
Please get in touch if you are interested in learning more with a quick telephone chat, meeting for an introductory coffee, attending one of my boards as a guest or attending one of my ‘Taster Board Meetings’.
Discover the benefits of our Guildford-based coaching
Start with you
Focus on what you want in life and how your business can help get you there.
Increase profitability
Be held accountable to meet your business targets.
Improve decisions
Take control of your decisions through peer support and proven planning tools
Make better time choices
Spend your time well by utilising the experience of others.
Become a better leader
Motivate your people with the guidance of peers and an expert coach.
Plan a successful exit
Get the best result for you with tailored, hands-on support.
Hear from our Guildford members
I joined TAB in September 2017 having met Leslie Woodcock, and immediately recognising a connection between my own personal needs, the needs of my business, and where TAB could help.
My business already has a Board of Directors who run the business, with me acting as MD, but TAB offered something I was unable to get from my management board: invaluable insight from my fellow TAB Board members who are removed from my own business and could give advice, support and opinion from an external viewpoint. The TAB board has collectively and as individuals, become a genuine asset to my own business.
Additionally, the monthly 1-2-1 meetings with my TAB Facilitator, whose business experience and guidance have offered me clarity in thinking and able to identify areas to improve almost every aspect of our business, benefiting my family life in turn.
Through my time with TAB, I have grown professionally and my business has become immeasurably more refined and efficient…the benefits have been life-changing.
I had always been quite cynical about mentoring groups and such organisations, being bombarded daily with them on LinkedIn. Something resonated with me when I met Leslie though and it’s probably one of the very best things I’ve done for me and my business.
Sharing experiences and issues with fellow board members provides an invaluable wealth of ideas and support, along with the confidence that comes when realising you can contribute ideas and solutions for their challenges too.
1-2-1 sessions with my TAB Facilitator allow me to work on, not in, the business. Their vast experience and knowledge is invaluable. I wholeheartedly recommend TAB to anyone who is serious about growing their business, wants to learn better practices and improve the health of their business (and probably their own mental health too).
I joined my TAB board in September 2017. My business had been successful for many years and as far as I was concerned it was delivering all I needed. However, when I met Leslie and he told me about TAB I was intrigued and became curious about the possibility that I could improve the way I ran my business.
Since I joined TAB, my TAB board colleagues have shared with me in the TAB boardroom their different approaches to marketing, operations, pricing and costing, staff management and more. I have been able to cherry pick from the fantastic advice they have given me and feel that I understand the key drivers of growth and profit in my business even better and how to take my business on to a new level.
Leslie, my TAB facilitator and business coach, really holds me to account for delivering my business plan throughout the year and challenges my thinking across a wide range of business activities. I have learnt a lot, in fact more than I thought possible, and would recommend TAB to any business owner that has become a bit complacent and inward looking and wants to be challenged in an honest and caring way.
Over 5x
TAB members’ sales growth is 5.5 times national SME average
95%+
95.7% of TAB members said their advisory boards added real value to their business
90%+
90.3% of members said their ability to address personnel and organisational issues has improved since joining TAB
Start your journey with TAB
Get in touch with Leslie.
He will contact you to arrange an introductory meeting.
During which, you’ll chat about whether TAB business coaching is right for you and your business.
Attend your first TAB board meeting and coaching session to discover the power of peer support.
There’s no obligation, only an opportunity to find out more.
Tell us more about you
Leslie will be in touch to book an introductory chat.
What is business coaching?
A business coach is an expert who supports business leaders to align their business decisions with their personal goals or vision. Rather than simply giving you the answers, our business coaching services equip you with the necessary tools and knowledge to make better decisions and increase business growth.
Our Guildford business coach, Leslie Woodcock, offers coaching, mentoring, consulting and of course, our peer advisory boards. Not only that, but they give you access to our exclusive strategic planning platform – The Business Builder’s Blueprint.
Why should Guildford-based business owners consider coaching?
There are over 18,000 licensed businesses in Surrey, and many of their owners will have considered coaching for these reasons:
- Planning and strategy
Business coaches are often more beneficial in areas of strategic planning. A key difference between a business coach and consultant is that a consultant will often focus on one specific area such as succession planning, whereas a coach will guide owners to strategically plan their business in its entirety.
2. Developing your skills as a business owner
Most business owners can identify specific skills they could improve upon. Could you be a better communicator? A better negotiator? A business coach can help you work in specific areas, developing skills that will help you succeed not only in this current business but in whatever venture you take on in the future.
3. Accountability
It is often easy as a business owner not to be held accountable to anyone. This means that you never face the consequences of failing to complete actions. In contrast, a business coach will hold you accountable to ensure that you and your business are always moving forward.
4. New ideas and approaches
Because a business coach doesn’t work in your company, they will be distanced from most of your opportunities and challenges. This means they can provide an outside perspective with new ideas, strategies and approaches.
5. Learning from others’ experience
Often, business coaches are previous business owners or have worked for big corporates and in business for a long time. Over the years, they will have experienced many common and unique business issues. This means that when you approach them with an issue, they’ll more than likely have an experience they can draw on to guide you through it. This isn’t just the case with business coaches. There is lots that business owners can learn from each other too.
6. Your personal development
Business coaches also often take on a business mentoring role. This is where they focus on you, the business owner, on a person. In coaching sessions, they can be available to listen to any emotional needs or concerns you have. Or they can enable you to ensure your business is working for your personal life. In fact, there are a few ways that business coaching and mentoring is good for your personal development.
7. Support – You’re not alone
Another great benefit of business coaching is the support they it gives. A business coach can help you combat the loneliness of entrepreneurship. They can be your sounding board, your go-to listener and your trusted advisor.
8. Business growth
And ultimately, a benefit of a business coach is that they can help you achieve business growth. By providing business owners with all the benefits mentioned above, business coaches can sometimes be the ticket to streamlining processes and increasing profitability.
What business coaching is not
A business coach is not the following:
- The solution
Getting a business coach does not mean that all your business challenges will be solved through those coaching sessions. The coach is there to guide you through and empower you with the right tools and knowledge to help you find those solutions. Inevitably, challenges will also come your way, but a coach is there to hold your hand through them.
- Life coaching
A business coach is not there to get involved in your personal life and aspirations but will consider how your personal goals might line up to your business ambitions.
- Counselling
Counsellors are specifically trained in dealing with specific personal problems such as mental health or family relationships. A business coach is not trained to deal with these issues and therefore should not be expected to address them.
- Consultancy
A consultant focuses on a particular area of expertise and projects in those areas such as a marketing consultant or finance consultant. They seek to fix specific problems within a business, a business coach however, provides more generalised advice and insights. At TAB, we do sometimes provide consultancy services as each of our coaches have their own niche areas of expertise.
Why TAB business coaching?
Here are three reasons why you should consider TAB’s business coaching and why 98.9% of our members said it adds real value to their business:
- Leslie, our business coach in Guildford, has experience:
Leslie is a seasoned business professional who has been working with Guildford business owners for almost ten years. He has a passion to help local business owners lead better lives and run stronger businesses.
- Coaching tailored to you and your business
Leslie's coaching sessions are tailored to your needs and what you need at any given time.
- Works alongside our advisory boards
Our business coaching is so powerful because of its combination with our business advisory boards. These bring together business owners and leaders from non-competing sectors from the Guildford and Woking area. As part of a monthly TAB Board meeting, each member helps one another identify opportunities and solve the challenges they each face in their businesses.
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