JanFeb2020

18 | www.westendermagazine.com
Time, people and
money – the essential
ingredients to running
a successful business
Running your own profitable business can be taxing. From
identifying your USP (unique selling point), recruiting the
right team, establishing your loyal customers, through
to financial planning. Is it any wonder that many local
businesses struggle to find their feet?
WORDS Mike Findlay
But fear not, help is at hand. Three
leading lights in business share their top
tips which will guarantee your business
will not just survive but flourish.
Javier Peralta is Managing Director of
ActionCOACH, a coaching firm that supports
thousands of businesses globally. Javier,
who is originally from Spain, has always been
fascinated by businesses, how they run and
grow. He has worked in several industries
giving him a breadth of experience in small,
medium and large businesses alike. He runs
the Glasgow branch of ActionCOACH from
his office in Partick.
‘We help focus business owners on
growth. My vision is to help one thousand
Glasgow businesses in the next ten years,’
explains Javier. ‘It breaks my heart when
we arrive too late to prevent a business
from closure. Too often we hear about
business owners who get side-tracked with
the operations side of the business, rather
than taking the time to be strategic. Many
businesses don’t have goals. Even fewer of
them achieve them.
‘The first thing we offer businesses
is a free health check where we ask
for a questionnaire to be completed.
We will then arrange a thirty-minute
conversation to discuss the findings,
and then a longer business coaching session,
where we analyse the business and make
recommendations. Questions we ask include:
What are your business goals? And, how
does your business allow you to have the
lifestyle that you want?
‘We want all business owners to achieve
the magic number five, which is the number
of hours that they should be working in the
business – the operational side – as opposed
to working on the business, which involves
being much more strategic and looking at
business planning and growth.’
As well as health checks and 121
coaching, ActionCOACH is offering Glasgow
businesses the chance of group coaching
and mentoring, and access to a free business
seminar which runs every six weeks giving
practical tips on how you can turn your
business around.