businessPT

Running a business is challenging. The attrition rate is high – only 50% of SMEs survive longer than 5 years. Making money is hard, 52% of SMEs reported taxable income of < $25,000 in FY2019. It’s also stressful, 56% of SME operators suffer from some form of mental health issue.

Every business begins as an enthusiastic dream. Every business requires passion and commitment to launch.

But after a while, business challenges can pile up – things get complex, energy levels get depleted, and your focus turns to simply keeping the doors open.

Most small business owners reach burnout when they don’t have to.

businessPT helps you double your results with half the effort using a dead simple system. This means you have more time to spend doing what you enjoy the most.

Its creators have a deep understanding and respect for the business operator’s journey and what motivates you. Like a personal trainer, we can’t do your pushups for you, but we can help you clarify your goals, remind you that delivering value to your customers is the only way to achieve these goals, and help you develop a plan to do this effectively and efficiently.

Our goal is to help you move from burnout to breakthrough, it’s a job that we take very seriously, but we make sure we have some fun on the way.

model

There are numerous strategic and business planning models out there, but the businessPT model has been developed to provide a universally useful framework that will allow you to easily understand and improve your business, and answer the vitally important question ‘why’? A well-defined, intelligent strategy can provide the breakthrough your business needs.

Personal

When you run a small to medium enterprise (SME), there is no work/life balance, your work is a part of your life. So our business success system begins with you – who you are today, and who you want to become. It’s vital that your business supports you to achieve these goals.

Strategy

Invest time to build your business foundations, as Simon Sinek says, “find your WHY”. When you understand your purpose and define your values, these will guide every decision you make in business. An intelligent and creative strategy can provide the breakthrough your business needs to succeed.

Customer

John Chaplin, one of our awesome advisers, told me to “make things that people want, don’t make people want things”. Understanding your customers better than they understand themselves will allow you to design products and services that they will value. When you deliver an elegant solution to a significant problem, your customers focus on value and not price, you don’t have to ‘sell’ because they will be ready to buy.

Operations

This is where you do the do. Have you ever stopped and wondered “is there a better way?” Of course, there is. We can help you find it.

Control

It is tempting to ignore things like finance, risk, and compliance, but these are the things that can have big impacts when things go wrong – you can go to jail or someone could die. And as we’ve seen lately, things can go wrong. So let’s get on top of these gnarly topics today before they get on top of you.

How to Win

This is the heart of the businessPT success system. It’s a process that allows you to get started easily, build your ‘business fitness’, and spend more time doing the things you love.

method

The businessPT method is based on the highly effective personal trainer approach enhanced with elements of psychology, change management, lean and agile methodologies. While the businessPT model helps you discover your ‘why’, the businessPT method answers the question ‘how’?

Initial Assessment

When we complete your initial assessment, we evaluate each element of the model outlined above to produce a snapshot of your business as it is today. There will be some areas of your business where you excel, others where you know you can improve, and other elements that you may not understand at all. And that’s fine. That’s why you’re here.

Training Plan

Together we will evaluate the results of your initial assessment and put together a training plan. A personal trainer won’t do your pushups for you, and we won’t give you all the answers. We will provide you with a range of useful tools and frameworks, you try them out and find the one that works best for you. When we ask the questions and you answer them, you learn, build your confidence and understanding, and design solutions that work for your business. Focus on what matters, stop doing all the other stuff.

Business Fitness

OK, so now you know where you are, and where you want to go. It’s time to lace up the joggers and hit the streets. Of course, no personal trainer would let you run a marathon next month if you ran your first 5km last month. In the same way, we will insist that you pace yourself and manage your expectations. Accept that change is often challenging and recognize that new things can feel uncomfortable. Like every good trainer, we will give you feedback and encouragement, hold you accountable, and help you celebrate your success.

Then its time to set new goals and begin the process again. Only this time, your business fitness will make you more confident, more capable, and more effective. It never gets easy, but it does get easier.

about

Richard Everson

Richard is a Canberra local who has spent a lifetime in business. A qualified chef, he traveled the world, before completing international hospitality management studies and transitioning to executive management roles with large multinationals Sodexho and Compass Group.

Bitten by the entrepreneurial bug, he and his wife Evelyn designed, built, and operated the multi-award-winning Country Guesthouse Schonegg, Murrumbateman.

Ready for more challenges, the couple sold Schonegg in 2015. Richard then joined the Commonwealth Government’s Entrepreneurs’ Programme. Since joining the programme, Richard has worked with hundreds of Australian SMEs, providing business analysis, developing learning resources, and learning from every engagement.

In 2012 he discovered CrossFit, www.crossfit.com describes the sport as “Constantly varied functional movement at high intensity”. As his fitness improved, he began to compete and recently won his division and age group in the 2022 Masters HQ National Final.

Keen to provide his clients with a more effective approach than traditional consultants are offering, he combined his CrossFit insights with key elements of human psychology and design thinking to create businessPT.

advisors

Meet the advisors

This group of wonderful people has met regularly since 2020 to develop the businessPT success system. Each brings their own magic to the table.

Evelyn is the Cellar Door Manager of Shaw Wines at Murrumbateman. She is the queen of professional customer service. Her ‘real world’ insights ensure we stay connected to business owners’ daily challenges.

John is the Chief Product Officer for CitrusAd, a leader in Deloitte’s Annual Technology Fast 50 for 2021 with a stunning 3095% growth. He is also the founder of Diagram, a digital product design service.

Iain and Jonathan run Choice to Growth, a boutique strategy consultancy that delivers competitive advantage and continuous business growth.

Iain is an ICF-certified Executive Coach and a trained mentor.

Jonathan is a premium consumer specialist, he partners with organizations to ensure their marketing and business investment is underpinned by deep data and insightful decision-making, aligned to business strategy, and focused on ROI and financial success.