Becoming part of the solution: ActionCOACH case study

In 2017, Kevin Riley stood in front of his loyal employees to tell them they no longer had jobs. After 19 years as Sales Director of a travel company, he discovered a large-scale fraud which meant operations had to cease immediately. This devastating experience drove Kevin to choose a franchise dedicated to the success of business owners.

Kevin launched his franchise in May 2019. Motivated by the earlier knockback, in his seventh month of business, he has already achieved his year-four minimum monthly income target of £30,000+.

“I didn’t ever want to go through business failure again and I hate to think of others having to go through it either. Initially, I’d lost some of my get-up and go but in October 2018, I started to get itchy feet and began actively looking for my next challenge. As if the stars had aligned, I saw an advertisement on LinkedIn that felt like it was written for me.” 

ActionCOACH pioneered the business coaching profession and now has 1,000 franchise partners worldwide, with over 200 in the UK. At the end of 2018 and 2019, ActionCOACH was named the UK’s Best B2B Franchise. And for seven years in a row has rated 5-Stars for franchisee satisfaction – only four franchises have achieved this. Kevin wanted in. 

After an interview with Ian Christelow, ActionCOACH’s UK Co-founder, Kevin rang 15 existing franchise partners thinking the ad was too good to be true. By the following week, he’d heard all the assurances he needed and was raring to go for ActionCOACH University.

A new start

“The training was excellent, it fully prepares coaches for their return home to launch their businesses. One of the main selling points for me was the promise of a strong community and support from ActionCOACH. To experience that myself reassured me again that I’d made the right decision.”  

Within seven weeks of launching his new business, Kevin had already signed up four clients to his coaching sessions, and recruited a Business Development Manager and Creative Executive PA. He is determined to take the ActionCOACH target of hitting a million-pound turnover in 10 years one step further.  

“I want to break the million-pound mark within three years and create 150 millionaires in 15 years. I focused all of my efforts on generating leads for the first couple of months. And, when establishing my client base, I wasn’t afraid to draw on my past experience and explain that I never wanted it to happen to them. I believe it’s one of things that sets me apart – I’ve had bad experiences in business, as well as good, and it keeps me grounded.”

Building a future

Soon to complete his first year with ActionCOACH, Kevin is looking forward to what is to come. With a new fortnightly group-coaching programme on the horizon for small business owners, he knows his team will need to expand to meet the demand. 

“Developments in early 2020 will bring client income up to £45,000 a month. Once we start to exceed that, I’ll need to recruit a business coach to join our team. That will mean we can support more businesses and move further towards our goal of creating 150 millionaires within 15 years.”

Although Kevin’s calendar is fully booked, he knows all too well the first year of business is the most important. By putting in the crucial groundwork, the time he gets to spend with his family going forwards will become even more flexible. 

“The main reason I work is for my family. My wife, Sam, and our children, Harry and Phoebe. We love doing things together; going on holiday, exploring different places and keeping active. And we bring the dog too – our cockapoo, Barney.”

If you want to build a business with scalability and longevity, make a difference in your local community and you’re the kind of person who:

A) loves learning and developing yourself;

B) has enjoyed success in your career or sport; and

C) is willing to invest if they see substantial rewards can be made…

Find out more about the ActionCOACH franchise opportunity here.