Guides
Business coaching guides for Adelaide owners
Everything here is written for someone deciding whether to hire a coach, or already working with one and wanting to get more out of it. The guides are grouped into 5 topics, and each topic starts with a long overview that links to the rest.
ADL Business Coach is a matching service, so nothing on this page is a sales pitch for a coaching programme. Where a guide quotes a price it’s an Adelaide market range, ex GST, with the date it was checked.
Hiring and working with a business coach
What a coach does, what it costs, what to ask before you commit, and how to tell a serious operator from a guru.
- Start here
Finding a business coach in Adelaide, start to finish
Where Adelaide owners look for a business coach, what the money looks like ex GST, how to run a shortlist, and what to check before you sign anything.
9 minute read
When you need a business advisor rather than a coach
An advisor tells you what they see across the whole business. A coach works on what you do about it. How to tell which of the 2 your situation needs.
6 minute read
What a business coach costs in Adelaide, and why
The Adelaide coaching bands ex GST, 3 illustrative worked examples at different business sizes, and how to sanity check a quote before you sign it.
7 minute read
Coach, consultant or mentor: what actually separates them
3 titles, 3 different products. What a coach, a consultant and a mentor each deliver, how each is priced, and how to tell which one you need now.
6 minute read
Lock-in contracts and rolling 30-day terms: what to accept
How business coaching contracts are structured in Adelaide, what a 12-month lock-in really transfers to you, and which terms are reasonable to accept.
7 minute read
Hourly rate or monthly retainer: which model suits you
Why a coaching retainer is not hours multiplied by an hourly rate, when each model suits an Adelaide owner, and how to make 2 quotes comparable.
6 minute read
Business coaching red flags: the signals worth walking away from
The warning signs worth walking away from before you hire a business coach, the ones that don't matter, and what to do if you're already in it.
7 minute read
How to check a business coach's background in Australia
There's no register of business coaches in Australia. Here's what qualifications actually mean, and the public records you can search before you hire.
7 minute read
Choosing a business coach in Adelaide: a decision framework
A step by step framework for choosing an Adelaide business coach: naming the problem, building a shortlist, what to ask, what to check, what to pay.
6 minute read
Is business coaching worth it for a small business?
A way to decide whether coaching is the right spend: the problem you have, what it costs in Adelaide, and the cheaper alternatives worth trying first.
7 minute read
1-to-1 or group coaching: which is right at your stage
How 1-to-1 and group business coaching differ in cost, cadence and pressure, and which one suits the stage your Adelaide business is at right now.
6 minute read
How to prepare for your first business coaching session
What to bring to a first business coaching session, the 6 numbers worth having ready, and how to describe your problem so the hour isn't wasted.
6 minute read
The 12 questions worth asking before you commit
12 questions to take into a first call with a business coach, what a straight answer sounds like, and the terms worth pushing back on before you sign.
6 minute read
What does a business coach actually do?
What a business coach actually does in a session, what happens between sessions, and the 4 things a coach won't do. Written for Adelaide owners.
6 minute read
What to expect in the first 90 days with a business coach
A week-by-week account of the first 90 days of a coaching engagement: the diagnosis, the first change, the dip in week 6, and the 90-day check.
6 minute read
Small business growth and profit
Pricing, margin, cash flow, delegation and planning: the work an owner-operator keeps postponing until the week goes quiet, which it never does.
- Start here
How to work on your business when you're the person doing all the work
What working on the business actually means for an Adelaide owner-operator: where the week goes, which jobs never get forced, and how to start on them.
9 minute read
The 13-week cash flow forecast, built in about 2 hours
A step-by-step cash flow forecast for a small business: the rows to build, how to fill them honestly, what the sheet tells you, and the weekly habit.
6 minute read
The 90-day plan an owner-operator will actually follow
Why the 12-month plan gets abandoned, what belongs on a 90-day plan, how to write an objective you can check, and the weekly review that keeps it alive.
7 minute read
The owner time audit: where your week actually goes
How to run a 2-week log of your own hours, how to read it without flinching, and what an owner hour is worth against turnover. A method, not a promise.
6 minute read
Stuck at the same revenue for 3 years: what usually causes it
The usual causes of a revenue plateau in a small business, how to work out which one you have, and why some flat lines are a choice rather than a problem.
6 minute read
Which 5 hours an owner-operator hands over first
Which hours an owner-operator tends to hand over first, how to move one so it stays moved, what it costs, and what usually fills the space afterwards.
6 minute read
What to let go of first when you start delegating
How owner-operators decide what to hand over first, how to give away the decision and not just the task, and what to do when there's nobody to delegate to.
7 minute read
Gross margin, in plain language, for an owner-operator
How to work out gross profit margin in a small business, what belongs in the cost of delivery, and why margin by job type beats a blended figure.
6 minute read
How to document a process so someone else can run it
A practical method for getting a task out of your head and into a written process, the 4 parts it needs, and where process documentation usually fails.
7 minute read
How to price your services when you've been guessing for years
A pricing method for Adelaide service businesses: work out what an hour of delivery costs, set the margin you need, then pick the model that fits.
6 minute read
The 8 numbers you should be able to say without opening anything
The 8 small business numbers to track, why a short list beats a dashboard, and where your own operating figures stop and your accountant takes over.
6 minute read
How to put your prices up without the week going badly
How to increase prices in a small service business: sizing the rise, deciding who hears it first, the wording to use, and what to watch afterwards.
6 minute read
Busy, profitable, and short at the end of the month
Cash flow problems in a small Australian business: why profit and cash answer different questions, where the gap opens, and the levers that move it.
6 minute read
Trades and construction business
Quoting, job costing, getting off the tools, hiring an apprentice, and why a full order book and an empty account happen at the same time.
- Start here
Growing a trade business when you're still on the tools
The 5 constraints that hold an Adelaide trade business at its current size, the order to work through them, and where a coach fits into that work.
9 minute read
Chasing an unpaid invoice without it turning into a fight
A repeatable internal process for trade invoices that haven't been paid: terms set up front, a fixed chase sequence, and knowing when to hand it over.
7 minute read
Getting off the tools when the business stops the moment you do
Coming off the tools is a dial, not a switch. How to count the hours, hand work over in the right order, and pay for the transition while it happens.
7 minute read
Can your business carry a first apprentice?
Working out whether an Adelaide trade business can carry a first apprentice: the cost across the term, the supervised work, and who does the training.
7 minute read
What breaks when a plumbing business hits 3 vans
The 3-van ceiling in a plumbing business: dispatch, the callout model, moving off hourly pricing, and whether the next hire is a tradesperson or admin.
6 minute read
Pricing electrical work so the margin survives the job
Domestic against commercial margin, quoting volume with a low strike rate, and recurring maintenance: how Adelaide electrical contractors price a job.
6 minute read
Quoting a job properly, and what it costs when you don't
What belongs in a trade quote, how to write inclusions and exclusions that stop scope creep, and why the cheapest quote usually ends in an argument.
6 minute read
Job costing versus quoting, and why the difference costs you
Job costing tells you what a finished job actually cost, not what you hoped. What to record, the costs that get missed, and how to read the gap.
6 minute read
Why SA builders with staff outlast solo operators
SA building and construction firms with 5 to 19 staff survived at 89.3% over 4 years against 50.6% solo. What the ABS and ASIC figures do and don't show.
7 minute read
From sole trader to a crew of 5, step by step
Scaling a trade business from sole trader to 5: what actually changes at each step, where each step breaks, and what has to be in place before the next.
6 minute read
Working out your charge-out rate from your own numbers
Your charge-out rate isn't your wage. How to count the hours you can bill, recover overhead across them, and set a rate from your own numbers.
6 minute read
A full order book and an empty account
Progress claims, retentions and fixed prices signed before costs moved: how an Adelaide builder ends up with a full order book and no money to pay wages.
6 minute read
Team, hiring and leadership
Making a first hire, writing a job ad that works, running the conversation you have been avoiding, and moving from doing the work to running it.
- Start here
Hiring and leading a team in a tight Adelaide labour market
How an Adelaide owner works out whether to hire, defines the role, runs the first 30 days, keeps people, and learns to lead instead of just do.
9 minute read
Culture in a team of 6: what it actually means
Culture in a small business isn't a poster or a values workshop. What actually sets it in a team of 6, where you can see it, and what quietly breaks it.
6 minute read
How to write a job ad that gets the right applicants
What to put in a small business job ad and what to cut, why specific ads pull a better field than generic ones, and the pay line most owners agonise over.
7 minute read
Leadership coaching or management training: which one you need
What management training is, what leadership coaching is, who each suits, what coaching costs in Adelaide ex GST, and when neither is the right buy.
7 minute read
The first 30 days: onboarding when nobody in the business does HR
What to prepare in the week before a new employee starts, what day 1 should contain, and the check-in cadence that carries the first 30 days.
6 minute read
From doing the work to managing the people who do it
The move from doing the work to managing the people who do it: the 4 jobs that replace the work, the rework trap, and what to stop doing this quarter.
6 minute read
How to have the conversation you've been avoiding
A structure and the actual words for the staff conversation you keep putting off: how to open it, describe the gap, agree what changes and set the date.
7 minute read
The SA skills shortage, and the parts you can actually change
South Australian labour market figures, attributed and dated, plus the 5 parts of hiring a small business owner actually controls when the market is tight.
8 minute read
Why good staff leave small businesses, and what fixes it
Why people resign from a business of 6, why money is the reason given and rarely the real one, and the retention levers a small business owner controls.
7 minute read
When to make your first hire, and how to know you're ready
A readiness test for a first hire: whether the demand is durable, whether the role exists on paper, and whether you can fund a wage in a slow month.
7 minute read
The Adelaide and SA business landscape
South Australian business data, sector by sector, plus the publicly funded support an owner can use before paying anyone.
- Start here
The state of small business in South Australia
How many businesses trade in South Australia, what they do, how big they are, and which sectors carry the most pressure. Every figure sourced and dated.
8 minute read
Adelaide's business precincts, and what each one runs on
How greater Adelaide splits into 4 business precincts, what each one actually runs on, and what the ABS division counts say about the mix in each.
7 minute read
Running a business through the Adelaide Hills and Barossa squeeze
Seasonal cash flow, price-taking, diversification and succession: the operating decisions in front of Adelaide Hills and Barossa business owners right now.
7 minute read
Free and subsidised business advice in South Australia
The publicly funded business support an Adelaide owner can use before paying anyone, checked on each official source, with the date each one was checked.
6 minute read
What to fix before you put an Adelaide business on the market
The operational work before an Adelaide business goes to market: owner dependency, numbers a stranger can follow, customer concentration and records.
6 minute read
Rising costs in South Australia: insurance, energy and inputs
What the published figures show about Adelaide inflation, electricity and insurance costs, and which of those pressures an owner can actually control.
7 minute read
What SA insolvency data tells owners about their own risk
What the ASIC insolvency figures for South Australia show, what they cannot tell you about a single business, and what usually appears well before them.
7 minute read
Succession planning in a South Australian family business
Operational readiness before a South Australian family business changes hands: owner dependency, legible numbers, documented work and customer loyalty.
7 minute read
Why Adelaide hospitality businesses struggle to make it past year 4
The published survival figures for South Australian food and beverage, what sits behind them, and the decisions that make year 4 harder than year 1.
7 minute read
Get matched with an Adelaide business coach
Tell me what's going on in your business and what you want to change. I'll pass your details to up to 3 coaches in the network whose experience fits your industry and your stage.
- You'll hear from me within 1 business day.
- You'll be told a coach's fee band before any introduction is made.
Coaches pay me a fee for each enquiry I pass on. That's how this free service is funded, and it means I introduce you to coaches in the network rather than every coach in Adelaide. How this works