For this month’s local business pitch, we caught five with Jon Asquith, Managing Director at ActionCOACH Sheffield to find out what it takes to be the person businesses turn to to help them succeed…
Tell us a bit about your business – sell yourself!
We provide coaching, mentoring and support services to SMEs from the Sheffield City Region. This could cover anything from somebody looking to grow a business to working with a business on the brink of liquidation.
“I couldn’t do it without the incredible team here. I often say I’m just the comedian at the front – and a not-very-funny one at that!”
We know that there’s no such thing as a ‘typical business’; we work with everything from start-ups to longstanding family-owned companies. We’ve assisted people to build a successful business from an idea, and we’ve also helped business owners working 60 to 70 hours a week in reducing their hours and transitioning into semi-retirement.
We view building businesses in the same sort of way a builder would approach building a house: you need to know what you want it to look like when it’s finished. You’d be surprised how many people end up in business without a complete vision of what they’re trying to build, so that’s the first step. We help to put in the infrastructure and process so that they can build it by design.
How did your journey with ActionCOACH begin?
That’s a long story! I’ll try to summarise this as well as possible, but going back to 2004, I was working in an office in Sheffield where I was poached by a former manager who’d bought an ActionCOACH franchise. I was initially brought in for business development and eventually grew to a director position where I was overseeing all of the franchises in the UK from a growth perspective, so it was my responsibility to support every franchisee in developing their business. I left that role in 2018 and set up ActionCOACH Sheffield in 2019 – and the rest, as they say, is history. We now work with 200 incredible local companies.
“I want to be the beating heart of business in the city.”
What is about the role you enjoy?
It’s kind of morphed over the years. In 2019, I started as being a person who delivered all of the services, but I eventually realised that I couldn’t handle it all by myself. There’s now a team of 12 here and I enjoy the day-to-day running and developing of the business.
I also like having an impact on the city; we’ve set the goal of helping 10,000 local business owners by 2030. I’m passionate about business in the city and want Sheffield to become the place where people go to set up and grow SMEs.
I couldn’t do it without the incredible team here. I often say I’m just the comedian at the front – and a not-very-funny one at that! But without the people behind me, this could never have happened.
Do any client success stories stand out?
Every client testimonial is great in its own specific way: it means we’ve taken a person on a journey with us and helped them achieve what they want. A person working with us and going from the verge of bankruptcy to making half a million pounds in 24 months is one type of success story; somebody downsizing their business and taking time off each year to travel the world is another.
“We know that there’s no such thing as a ‘typical business’; we work with everything from start-ups to longstanding family-owned companies.”
I could give you loads more examples, but first and foremost, we think that being in business should help to give you more life – whether that’s more money or being able to pick up your kids each day from school, we help people to define what they’re looking for in that respect and take them on a journey to achieve that.
Moving forward, what are your hopes for ActionCOACH Sheffield?
I want to be the beating heart of business in the city. We’ll be moving to larger offices in the foreseeable future with a focus on space for some key areas: a coaching suite, an incubator for start-up businesses, a podcast and filming studio, and – last but by no means least – the best waiting area in the city. Keep an eye out for that!
Find out more about what ActionCOACH could do for your business at sheffield.actioncoach.co.uk
