Month: August 2026

Put AI to Work in Your Business at Our Next GrowthCLUB

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Our next GrowthCLUB is happening on Tuesday 15 September, and this one is going to be a little different.

We’re getting hands on with AI!

There’s plenty of talk about what AI can do, but I’m more interested in how business owners can actually use it. So during this GrowthCLUB, everyone will have their laptop or iPad open and we’ll work through it together.

We’ll start by training AI to understand your business, including what you do, your customers, services, team, competitors, challenges and where you want the business to go.

From there, we’ll put it to work.

We’ll use AI to help identify opportunities you might be missing, look at where your time is disappearing, find repetitive tasks it could help you complete faster and get it to challenge some of your thinking.

Most importantly, this isn’t about getting AI to run your business for you. It’s about giving it enough information to become a genuinely useful tool for helping you think, plan and get things done.

You don’t need to be good with technology and you don’t need a paid AI account. Bring your laptop or iPad, come ready to work on your business and we’ll take you through it.

If you’d like to join us at GrowthCLUB on Tuesday 15 September, please get in touch.

Thanks
Hugh

How Many Holidays Should a Business Owner Take?

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If you own a business, when was the last time you took a proper break without feeling like you should be back at work?

I meet plenty of business owners who tell me they want more holidays, more time with their family and more opportunities to actually enjoy what they’ve built. But unless that time is deliberately planned, there’s always something in the business that gets in the way.

I’m a big believer that holidays shouldn’t just happen when you finally find a gap in the calendar. I have a simple system I use each year to make sure I get proper holidays, shorter breaks and plenty of long weekends throughout the year.

It’s good for me, it’s good for my family and I reckon it’s good for the business too. When you’re constantly working without taking a break, eventually you become stale, your productivity drops and your team can start picking up on it as well.

In the video below, I’ll show you exactly how I plan my holidays each year and the simple system I use to make sure they actually happen.

You might not want the same number of holidays or the same types of trips I do, and that’s not really the point. The important thing is having a system and putting the time aside before the year gets away from you.

After all, your business should give you more choices in life, not fewer.

Please reach out if you need help structuring a plan.

Thanks,
Hugh

Your Business May Be More Valuable Than You Realise

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I often hear business owners say, “When I retire, I’ll just shut the doors. No one would buy my business.”

But is that actually true?

When we start looking at the assets, the profit the business generates and the years it has taken to build its customer base, reputation and operation, the conversation often changes very quickly.

The issue isn’t always that the business has no value. It’s that the owner hasn’t built the systems or documentation needed to demonstrate that value to someone else.

In this short video, I walk through a simple example I regularly use with business owners to get them thinking differently about what their business could actually be worth.

If you’re planning to retire or step away from your business one day, don’t wait until then to find out what you’ve actually built.

Hugh Bowman
ActionCOACH Geelong

From Ideas in Your Head to a Business That Can Run Without You

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One of the biggest parts of succession planning is turning what you know as the business owner into something the business itself can use.

For many established business owners, there are years of knowledge, ideas and experience sitting in their head. But if the business is going to grow, operate with less reliance on its owner and eventually be passed on or sold, that knowledge needs to become plans, processes and systems.

That’s something I’ve worked on with Chris Beretta from D.A. Beretta, a long standing Geelong plumbing and civil works business.

When Chris first came to me, he already had plenty of ideas. What he needed was help getting those ideas down on paper, building plans around them and, importantly, actually implementing them.

Since then, we’ve worked on future growth, goal setting and streamlining systems within the business. Chris has also successfully developed a new traffic control arm within D.A. Beretta, turning what had previously been a cost to the business into another source of profit.

As Chris explains in the video, one of the biggest benefits of coaching has been having someone there to help move those ideas from his head into action.

That’s also an important part of building a business for the future.

Succession planning isn’t simply deciding who will take over one day. It’s about creating a stronger, more organised business with the systems, plans and people in place so everything doesn’t continue to depend on you.

Watch Chris’s story below to hear about his experience working with me and the changes they’ve implemented at D.A. Beretta.

Thanks
Hugh

Succession Planning Starts Earlier Than You Think

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When most business owners hear the words succession planning, they think it’s something to worry about when retirement is just around the corner.

In reality, that’s one of the biggest mistakes I see.

The businesses that achieve the best outcomes don’t suddenly become valuable in their final year. They become valuable because of the decisions their owners make over many years.

In this short video, I explain why succession planning is really about creating options. Whether your goal is to eventually sell your business, pass it on to family, install a management team or simply step back from the day to day running, it all starts with building a business that isn’t completely dependent on you.

I also share some of the key areas I work on with business owners, including developing leaders, documenting systems and increasing the overall value of the business.

If you’ve never really thought about succession planning, or you’d simply like to understand what makes a business more valuable, I encourage you to watch the video below.

Because succession planning isn’t just about leaving your business one day.

It’s about building a business that’s stronger, more profitable and gives you more freedom long before that day arrives.

Reach out if you’d like to start your succession planning.

Thanks
Hugh