Chris Duke - ActionCoach

Brilliant day yesterday at the Careers Reframed event at the University of Suffolk.

The idea was simple. Get careers leaders and local employers in the same room, talking about the same young people. Sounds obvious. Almost never happens. Big credit to the Norfolk & Suffolk Careers Hub, The Careers & Enterprise Company and Suffolk County Council for making it happen.

I was there wearing my YESS Foundation UK hat. If you have not come across YESS, we deliver free business courses in local schools. I run them myself, in person. The school pays nothing, and the students get real time with people who have actually run businesses. How money works, how to spot an opportunity, how to back yourself.

I do it because I think we teach kids everything except how business and money actually work, then act surprised when they leave school without a clue. I certainly had to learn most of it the hard way.

Yesterday was about getting more schools signed up, and I am carrying that on here.

If your kids' school could use this, or you know a teacher or governor, tag them or drop the school name in the comments and I will follow it up.

Which school would you want to see this in first?

Most business owners I speak to can tell you their turnover to the nearest thousand.

Ask them their break-even point, and you get a very different response.

And that's not a criticism. Nobody really sits you down and shows you which numbers actually matter when you're running a business. You learn turnover because everyone talks about turnover. The rest you're supposed to figure out as you go.

Here's the thing though. Every business, whatever its size or sector, runs on the same five numbers. Leads, conversion rate, how often customers buy, average sale value, and margin.

Most owners are watching one of them. Maybe two.

What makes these five interesting is the compounding effect. A 10% improvement across all five doesn't give you 10% more profit. The numbers stack on each other in a way that a single big push in just one area simply doesn't.

And the five numbers are just one way in. There are other places profit is sitting in your business right now that most owners walk straight past every day.

There are businesses turning over £10 million and keeping £100k profit. That's not a cash flow problem. That's a visibility problem. And it's far more common than people think.

On July 8th, I'm running a workshop at Bawburgh Golf Club called 173 Minutes to Find More Cash in Your Business. We'll work through the five numbers, where else the profit's hiding, and you'll leave with something practical you can use the same week.

It's £49.95, and if you don't think it was worth it, I'll refund you. No awkward conversation needed.

The link to grab a spot is in the comments.

Have you ever sat down and properly looked at all five of these numbers in your business?

Cash flow doesn't care how hard you worked this month.

Everything else in a business can be dressed up. Sales look fine, the diary's full, and yet there's still that nagging tightness around what's actually sitting in the bank at the end of it all.

I've sat across the table with enough business owners now to know it's rarely one big mistake. It's usually four or five small leaks nobody's gone looking for, because running the business doesn't leave time to stop and check.

So I built something called 173 Minutes to Find More Cash in Your Business. Not a lecture, not theory, just under three hours working through the actual places cash gets stuck in a small business, alongside other owners dealing with exactly the same thing.

July 8th, Bawburgh Golf Club.

If you come along and don't leave with at least one idea that pays for the morning, I'll give you your money back. No awkward conversation, no small print.

If you've ever looked at a busy month and wondered where the money actually went, this one's for you.

Comment "CASH" below, and I'll send you the link.

Most business owners don’t need someone to feel sorry for them.

They need someone who gets it and then helps them do something about it.

There’s a big difference between empathy and sympathy. And in business, that difference matters more than most people realise.

Sympathy says, “That sounds really tough. I feel for you.”
Empathy says, “I get it. I’ve been there. Now, what are we going to do about it?”

One makes you feel heard for a moment. The other actually moves you forward.

The danger of the wrong sounding board isn’t bad advice. It’s no movement at all. Just nodding heads, shared frustration, and a collective sigh.

A pity party for one is bad enough. A group one solves nothing.

The business owners who grow find someone who will sit with them in the problem and then refuse to let them stay there.

Not a cheerleader. Not a yes-person. Someone who gets the weight of it and still asks the hard question:
“
Right. So what’s the next move?”

It’s Friday. Whatever this week threw at you, you showed up. Go enjoy the weekend.

Back at it Monday.

What does your sounding board look like? Someone who listens, or someone who listens AND pushes?

Tell me below.

Can I ask you something?

Your business is doing well. Turnover's up. You're busier than ever.

So why does it feel harder to actually get your hands on the cash?

I ask business owners across Norfolk most weeks, and here's what I've learned. It's almost never about sales. It's about where the money quietly leaks out before it ever reaches you. Margins get squeezed without you noticing. Your time gets eaten up by jobs only you can do. The team's fine when you're standing right there and falls apart the second you're not.

Revenue goes up. Stress goes up with it. Freedom never shows up at all.

Now imagine the other version.

You look at your numbers and actually understand them. Your team sorts out a problem on a Tuesday afternoon, and you only find out once it's already been handled. You get home at a reasonable time because the place runs without you propping it up every minute. The cash that's been disappearing for years starts showing up where it should, because you finally know where it was going.

That's not wishful thinking. That's just what it looks like when you fix the bottlenecks instead of working around them forever.

I'm running a workshop on this on July 8th in Bawburgh. 173 minutes, that's all, to find the hidden cash sitting inside your business right now.

It's £49.95, and if you come along and genuinely don't think it was worth it, I'll refund your money. No fuss.

Does anyone else feel like the busier you get, the further away the cash feels? Drop a comment, I'd love to know I'm not just talking to myself here.

Link in the comments below.

Nobody had to send a cake. That’s exactly the point.

A birthday cake turned up in the post on Saturday.

My coach sent it.

No reason. No agenda. Just a cake for my family and me.

And it made my day.

It also reminded me of something I talk about with every business owner I work with.

Critical Non-Essentials.

The stuff that’s not in the contract. The things that aren’t technically required. The bits nobody would chase you for if you stopped doing them.

Except people notice. They always notice.

Not always out loud. But they feel it. And they remember it.

A handwritten card. Remembering someone’s kid’s name. A cake in the post.

None of it is essential.

All of it is everything.

The businesses I admire most aren’t just well run. They make people feel something.

That’s what keeps clients coming back. That’s what gets you referred without having to ask.

So tell me, what’s your version of the birthday cake?

What’s the thing you do that nobody asked for, but everyone remembers?

When did you last spend a full day on your business rather than in it?

Today I co-hosted Growth Club with three other coaches. A 90-day planning day where 30 local business owners stepped away from the day-to-day to think, plan, and breathe a bit.

No emails. No firefighting. Just a room full of people who get what it’s like.

We covered two things that came up a lot in the room:

Not all customers are equal. Knowing which ones to keep (and which to move on from quietly) is a game-changer.

And apprenticeships. Still one of the most underused tools for small businesses, and worth a serious look right now.

But the best bit? Just being in the room with 30 other business owners and realising you’re not the only one wrestling with the same stuff.

Everyone left with a 13-week plan. Week by week. Something real to go back to on Monday morning.

The act of planning is often worth more than the plan itself.

When did you last carve out a day to look up? 👇

Is your sales pipeline working as hard as you are?

If leads are falling through the cracks, follow-up is inconsistent, or you’re not sure where deals are stalling, it’s time to take a closer look at your process.

Want to find out exactly where you can get better results?

Take the Sales & Marketing Performance Assessment now

chrisdsalesq.scoreapp.com

They don’t teach this in school… but they should.

I was lucky enough to be part of the recent YESS graduation (and even made it into an article with the British Franchise Association).
https://www.thebfa.org/news/young-people-celebrated-after-graduating-entrepreneurial-skills-programme/

But what really stood out wasn’t the article.

It was the young people.

Seeing them stand up, present their ideas, and talk with real confidence was brilliant.

You could see the shift happening:
They weren’t just students anymore
They were thinking like business owners

That’s what the YESS programme does.

It builds confidence.
It builds creativity.
It gives young people the belief that they can create something for themselves.

And I genuinely think we need more of this across Norfolk and Suffolk.

Because these programmes only happen when local businesses get involved.

That might be:
👉 Giving up a bit of time to mentor
👉 Sharing your experience
👉 Supporting the charity with a donation

You don’t need to do loads.
But a small contribution can have a big impact.

I’ll definitely be doing more of this going forward.

If you’re a local business owner and want to help shape the next generation, it would be great to have you involved.

Drop me a message and I’ll happily share more about how you can support 👍

Young people celebrated after graduating entrepreneurial skills programme Franchise partners from ActionCOACH across the UK are helping inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs through their support of the Young Entrepreneur Smart Start (YESS) programme, a practical initiative equipping young people with the mindset, confidence and real-world business skills needed fo...

At what point did your business start needing you more, not less?

I had a conversation this week that comes up a lot.

“We’re growing, but it feels harder than it should.”

That’s usually the turning point.

Because growth without structure just creates more noise.
More decisions.
More reliance on you.

That’s what I talk about in Scale Without the Chaos.

But the real value is actually fixing it.

So I’ve created the 6 Month Masterclass.

It’s not a one-off session that produces another shelf-help folder

We work through it over six months with a small group:

• Fortnightly sessions
• Two 90-day planning days
• Practical things to implement between each one
• Support and accountability along the way

So you’re not left trying to figure it out on your own.

By the end, the business is set up to run with less dependence on you.

I’ve opened a waitlist for the first group. You can sign up below

https://bit.ly/6MBizMC

Or if you want more details, just comment or message me.