Business Growth Coaching for Ambitious SMEs
At Cognetrix we help SME owners to grow their businesses profitably and sustainably, and position themselves for a worthwhile exit.
We make use of our real-life experience in successfully growing and exiting businesses, supported by a structured leadership coaching program, to guide you through building a strong foundation of people and processes and help overcome challenges at each stage of your business growth.
Business Coaching with Cognetrix
We start with a Business Maturity Audit to identify your strengths and weaknesses.
Like all business owners you will have areas that you’re concerned about. We will work together to understand these and prioritise resolving those challenges that will provide the greatest impact on your business.
We jointly establish Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) in critical and problem areas.
You’re probably already measuring important metrics related to your business’ bottom line, but just as essential is understanding and measuring the metrics that drive this, such as staff utilisation, customer churn and conversion rates, and exactly who in the business is responsible for each of these
Having identified KPIs and who’s responsible for each one, we will build a program of testing and measurement to make sure you have full visibility of performance and that your KPIs remain aligned with your business plan and growth strategy.
Through regular online coaching sessions, guided by our Business Waterwheel process, we help you identify strategies and build plans to improve your business.
Strategy and planning is essential, especially when leading a growing SME. There will undoubtedly be unexpected hurdles – you may be experiencing some right now! But a solid strategy and growth plan, backed by our wealth of real-world experience, provides a strong foundation for growth.
You execute your plans, supported where necessary by our experts.
Ability to deliver is arguably the most important marker for business success. We provide ongoing support to guide you through delivering your business strategy, as well as an experienced sounding-board to help work through those inevitable, unexpected challenges.
We jointly review the impact.
Your business needs to be flexible enough to respond to unexpected challenges and new opportunities. Regularly reviewing your business strategy, KPIs and processes ensures that they’re as effective as possible at delivering business growth.
You recognise and reward the success and we repeat the cycle.
Achieving success is key - but how do we maintain it and ensure that motivation sticks as we repeat the cycle? We can help you identify the most effective ways of rewarding and motivating your team, aligning rewards with business KPIs and putting those measures in place.
Our Business Waterwheel Process
The Business Waterwheel was developed to provide a reliable, proven coaching framework, to support owners and leaders of growing SMEs.
Using this framework, our experienced business coaches will work alongside you, guiding you through the process of developing and executing a strategy to accelerate your business growth and free you from the day-to-day administration of your organisation.
Our structured but flexible approach lets us work effectively to prioritise your areas of concern, whilst building a strong foundation to support the growth of your business.
Know your business – Together, we get under the hood of your business, identifying strengths and weaknesses and agreeing the areas to prioritise.
Improve the Flow of your business, developing efficient, measurable processes, and effective people-management, that improves profitability and provides a strong foundation for business growth.
Grow your business in a sustainable way, improving sales, building repeatable revenue, and increasing profit margins.
Bring your business to a state of Overflow. Freeing you to focus on strategy, expansion, and a meaningful exit plan, for when the time is right.
Ben Austen Cognetrix Founder
Ben is a successful tech industry entrepreneur, director, and board member. As Chief Operating Officer and a key founder of Microsoft-partner Tisski, he was pivotal in growing the organisation from a start-up to over 250-staff, before exiting as part of an eight-figure trade sale, within a ten-year timeframe.
Over the course of his 20-year career in strategic business consulting, covering roles as diverse as apprentice technology analyst, management consultant, and COO. Ben has delivered growth through strategic consulting for a wide range of UK-based SMEs across industry sectors including engineering, manufacturing, professional services, and the voluntary sector; as well as major technology and business transformation projects for UK Government departments, including the MoD, and Department for Education.
Ben is now focused on working with small & medium businesses, using his extensive experience of operational leadership to deliver more effective management of people and processes; helping them to grow profitably and sustainably through structured business coaching.
Outside of work, Ben is a keen competitor in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Chair of Trustees for Lincoln-based charity, DevelopmentPlus.