In a recent article we explored what Vistage chairs actually do; the coaching and mentoring they deliver to businesses and what they receive in return. In this article, we look more closely at how executive coaching by Vistage chairs could benefit you and your business - and help you decide if you need an executive coach. 

An executive coach helps business owners, CEOs and high-level or high-potential employees become better leaders, make better decisions and achieve better results.

It’s common to confuse a coach with a consultant, but they’re very different. Consultants are like doctors. They diagnose problems, prescribe solutions and sometimes execute the solution themselves.

Most business owners understand the importance of marketing, but in the heat of running a business, marketing activity often takes a back seat to service delivery.

But if you want to sell your business, potential investors will shine a very bright spotlight on your processes for acquiring and retaining customers.

Hello, and welcome to the third article in our series on how to grow a business to sell.

In the last article, we shared some advice on how to prepare a business growth plan.

Now, it’s time to talk about you. As the founder, director, CEO or senior leader you are one of the driving forces behind your company. You are, at least in part, responsible for its successes and failures.

You’ve built up your business, and you’re ready to sell. But which route to market is best for you, and your business?

When it comes to maximising a business’ sale price, what’s the most important factor? 

Welcome to the first of seven articles about how to grow and prepare your business for sale.

Getting mental health in the workplace right can be a delicate balancing act for leaders. Protecting their own mental health, while also looking after the mental health of employees – and achieving profitability goals – takes some doing. With this in mind, we consulted two mental health experts to get practical advice for leaders around strategies they can implement straight away and throughout the whole year.

Here at Vistage, we’re incredibly proud to hear how being part of a Vistage group has helped our members to achieve great things. One such member is Anna Golden, commercial director at Olympia London.

The London-based exhibition venue is over 130 years old, having been founded in 1886. Formerly part of a bigger group of venues, the business responsible for running the venue has gone through a vast amount of change over recent years: including being sold to German investors in 2017. 

With so much change and reporting to overseas owners who have very little day-to-day contact with the business, Anna felt that she needed some support outside of Olympia London.

If you are growing a business with the intention of selling, then you are in the right place.

The first article in this series discussed how to get the foundations right.

Now, we consider how to prepare a growth plan that transforms your business into an asset that’s attractive to investors.

• You might also like: How to write a growth plan like a scale-up business.