ActionCOACH, a dominant player in the international business coaching sector, celebrates its 30th global birthday this year.
“Today, business coaching is well known,” says Pieter Scholtz, who together with Harry Welby-Cooke brought ActionCOACH to South Africa 16 years ago. “However, in the early days, it was ‘brand new’ and difficult to explain. ActionCOACH was a pioneer of ‘business coaching’ and has gone on to transform the business and personal lives of hundreds of thousands of clients worldwide.”
Since franchising the company in 1997, ActionCOACH has helped business coaching become more mainstream and now operates across over 80 countries, with 1 000+ offices worldwide. Its tried-and-tested tools, skills and systems (built and enhanced over three decades) continues to coach entrepreneurs and business owners on what it takes to be successful in business – irrespective of geography, developed or developing economies.
In Africa, the local operation has no fewer than 40 coaches across South Africa, Nigeria and Botswana – impacting thousands of business owners and helping create both business and life-changing success stories. “We partner with our clients, like-minded people, sharing one common goal – to coach and mentor business owners to create successful businesses and, in that, to create wealth and generational wealth that can impact the markets in which we operate,” says Welby-Cooke. “We also focus on building communities. Business communities and coach communities; where skills and lessons can be shared. This is powerful in itself, as it provides platforms for ongoing leadership (and therefore business growth).”
From a humble one-man-show to a multimillion-dollar enterprise, ActionCOACH continues to blaze a trail as a leading business coaching company. This is evidenced by its ever-growing number of accolades and awards. The most recent award saw ActionCOACH named a Top Franchise for 2023 by Franchise Business Review – the 18th annual ranking of the 200 best franchise opportunities; ranking highest in satisfaction while also demonstrating a strong potential to outperform competitors during challenging economic times.
“The numbers speak for themselves,” says Welby-Cooke. “In addition to this recent award, a 2022 ActionCOACH client satisfaction survey conducted by WorkBuzz (an independent research agency) saw a staggering 96% of client respondents attest to how their ActionCOACH Business Coach makes a positive difference to their business. In addition, 98% of said respondents would not hesitate to recommend ActionCOACH to a friend or business associate, with 92% considering ActionCOACH well worth the investment.”
“Simply put, we are a business that grows businesses,” says Scholtz. “ActionCOACH SA, as per the global ActionCOACH business model, is a business that works with its franchise partners who, in turn, provide business coaching services and mentoring across the client base. All of this is underpinned by tried-and-tested best practices, market relevance and support and mentoring directly from ActionCOACH together with our own hands-on business experience.
“It is a credible and award-winning brand that has already gone through its own business journey and ironed out a lot of its own challenges; bringing extensive knowledge and know-how to franchise owners of how to solve challenges within local markets.”
“What matters most to us is becoming part of the story of the businesses that we and our franchise partners coach. It’s more than coaching a business owner – it’s changing lives,” says Welby-Cooke. “Bringing ActionCOACH into South Africa has been an incredibly successful, rewarding and inspiring venture for both me and Pieter. We look forward to what the next 30 years of business coaching will bring and its ever-increasing impact and potential across the business landscape on both a global and local front.”
