“I don’t know how long this lockdown will last, and I only have 30 days of resource left in my business and then I’m on the rocks”.  These and other similar words were echoed around New Zealand small businesses as fear and panic swept our tiny nation in March 2020.  I was comfortable, too comfortable.  Should I act and help, should I get my hands dirty, or simply distance myself and stay comfortable?

My name is John Robertson, and I am the Founder of Principal Shift.  

I’ve had a number of decades ‘in the ring’ of business, plus a number of years working in both mid-sized as well as corporate environments.  I’m well-seasoned, some might even be cheeky enough to say ‘weathered’, and I guess in a sense that’s true.  

I’d been having more and more conversations with business owners and this is what they were saying:

• “I’m lacking CLARITY and STRUCTURE”
• “I have plenty of new ideas, but don’t know what to do with them”
• “I don’t have a strong long-term plan – I run my business ‘by the seat of my pants’.  It has worked okay for me in the past, but not now”
• “I’ve plateaued or become ‘stuck’.  My past successes are no longer serving me”
• “I want to grow beyond the ‘recovery’”
• “I’m willing to invest in getting support but don’t know where to go”
• “My business is not financially stable”
• “I have no ability to manage my time and I have to sort this now”

I’m wealthy in a host of ways, and was semi-retired, life was really good, but then something unexpected happened in 2020 that got me off my comfy couch. Was it actually time to give back, like seriously invest in others?

COVID-19 happened and many businesses started folding, and the darkening economic clouds started rolling in.  I realised now was the time to execute the plan that had been sitting in the back of my mind for some time!

I started the Business Coaching firm Principal Shift as a formal and structured way of getting these people the answers they were looking for.  Many Kiwi business owners have the right mind-set and attitude, amazing, innovative products and services, and energy to burn, but they just need someone who has been in the ring a little longer, to walk the journey with them.  These businesses typically don’t have the luxury of a Board of Directors or an Advisory Board, and as owners they feel quite alone, particularly in difficult times.

Some owners need a structured business plan, others need coaching around certain dilemma’s they are facing from someone who isn’t so close to the action.  Others need better data controls, visibility and KPI’s.  One thing is for absolute certain, 2020 is not the year to merely HOPE everything turns out ok – that was 2019.  2020 is the year to kick procrastination to touch and take BIG BOLD ACTION.

My new purpose is to help others be successful in life and business – it’s not about my organisation any more, it’s about others.  This realisation hit me hard during lockdown – I’m now off the couch and back in the office!

John Robertson

Principal Coach

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