About Philip Kraft
- Business owner and Financial Planner with SFP Advisory Services for the last five years, based in Johannesburg, South Africa.
- Provides Holistic Financial Planning, i.e. Medical Insurance, Life Insurance Cover, Investments etc.
- Number of team members to date: 3
- Clients helped: Over 1,000 (in the last five years)
“I don’t think I would have grown as much, to be honest, I don’t think I would have reached the targets in terms of the a production that I’ve reached.” – Philip Kraft
The Challenge: More Outgoings than Income
Like so many entrepreneurs, Philip has ambitions for his business’ success. Two years ago he had taken on one new staff member and started renting a new office space. Philip noticed that there was a disconnect between his expenses and the income generated by the business. He couldn’t quite make ends meet. His company could soon be in trouble.
The stress of the finances leaked into other areas of Philip’s life, and he began to micromanage the business. The micromanaging took away from Philip’s ability to focus on implementing new and improved strategies. His one member of staff only assisted Philip with some admin.
“How do I let go of functions and processes to staff? How am I going to manage them to give my business clients the best value for money? How do I take my business to the next level to hire more staff?” – Philip Kraft, Business Owner and Financial Planner.
Philip knew he had to do something and quickly. “If I’m going to do this right, I’m going to need some additional help. And it does not help that I can employ full-time. That’s when I realized that perhaps a coach is going to be the best fit for me.” After learning more about Linda’s services, he then began to consider taking on a business coach.
The Solution: Support, Guidance, and Focus
Philip began to research business coaches and found that although many were talented and could offer something to the business; he chose Linda because of her 35 years of professional experience in the banking world.
“Linda was definitely in the trenches with regards to dealing with businesses and the kind of things that they are going through on a day-to-day basis.” – Philip Kraft, Business Owner, and Financial Planner.
Linda provided Philip’s business with a detailed assessment that outlined the core areas that could be improved. Signing up for an initial 12-month programme, Philip and Linda set goals and objectives to help Philip’s business achieve the success he had envisioned. There were three main areas of focus:
- the financial issues within the company,
- strategic growth issues within the company and
- efficiencies within the business
The guidance and plan were straightforward, and Philip learned how to focus,
“I think the biggest thing that Linda does is to really help with extracting the goals from me”.
Philip quickly saw Linda as a business partner, helping him to make executive decisions. He felt supported, guided, and more focused.
The Results
“I don’t think I would have grown as much, to be honest, I don’t think I would have reached the targets in terms of the a production that I’ve reached.” – Philip Kraft, Business Owner and Financial Planner.
The results were noticeable almost instantly:
- Employing a third member of staff
- 30% growth by the 6-month mark.
- 100% growth at the 12-month point.
- Doubled revenue again in year 2.
The first and most notable improvement that Philip found was that revenue increased dramatically. In fact, the revenue increased so much so that Philip was able to take on a third person during a pandemic.
Strategically growing the business has given Philip more insight into his business and to expand his company with a purpose. Establishing clear goals and milestones, Linda has helped Philip to take action. He has been able to keep track of his ideas and review progress being made in these projects without taking away from other areas of his business.
Philip has been able to buy a house for the first time and is focused on improving his work/life balance to spend more time with his family. There has also been a change in premises for the business, Philip’s new home came with separate office space, saving even more money.
Linda continues working with Philip, developing strategies that will see his business continue growth for years to come.
“People think that Business Coaches are for massive businesses that have lots of money, and it’s just not true. Sometimes it’s businesses that just need to go to the next level. I would say they need to speak to Linda to make the most of their business.” – Philip Kraft, Business Owner, and Financial Planner.
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