An Interview with Brad Sugars, ActionCOACH^® Chairman/Founder: ‘We are on Track to Have Locations in More Than 120 Countries’

“Our simple and systemized approach to business has benefited business owners around the world with more time, better teams within their companies, and most importantly – more money.”

The concept of business coaching, as it is widely known today, was pioneered in 1993 by the founder of ActionCOACH, Brad Sugars. More than two decades later, the company that started it all is still on top: In fact, no franchise in the “business coaching” category is 10 percent of its size in total revenues.

With more than 1,000 offices in over 70 countries, ActionCOACH delivers its proven business development systems to tens of thousands of business owners every week, owners who turn to business coaching to get the freedom and lifestyle they sought when they first went into business for themselves.

Since its inception, the company has coached more clients, won more awards, gained more recognition and produced more profits than any other coaching company of its kind in the world.

ActionCOACH is headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Brad Sugars, ActionCOACH^® Chairman/Founder, spoke exclusively to The Silicon Review. Below is an excerpt.

Q. Why was the company set up? And how did you expand your company and its offerings over the years?

I started ActionCOACH^® in Brisbane, Australia. Because of the overwhelming demand for the service, I began hiring and training business coaches in an effort to help as many businesses as possible. After several years, demand exceeded supply the franchise concept was developed.

We began our international expansion in New Zealand a year later after the inception; 1994. We expanded to the United States in 2000, when we also moved our global offices to the country.

Prior to 2005, we saw a steady expansion from Australia to countries like Singapore, Malaysia, Mexico, Indonesia, Canada, the UK, and the Philippines. Those were exciting times, and business was booming. But after 2005, the world broke wide open. We were able to expand continent by continent, reaching a multitude of countries in Europe, Asia, Central America, South America and Africa. We currently have coaches in more than 70 countries, and we are on track to be in more than 120 countries over the next three years.

Q. How successful was your first project roll on?

Very! The important thing about expanding into new markets is to remember that you don’t know everything. You’re in a new place with different laws and cultural norms. Take that into account.

Q. What kind of responses have you received from your consumers over the years? How have they motivated you to shape your offerings/grow the company?

In the beginning, business owners were approaching me to work as a consultant. But I quickly realized that consulting was not the answer. That one-on-one component of co-creating winning strategies, and showing business owners how to successfully run a business was a deep need. That need has led to a plethora of offerings, including executive coaching, group coaching, one-to-one coaching, workshops, webinars, and seminars. We also offer our Product Ladder, which includes our ActionCLUB, Assessments Online, SeminarCLUB, Business Valuation, BusinessRICH, GrowthCLUB, BookCLUB, and ProfitCLUB.

Q. Building a culture of sustainability inside an organization is very important to maintain a reputation in the global market. How is it true about your company?

ActionCOACH^® has served thousands of businesses and their owners around the world and in every industry imaginable since 1993, and specializes in showing business owners how to find more time, create better teams within their companies and more money on their bottom-line.

Our approach utilizes fundamental business principles that can be applied to any business in any industry. Because our approach works with every industry, ActionCOACH^® has been able to expand into more than 70 countries, and we’re proud to say that we have coached more clients, won more awards, gained more recognition and produced more profits than any other coaching company in the world. At ActionCOACH^®, we are passionate about what we do, and while coaching does improve the bottom line, we know that it also changes lives and communities, one business at a time.

Internally, we have cultivated a unique and inherent culture that we embrace fully—and credit with our overall success as a company. In fact, our ‘14-points of culture’ is the heart of the company. It defines the core values of the Global ActionCOACH^® brand and community. Our culture points include commitment, ownership, integrity, excellence, communication, success, education, teamwork, balance, fun, systems, consistency, gratitude, and abundance.

These are standards and qualities which every member of our team embodies, and we are proud of the culture we’ve been able to create. When our coaches go out into the world to work with business owners, we know they take these mantras for life and success with them, and that is a large part of what makes us—and them—stand out in the jungles of the business world.

Q. If you have to list five factors that have been/are the biggest asset to your organization, what would they be and why?

• Hiring the right people
• Creating and following the systems designed to propel the brand forward
• Implementing a stellar marketing strategy
• An active social media presence
• Creating an internal culture that gets employees excited about the work that we do

Q. What do you feel are the reasons behind your company’s reputation?

At ActionCOACH^®, we believe relationships are important. They are at the core of all that we do. We are passionate about what we do, and while our coaching does improve the bottom line, we know that it also changes lives and communities, one business at a time.

Q. What drives/inspires you to excel in your field of business?

For ActionCOACH^® team members, it really always comes back to being able to changes lives. We’ve saved businesses. We’ve saved marriages. We’ve seen business owners get their lives back. It’s that knowledge that both drives and inspires us.

Q. Do you have any new products ready to be launched?

I am launching my book – “Pulling Profits” – this April.

“Pulling Profits Out of a Hat,” released in mid-April, is a quintessential modern business handbook that breaks down the strategies and disciplines that will help any business grow exponentially, and details how business owners can work to get out of their own way.

Through the five disciplines outlined in this book, Sugars and co-author Monte Wyatt, are changing lives. The first is Strategy, which is defined by a business model that sets the business up for massive growth. The second is Business Development. Too many people believe that this means just marketing and sales. That’s false. Business development is about getting and KEEPING your customers. Third, it’s the discipline of People. You have to grow people in your business. If you build the people, they will build the business. Fourth, is Execution. You can have the best of everything but in this day and age proper execution sets you up for success. The final discipline is Mission, which means connectivity between people and the company. You have to build an emotional connection. Think about it. Apple fans don’t just LIKE Apple. They LOVE Apple. Most are loyal customers for life because the brand has established an emotional connection with them.

Q. Where do you see your company a couple of years from now?

We are on track to have locations in more than 120 countries.

Brad Sugars: An Entrepreneur at Heart

Brad Sugars came from humble beginnings but has built a life and a business that many would cite as the very definition of success. Sugars, a self-made multi-millionaire, is the founder of the global business coaching franchise ActionCOACH^®, an international business speaker, author, and entrepreneur.

Mr. Sugars has written 16 business books, the “Instant Success” series, which were originally self-published. In 2006, when McGraw Hill bought the international publishing rights to the series, it was the largest multi-business book deal involving a single author.

Professionally, nobody has created a bigger impact on Mr. Sugars’ life than Jim Rohn. As a teen, he scrimped and saved his allowance in order to afford tickets to a Rohn seminar, and despite being the youngest person in the audience, what he learned there has informed his own business practices and philosophies on life.

Mr. Sugars has a dynamic stage presence and enjoys motivating and educating other business owners through his online content (videos, podcasts), books and real-world interactions such as classes, seminars, and speaking engagements. His straight-forward Aussie style has branded him as a leader that will tell you what you need to hear, not necessarily what you want to hear--and for more than two decades, millions of people worldwide have been listening.

Mr. Sugars is equally as passionate about his family as he is about business. A husband and father of five, he and his wife are survivors of the Route 91 tragedy which affected the lives of thousands in LasVegas during a country music festival in 2017. His young daughter, Riley Brown Sugars, is the youngest survivor of the attack and has been featured in multiple media stories.

“We currently have coaches in more than 70 countries, and we are on track to be in more than 120 countries over the next three years.”