Choosing a coach
There are three kinds of business coach. Then there's this.
Most coaching comparisons are sales pages in disguise. This one is honest: each of these options genuinely suits some owners, and the right question is which one fits where your business actually is.
The franchise coach
ActionCOACH and similar networks
Where they're strong: Proven structure, big support network, guarantees, strong reviews. For a first coach, often a safe pair of hands.
The gap: The coach delivers someone else's manual. Whether they have ever met your kind of problem with their own money depends entirely on which franchisee you get.
The ex-corporate consultant
Former directors and MBAs turned advisers
Where they're strong: Genuine depth in big-company process: boards, reporting, governance. Strong for businesses heading to scale or sale.
The gap: Corporate experience is not owner experience. A £40m division with a finance team behaves nothing like a £600k firm where the owner does payroll on Sunday.
The guru with a course
Online programmes and mastermind funnels
Where they're strong: Cheap to start, some genuinely useful content, and energy when yours is low.
The gap: Content is not coaching. Nobody checks whether you did the thing, and the business model rewards selling the next course, not finishing the first one.
The fourth option
An operator, coaching from a live P&L
Nick Thorpe runs his own companies today: property management, an investment fund, an invite-only network, this practice. When you talk about hiring, cash or pricing, he is not remembering it or quoting a manual. He dealt with the same decision this month, with his own money. CoreOS is the framework that came out of that decade, and the coaching is the accountability that makes it stick.
| Franchise / consultant / guru | Core Business | |
|---|---|---|
| Method | Licensed manual, corporate playbook or course content | CoreOS, built and used in Nick's own companies |
| Coach's day job | Coaching is the business | Runs real businesses; coaching comes from current practice |
| Between sessions | Varies; often nothing | Weekly accountability; actions agreed, actions checked |
| Getting in | Buy now | Application-only; wrong fits are turned away |
Frequently asked questions
Is Core Business a franchise?
No. Core Business is one coach, Nick Thorpe, coaching from his own framework (CoreOS) and his own current experience running property, investment and coaching companies.
Who is Core Business NOT for?
Owners who want motivation without accountability, anyone expecting guaranteed results, and businesses too early to act on coaching (if you are pre-revenue, spend the money on customers first). Nick turns away applicants where the fit is wrong.
How do I compare coaches properly?
Ask three questions: what do you run now, with your own money? What happens between sessions to make sure the work gets done? And can I talk to a current client? A good coach of any type answers all three without flinching.
The honest way to test the difference is one call.
Thirty minutes, no pitch. Or run the CoreOS Scorecard first and bring your score.