London based 121 Transport provides a minicab service specialising in airport transfers. It was started by Arasakone Agilan in 2005 and has grown steadily since then. However Agilan is ambitious and in 2010 decided that the business could achieve more. So he set himself a goal of building a cancer treatment hospital in his home country of Sri Lanka within 10 years. This would primarily be funded from the profits of 121 Transport. Additionally he wanted the business to become the World’s safest transport company. He therefore knew that he needed to do everything he could to make his business as successful as possible.

It was at this time that he met a business coach from ActionCOACH. After the first discussion Agilan knew that the coach had the knowledge and experience he needed to reach his goals. As he said “I was immediately confident that she would help me achieve positive results. But I underestimated just how positive they would be!”

They began working together in November 2010 and have regular meetings to discuss progress and next steps. The first thing that his coach helped Agilan with was to set the plan for reaching his goals. As Agilan remarked “She encouraged me to work backwards from my key goal. So I calculated the profit I would need to buy a plot of land for the hospital within 12 months.”

When they had a clear profit goal they then broke down the steps required to reach it and set clear targets for every step. His coach introduced Agilan to ActionCOACH methods such as the ‘5 ways’ model. This looks at the five key drivers of profit such as leads, conversions and margin. This enabled them to clearly define the specific tasks required to generate the desired profit.

An example of this is the setting of clear targets for increasing leads into the business. His coach helped Agilan to develop a marketing strategy using the ActionCOACH 10×10 marketing plan. The 121 team have now embraced many effective marketing activities including online, email, SMS and telephone marketing. This enabled them to perform the marketing required to generate the targeted number of leads. The results have been clear, as Agilan stated “We have seen a 206% increase in new customers per week, in only four months!”

Agilan has fully embraced the methods and teachings of ActionCOACH. This has allowed him to look at the business objectively and put systems into place that increase business efficiency. As he said “My business is far more systemised. All members of my team have clearly defined roles and know what is expected of them.”

The development of clear systems, processes and responsibilities has had a very positive affect on the whole team. They all understand what they need to do to reach the targets. They have embraced the changes and have become extremely adept at maximising every opportunity presented by the new marketing plan. In addition to this Agilan’s clear vision of where he wants to take the business has inspired the whole team. As he said “Staff morale is at an all time high and the future is looking very bright.”

ActionCOACH has helped Agilan to put into place robust measurement and tracking of all the key performance indicators. This means that all the key metrics that affect the business are monitored on a daily basis. Agilan can now see where he needs to focus in order to reach his targets. As he remarked “I can see exactly the direction the business is going in and make adjustments when necessary. I am fully in control.”

The effects of business coaching have been seen in a very short space of time. As Agilan enthusiastically said “The effect on my business is nothing short of miraculous. I’ve seen a 96% increase in the average number of weekly airport transfers. Most spectacularly, my turnover has increased by 150%! And it’s all been achieved in only six months”

Although they still have a way to go to reach Agilan’s goal of building his hospital the business is on very solid ground. The processes and systems are now in place to enable growth and the team are incredibly motivated to reach the targets. As Agilan said “I feel increasingly confident I will achieve my goals well within the timeframe I have set. Business coaching has helped me immensely and I recommend it to anyone who wants to go to the next level of development.”