ETC Executive Training & Consultancy

20/10/2026

Walk the same stretch of coast path every week and you notice things a stranger never would. A gate left open, a hedge cut back, water where there shouldn't be any.

Most business owners only look closely at their numbers when something's already gone wrong. By then the warning signs have been there for weeks, and nobody was walking the trail often enough to spot them.

You don't need more data. You need to walk the same route regularly enough to notice when something's different.

What would you notice earlier if you checked your numbers every week instead of every quarter?

19/10/2026

Every hillwalker knows the false summit. You climb for an hour convinced the top is just ahead, reach the ridge, and find another slope rising behind it. It catches out even people who've walked the route before.

Business has its own false summits. You hit the sales target, land the big client, finally fix the process that was causing chaos, and assume the hard part is over.

It usually isn't. There's another slope behind it. That's not failure, it's just the next stretch of the walk.

What did you treat as the finish line that was actually just the next false summit?

16/10/2026

Rob Owens talking to Doug D'Aubrey about his journey from corporate life to helping small business owners as an ETC consultant and the work he does with schools as a schools leadership coach. Well worth half an hour: listening to this experience as it will give ideas and possibly little golden nuggets on how you can improve your own business.
Listen https://open.spotify.com/episode/6CdsTpj48AGQGGXVXmaTqzhere:

16/10/2026

Experienced hikers rest before they're tired, not after. Wait until your legs are shaking and you've already gone too far. A short stop every hour keeps you moving all day.

Most business owners do the opposite. They keep going until they're running on empty, then wonder why simple decisions suddenly feel impossible and small problems turn into big arguments.

A five-minute break before you need one isn't wasted time. It's what lets you keep going well for the rest of the day.

When did you last stop before you were exhausted, rather than after? Our free two-hour business review is a good place to start, if a proper step back is overdue.

08/10/2026

A bear sleeps through the winter and wakes up perfectly fine. Meanwhile plenty of business owners can't manage a long weekend.

Here's the uncomfortable bit. If your business can't cope with you being away for a fortnight, you don't own a business. You own a very demanding job.

That isn't a criticism, it's a starting point. Clear systems, defined responsibilities and a team who know what good looks like turn a job back into a business.

When did you last take two weeks off without checking your phone? If the honest answer is "never", it might be time to talk.

07/10/2026

06/10/2026

No farmer sows seeds on Monday and then stands in an empty field on Friday shouting "where's my harvest?"

Yet that's exactly how many small businesses treat their marketing. A flurry of posts for a fortnight, then silence for two months because things got busy, followed by the conclusion that marketing "doesn't work".

It does work. It just needs planting, watering and patience, on a schedule you'll actually stick to.

When did you last market your business consistently for six months?

04/10/2026

Executive Training & Consultancy will be attending Lets Do Business on 8th October at Uttoxeter Race Course. We will be offering a limited number of businesses the chance to participate in a 2 hour business review to establish their growth plans for 2027. Come along and book your review.