Business Coaching for an Industry Supplier: An Honest Review

After John Courtenay left his corporate job, he launched his own business which grew substantially over the years. But after selling 70% of his shares to a partner, John was unsure where to take his business next. 

With 34 years of experience in the aluminium casthouse technology sector, John Courtenay launched his own aluminium supplier brand, MQP Limited, in 2000. After leaving his corporate job and realising he had only his son to bounce ideas off, John needed a mentor to help him navigate the extensive world of business strategy.

MQP has been leading the way in revolutionising casthouse solutions. Having won a BizX Award for the Most Innovative Company and being on track to increase its profit to £2 million, the global brand is ever closer to becoming the world leader in advancing melt quality.

Finding help to progress the business

“I launched MQP with the mission to utilise my extensive experience in the aluminium industry to become the world leader in advancing melt quality, helping casthouses produce the best products possible. After working with a large corporation for 34 years, I had enough experience under my belt to launch my own company, which focused on quality, not quantity. The issue was I no longer had a team of colleagues to bounce my ideas off – I had nobody but my son to challenge my business strategy to help propel our company forward.

“We had recently completed a large transaction in which we sold 70% of our shares to a Chinese partner, and due to this monumental change in the business, I was unsure of the next step for MQP when ActionCOACH first contacted us. Our local Action Coach called us and presented how she could support us and the business – I knew she was the perfect mentor-coach to help us reach our goals.” 

John had a complimentary strategy session with his local Action Coach, and in May 2019, he invested in fortnightly one-to-one coaching sessions.

Business Coaching for all areas of business 

A Sounding Board
“Before business coaching, we were isolated as a company. Although we had access to business courses which would’ve given us the opportunity to meet others, we didn’t have time to focus on anything else other than growing the business as much as possible. It turned out we didn’t need to attend these events to find people we could connect with because we had our Action Coach – she taught us so much about business input and strategy, was a great sounding board and helped us to stand back and look at what the issues were in our business.  

Team Development
"One issue we were struggling to deal with was the management of our team. We had a couple of problems with two of our staff, but, as we had hired them early on, it felt as if they had become part of the MQP furniture. We were emotionally attached to them and wanted what was best for them, but our business coach acted as the second eye – she challenged our decisions and helped us to realise we needed all members of our team to be motivated and diligent to succeed. She put us in touch with an external HR consultant who really helped us through this difficult situation and, thanks to her recommendation, we said goodbye to those staff in the best way possible.

Strategy Planning
“As a business owner, it’s easy to get wrapped up in the day-to-day running of the company and lose sight of the bigger picture. This not only means you can’t see what is hindering your growth, but you also can’t pinpoint what steps you could be making to help your company succeed. An Action Coach is a remedy for that – they help you understand what action you need to take to help your business soar, whether this be a new business strategy or creating a new team that won’t hold you back."

Revolutionising Mindsets About Business

Now, we are proactive in our approach and are dedicated to creating the best team. We’re now working with a clear focus, allowing us to increase product output from 550 tonnes in 2020 to 2,000 tonnes in 2022.”

Aware of his business coach's extensive experience, John completely transformed his business - and his life - by learning to work smarter, not harder.

“Our profit dropped to £800,000 in 2019 due to us parting ways with our main supplier, thus increasing the competition we faced as a business. We experienced a year and a half of really hard work, working with our business coach to get our business back on track. The beginning of our comeback started during the pandemic when our new company in China, which we had started up in 2019, was roaring ahead – everyone else was struggling to stay afloat during the lockdowns, but we grew. By the end of 2022, we had a group profit of £1 million. 

“Winning the BizX award for Most Innovative Company cemented our return to the aluminium sector – after a few years of uncertainty, we now know we are on the right track. This year, we are on track for profits of £2 million and are gearing up to expand – we’ve been very successful with the middle-tier aluminium producers, so now we are focusing on smaller businesses who are more open to trying our radical products that use new technology. Larger companies have been very resistant to change, but after working these last three years to get these companies on board, we are expecting these plans to come to fruition in the next 12 months. Our plan is to double the size of MQP and to triple our profits. This year, we will be recruiting a new Technical Manager and working with our business coach to make our pitching in North America more effective.

“It’s not just our business that our business coach has transformed; she’s also made a huge impact on my personal life too. From the beginning, she has put a strong emphasis on the fact that a ‘healthy mind’ equals a ‘healthy body’. MQP was my life, but she helped me realise this wasn’t realistic – your work-life balance can’t be 99% business, 1% home. Otherwise, you’ll have no home to go to. She asked me to set personal objectives alongside business ones, and since I’ve had a clearer perspective of my private and professional goals, I’ve been able to improve every aspect of my life.”

Are You Ready to Transform your Business? 

Has reading John’s story inspired you to think about your own business and where you could be heading? It’s ok to feel sceptical about business coaching, change is hard, especially when it comes to you and your business. We understand you’ve worked hard and put in a lot of time to get your business to where it is today, which is why we want to showcase the stories of business owners who have been in your shoes and decided they were ready for business coaching.

If you're contemplating whether business coaching is right for you, book a discovery call with an advisor to see how business coaching can help you achieve your dreams and navigate the complexities of entrepreneurship.

If you'd like to find out what ActionCOACH has to offer, check out our programmes below.