What Sets Us Apart: A Human-Centred, Systematic Approach to Small Business Coach Training<\/p>\n
At Small Business Coach Training, we do one thing\u2014train people to coach small business owners\u2014and we do it exceptionally well. Our programs are built on a foundation of lived experience, rigorous coaching science, systems thinking, and a deep respect for the entrepreneurial journey. Everything we teach is designed for one purpose: to reduce the failure rate of small businesses around the world. What sets us apart is not just what we teach, but how and why we teach it.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re not another generic coach training company with modules on mindset, manifestation, or million-dollar funnels. Instead, we are quietly and deliberately building a global movement of ethical, certified business coaches who are trained in practical, real-world business competencies\u2014leaders who use a coach approach to help entrepreneurs thrive by creating strong, sustainable businesses.<\/p>\n
Our method doesn\u2019t focus on quick wins or motivational hype. Instead, we train our coaches to listen, ask powerful questions, and support clients in building solid foundations\u2014from leadership to operations, finance to marketing, and everything in between. We\u2019re equipping a new generation of coaches to stop telling small business owners what to do and start helping them think for themselves.<\/p>\n
The Problem We\u2019re Solving
\nThe global failure rate for small businesses has barely improved in over 30 years. In Canada, nearly 50% of small businesses still fail before year five. These numbers are similar across many developed countries. And despite billions of dollars spent annually on startup supports, access to capital, and advisory services, the fundamental gap persists: small business owners are not getting the kind of ongoing, personalized support they need to build and sustain a healthy company.<\/p>\n
Most small business owners start with passion, grit, and a technical skill\u2014but they don\u2019t know how to lead a team, manage operations, interpret financial reports, or grow with purpose. They often feel isolated, overwhelmed, and unsure of what to do next. What they need is not another consultant with a PowerPoint deck or a banker asking for projections. They need a coach who understands business and knows how to coach.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s where we come in.<\/p>\n
The Founder\u2019s Story
\nOur founder, Beverlee Rasmussen, is a global authority on small business success. A Certified Executive Coach, two-time author, award-winning entrepreneur, and former business owner herself, Beverlee has spent more than 20 years immersed in the world of small business development.<\/p>\n
Her journey began not as a theorist, but as a practitioner. She built, scaled, and sold her own 7-figure business and went on to coach hundreds of entrepreneurs and leaders across multiple industries. Her real-world experience is the bedrock of our curriculum.<\/p>\n
Beverlee holds a Master of Arts in Executive and Organizational Coaching and two graduate certificates in Executive Coaching and Leadership. She has trained coaches in Canada, the U.S., Europe, and Africa, and her work has been featured on radio, television, and at international coaching conferences. She was named ICF Vancouver\u2019s Business Coach of the Year and continues to advocate globally for better support systems for entrepreneurs.<\/p>\n
She is also the author of the Successful Business Field Guide, a proprietary resource that has become a cornerstone of our coach training method. This practical tool includes 52 business development competencies that every small business owner must master and that every small business coach must understand.<\/p>\n
Our Unique Coaching Method: The Effective Business Coaching Method\u2122
\nOur entire training program is built around a proprietary framework called the Effective Business Coaching Method\u2122\u2014a structured, ethical, and repeatable approach that integrates:<\/p>\n
ICF Core Competencies<\/p>\n
Systems Thinking<\/p>\n
Appreciative Inquiry<\/p>\n
Foundational Business Skills<\/p>\n
We don\u2019t just teach people how to be good listeners. We teach them how to think critically, analyze systems, and use inquiry to drive change. Our coaches leave our program with the tools to help entrepreneurs lead better, grow stronger teams, organize their operations, understand their numbers, and communicate their vision\u2014all while being kind, curious, and client-centred.<\/p>\n
What We Offer
\nWe offer an ICF Level 1 Accredited Certification Program that leads to ACC-level credentialing. Students can begin with our Foundations of Small Business Coaching course (6 weeks), then continue with our Coaching Boot Camp and Mentor Coaching programs to earn full certification. The training is rigorous, accessible, and highly relevant\u2014whether students are existing coaches or professionals already supporting small business owners (like accountants, consultants, or economic development officers).<\/p>\n
We also license our materials to economic development organizations, banks, and nonprofits so they can train their staff to coach using our system. Our licensed partners receive structured training, facilitator guides, coaching tools, and support for implementation.<\/p>\n
Every program includes live instruction on Zoom, practical fieldwork, downloadable tools, and personalized feedback. Our classes are intentionally small, ensuring every learner gets the support they need to grow in skill and confidence.<\/p>\n
Who We Train
\nOur learners fall into three core groups:<\/p>\n
Experienced Coaches who want to specialize in small business coaching and need a structured method to deliver measurable results.<\/p>\n
Helping Professionals Without Coaching Skills, like accountants, consultants, and economic development officers, who are already supporting entrepreneurs but want to be more effective.<\/p>\n
Organizations, such as business banks or government-funded agencies, that want to train their staff using a scalable, coach-based approach to business advising.<\/p>\n
We serve people who are already deeply committed to helping small business owners succeed\u2014and we give them the tools, confidence, and structure to do it well.<\/p>\n
What Makes Us Different
\nWe don\u2019t teach mindset coaching. We teach structured business coaching based on systems thinking and core business competencies.<\/p>\n
We don\u2019t offer advice-based consulting. Our coaches learn how to ask, not tell\u2014so business owners can think, decide, and act for themselves.<\/p>\n
We are global. We train and certify coaches around the world, offering a consistent method that can be adapted to any local context.<\/p>\n
We are practical. Our training includes real-world coaching practice, business planning tools, and support resources\u2014not just theory.<\/p>\n
We are affordable and accessible. Our Level 1 ICF-accredited path costs less than many generic coaching programs and delivers more value.<\/p>\n
The Field Guide Advantage
\nOne of the most unique aspects of our offering is the Successful Business Field Guide, authored by Beverlee Rasmussen. This guide breaks business success into 52 clear competencies, divided into five categories: Leadership, Operations, Finance, Team, and Marketing.<\/p>\n
Coaches use the Field Guide to track client progress, structure coaching sessions, and help entrepreneurs focus their energy where it matters most. It gives business owners confidence, clarity, and structure\u2014especially when everything feels chaotic.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s more than a book. It\u2019s a coaching system. And it\u2019s only available through our programs and our Certified Systems Business Coaches\u00ae.<\/p>\n
Coach Support Doesn\u2019t End at Certification
\nBecoming a Certified Systems Business Coach\u00ae is just the beginning. We continue to support our certified coaches with:<\/p>\n
Monthly professional development<\/p>\n
Access to new tools and updated resources<\/p>\n
Peer support and supervision<\/p>\n
Marketing assistance and business-building strategies<\/p>\n
Opportunities to lead training, contribute to curriculum, or license materials<\/p>\n
We want every coach in our network to feel confident, credible, and connected\u2014so they can focus on what matters most: helping entrepreneurs succeed.<\/p>\n
A Few Interesting Facts
\nEvery coach we train is taught by someone who is a credentialed coach themselves\u2014no junior facilitators or generic trainers. This ensures the integrity of our programs.<\/p>\n
Our founder Beverlee, has personally invested over $400,000 into developing our intellectual property, training portal, and learning tools\u2014all without outside investors.<\/p>\n
We have trained coaches who now support entrepreneurs in rural communities, cities, Indigenous Nations, and international markets.<\/p>\n
Our students say this training is the first time they\u2019ve felt truly equipped to support business owners without over-functioning or giving advice.<\/p>\n
Our training works beautifully alongside financial institutions, enabling advisors to shift from pressure-based lending conversations to relationship-based coaching ones.<\/p>\n
Our community includes coaches with backgrounds in law, finance, HR, tech, education, and creative arts\u2014all united by the desire to see small businesses succeed.<\/p>\n
Our Mission and Our Future
\nOur mission is simple but bold: To reduce small business failure rates around the world. We are doing this by training and certifying 500 coaches who will each work with hundreds of small business owners over the next decade.<\/p>\n
We believe that small business is the backbone of the economy, the heart of communities, and the best path to personal freedom for millions of people around the world. By strengthening the people who lead them, we strengthen everything.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re not here to be the loudest voice in the coaching industry. We\u2019re here to be the most effective.<\/p>\n
And if you\u2019re someone who already supports entrepreneurs and wants to do it better\u2014more ethically, more sustainably, and with more confidence\u2014we\u2019d love to meet you.<\/p>\n
Building a More Sustainable World\u2014One Small Business at a Time
\nAt Systems Business Coach\u00ae and Small Business Coach Training, we believe that small business owners are key to creating a more sustainable, equitable, and prosperous world. Their decisions\u2014from how they lead their teams to how they manage resources\u2014have a ripple effect in families, communities, and across the economy. That\u2019s why we\u2019ve aligned our work with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and intentionally designed our coaching method to support the people most responsible for local economic activity: small business owners.<\/p>\n
The UN SDGs are a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and improve the lives and prospects of everyone, everywhere. Of the 17 goals, several directly intersect with our mission and coaching framework, including:<\/p>\n
Goal 1: No Poverty
\nSmall business is the world\u2019s largest employer. Strengthening these businesses creates jobs, builds generational wealth, and helps lift families and communities out of poverty.<\/p>\n
Goal 4: Quality Education
\nOur coach training programs and Field Guide deliver accessible, real-world business education to people who would otherwise never receive structured learning in leadership, operations, finance, or strategy.<\/p>\n
Goal 5: Gender Equality
\nAs a woman-founded and women-led company, we actively support female entrepreneurs and empower women to become certified coaches, creating a multiplier effect for gender equity in business.<\/p>\n
Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
\nWe help business owners create better workplaces\u2014ones where people are valued, paid fairly, and treated with respect. Through coaching, we help owners transition from surviving to sustainably growing their enterprises.<\/p>\n
Goal 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
\nOur coaching method focuses on building internal systems\u2014essential business infrastructure\u2014that enable innovation, scalability, and long-term stability for small enterprises.<\/p>\n
Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities
\nBy training coaches around the world, including in rural and underserved areas, we are helping to close the gap between those who have access to quality business support and those who do not.<\/p>\n
Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production
\nOur business systems training encourages efficient use of resources, ethical leadership, and thoughtful growth, helping small businesses make decisions that reduce waste and increase impact.<\/p>\n
Goal 17: Partnerships for the Goals
\nOur global network of certified coaches, government partners, and development agencies is a growing ecosystem of professionals aligned around making small business success a global priority.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re not just \u201csupporting\u201d the Sustainable Development Goals\u2014we\u2019re embedding them into our DNA. Every business competency in the Successful Business Field Guide supports sustainable practices: fair employment, clear communication, transparent financials, community engagement, and systems that work. Every coach we certify becomes a change agent, helping business owners not only succeed economically but make decisions that support people and planet too.<\/p>\n
Small Business at the Centre
\nIn a world facing increasing uncertainty\u2014economic, environmental, and social\u2014Systems Business Coach\u00ae is placing small business owners at the very centre of the solution. These entrepreneurs are already doing the work. They are feeding us, employing us, solving local problems, and driving innovation. What they need is not another program. They need someone who believes in them and who will walk alongside them as they grow, hire, adapt, and lead.<\/p>\n
We don\u2019t view small businesses as \u201ctoo small to matter.\u201d We know they are too important to ignore.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s what makes our work more than just coach training. It\u2019s economic development. It\u2019s community building. It\u2019s a global impact, one business at a time.<\/p>\n","url":"https:\/\/www.www.smallbusinesscoachtraining.com","url_text":"www.smallbusinesscoachtraining.com","intro_text":"","main_services":"","image_1":false,"client_review":"","why_we":"","history":"","image_2":false,"image_3":false},"yoast_head":"\n