Millions of new entrepreneurs — and OneCoach to help them

Written by Tom Stacey for The San Diego Daily Transcript

"We are in the midst of the largest entrepreneurial surge this country has ever seen," according to a recent article in Fortune Small Business.

The statistics bear it out: Nearly 672,000 new companies with employees were launched in 2005, according to the Small Business Administration, and there are many more solo entrepreneurs -- estimates vary from 12 million to 35 million -- doing business in the United States.

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Virtually all of these fledgling businesses will face predicable obstacles, and that's where a Solana Beach startup is poised to lend a hand, and fuel its own high-trajectory growth potential.

"Our business is to help other businesses succeed. And we believe that our timing is right," said Murray Smith who, with John Assaraf, founded OneCoach. The company has entered the small-business coaching arena with a simple but proven formula for its members: First, create the mindset for success, and then take the right actions, in the right order, to achieve mastery in business.

Between them, Smith and Assaraf have led 17 companies, including Indian Motorcycle and Internet video pioneer Bamboo.com. Friends for 25 years, they were each in a position to comfortably retire by 2004. But each saw enormous possibilities in the shifting global economy. They also shared an affinity for the underdog: the small-business owner who takes smart risks and finds a way to win.

"We show small-business owners how to get absolutely clear about what they want, and then we help them learn the business fundamentals that allow them to achieve their dreams," said Assaraf, author of the New York Times bestseller The Street Kid's Guide to Having It All and one of the teachers featured in the film The Secret.

And they practice what they preach. By the time they launched OneCoach in 2005, Smith and Assaraf had defined an audacious goal: Their new company would make a lasting worldwide impact by helping more than 1 million people create successful businesses.

"You have to dream big," said Smith.

With a franchise model rolling out this month, the OneCoach founders and the team they've assembled are taking the first steps toward transforming their big dream -- and the dreams of a million small-business owners --into reality.

OneCoach really has two offerings: membership in the Business Mastery Program, which provides skills and knowledge to the inexperienced entrepreneur; and a business opportunity for the seasoned executive to be their own boss and become a OneCoach business coach franchisee.

For the franchisee, OneCoach offers a turnkey business with no inventory and practically no overhead. It's also meaningful work. OneCoach business coaches help members create the mindset to achieve their goals, and then help them gain essential skills in sales, marketing and management. Members also have access to OneCoach conferences, and to a growing online community that provides connections to new markets and business partners, as well as peer-to-peer learning and customized multimedia instruction, on demand.

The OneCoach business coach also provides accountability, holding members to their commitments, so that they stay on track to meet their stated goals. It's designed to be a comprehensive system, scalable to the exclusive needs of each member and their business.

"We effectively give our members the framework to work on their business while they work in it," said Smith. "We work with them to build their capacity and increase their financial security month after month and year after year."

Local entrepreneurs like Tami Ridley, owner of San Marcos-based Friar's Folly Wine Cellar, have reported great success. Ridley said her company was on its way out of business until she found OneCoach.

"I just didn't have a success-oriented attitude," she said. "I joined OneCoach and in just four months, I have turned my business around. I expect to break the $1 million sales mark this year. I have a great staff of people working for me now. My restaurant is filled with a two-hour waiting list on weekends."

While not every member can expect to break $1 million right away, the OneCoach founders say that anyone who's serious about it can drive their business to the next level, and the next after that.

"We've seen it happen over and over," said Assaraf. "Helping entrepreneurs is a very rewarding business, and we intend to do it in a big way."

Stacey is an editor for OneCoach.