Consultants solve specific problems. You hire one because they have expertise you don't, and you want their answer. Consultants are specialists — contract law, sales training, business valuation, team building — brought in to handle a narrowly defined project. When the project ends, so does the engagement.

Coaches are different. You don't hire a coach to deliver a report. You hire one because you want to grow as an operator. A good coach won't hand you the answer. They help you see your business more clearly, sort your priorities, ask the questions you weren't asking, and build the discipline and judgment to make better decisions yourself. The deliverable isn't a model or a memo — it's a sharper owner running a stronger business. Success shows up over months and years, not days and weeks.

Consider an owner who's never made a profit. They don't need a consultant to build them a financial model. They need a coach who'll sit with them while they read their own P&L for the first time and finally understand what they're looking at.

There is a place for both. Hire a consultant when you need expertise you won't need again — legal structure, tax strategy, M&A. Hire a coach when you want to become a better operator.

I already have an accountant and a bookkeeper. Why would I need a coach too?

Your bookkeeper records what happened. Your accountant keeps it accurate and files your taxes. Both are essential — they're the foundation everything else sits on.

But a business is far more than its numbers. It's a complex system — sales, leadership, hiring and firing, operations, scheduling, pricing — that rests on the numbers but runs on human judgment. Your books tell you what happened. A coach helps you decide what to do about it.

Anneal is me. I have people who help me run Anneal, but the coaching itself is always me.

Coaching is a relationship — two people working on one business — and every combination is different. That's why no coach, including me, is right for every owner. A good fit comes down to three things: whether I'm strong in the areas you need, whether you and I trust each other, and whether you're willing to do the work.

Coaching begins with identifying your pain and your goals. That's an absolute imperative, because without it we're just rambling. Once we can clearly state your pain and goals, we tailor my advice to fit your situation.

From there I work a process I've built over my 45 years in business. My system addresses the four fundamentals every business has to deal with: leadership, marketing and sales, production, and administration. Every business runs on those four, whatever it makes or sells — which is why the approach works regardless of industry. We find what's hurting most right now, fix it, and move on.

I've coached many kinds of businesses — agriculture, medical, contracting, manufacturing, publishing. Finance — using numbers to guide decisions — is my favorite subject, and I'm strongest with owners whose numbers are complex: builders, contractors, manufacturers. But a business is more than its numbers, and so is my work.

You're not hiring a firm. You're hiring me. Let's talk and find out whether we're a fit.