Meet your coach

Meet Richie, The Growth Coach

Thriving in the hospitality industry for over 20 years.

Hey, I'm Richie. I’m passionate about helping people step out of their business and live the life they want to live.

I’m a natural pragmatist and I’m hugely outcome-focused. For you, that means that after working with me, you will feel there has been a significant ROI delivered to you, your team and business.

I take a human approach to business: Understanding that the leader and the business are intertwined.With this in mind, I’m about growing you as a capable leader as much as I am about growing a profitable business.

From a tactical perspective, business strategy, vision and leadership and I utilise a broad range of evidence-based coaching approaches, with a focus on your capability building to provide you the tools and skills you need to handle any challenges your business throws at you in the future.

The Thistle Inn

My personal success story

How I transformed The Thistle Inn from making no money, to a hugely successful pub that is adored by fans and recognised as an industry leader

10 years ago, I bought The Thistle Inn. At the time, the place was in bad shape and I had a lot of work to do to get it up to standard. I started out like many of you: Working stupidly long hours, getting customer complaints, getting frustrated with my team who just weren’t engaged and making no money. One day I realised that I needed to master my own mindset.

Although there were external factors that were causing these problems, I was the only one who could fix them. The first thing I did was get clarity on the issues and my challenges that I needed to overcome.

Results highlights

The Thistle Inn before and after Richard’s strategy

Tripled turnover
Ranked in top 3% of the most profitable hospitality companies in New Zealand
Outstanding customer experience
Well trained, happy staff with longevity
Rave reviews and adoring loyal customers
I created a hands-off business, giving me freedom to live the life that I want to live

The challenges at the Thistle Inn

Running at a financial loss
Disengaged team
Food costs were unnecessarily high
Lack of time and energy for creativity and passion in the business
No consistency in the service or the food
Lack of customers

How I transformed The Thistle Inn:

People

Team development and training great staff to serve great customers we’d attract
Investing time and money into the team so they had purpose at work instead of just a job
Created a team induction system and employer handbook
Created a guest experience plan
Created a customer loyalty strategy

Strategy and execution

Marketing to new and existing customers
Created a performance culture with minimum standards across the board
Redefined our spaces and our offering to cater to the market
Standardised recipes for everything, creating consistent experiences for our customers
Got involved with the community to cement us as a trusted local brand

Finance

Created budgets and worked to truly understand my business’s finances
Set clear KPIs that are monitored weekly
Trained and encouraged my team on upselling/cross selling

Meet Richie