Testimonials

See what Evan’s clients say about having him as their business coach and how he has helped them

“When I met Evan, he had a confident approach that just made good sense. It’s common for people in business to be so task focussed in making sure the day-to-day operations run smoothly they take their finger off the pulse of the business. I needed someone I could trust to re-focus on what I need to be doing – not necessarily what I want to be doing. There’s an accountability which is based on mutual respect and I can see where Evan is taking us and I’m working to achieve the goals we set. You do have to be committed to the process that happens when you work with Evan. Firstly you have to admit you need some help and you’ve got to get rid of your ego to make that work because it is sometimes confronting. You have to be prepared to make some changes and change isn’t easy for most.

Since getting Evan on board in late February 2011, I can see that we are on track and our profits are on the increase. Evan contributes his good ideas and he’s persistent. I can ask him questions and he provides solutions which I trust because he has knowledge based on years of successful experience and he genuinely wants to give the best advice to me.”
Ken Acheson, Managing Director, Crikey Bamboo

Two years ago I met Evan Rubenstein, and my decision to go with him was made very quickly. Evan’s own extensive business experience and training made him an excellent choice for me and my business.

I am very glad I took Evan on as my coach for the following reasons:

  1. It is invaluable to have honest feedback of your own personal performance and the performance of your business and team, as seen by another professional person.
  2. I have expert advice to create new procedures and a very fast growing and competitive modern company that provides a great employment opportunity for all staff
  3. I have professional support to help me implement new procedures and improvements in an effective way.

In modern Australian society, companies that want to lead in contributing to society require a modern approach to management and leadership. They need to have processes and procedures that will enable all staff to grow with the company. Evan helped me to create and implement a number of effective procedures, ideas helping to change the culture in Device Consulting. I am now a more effective leader for my company because I am applying the things I have learned. In the two years since Evan joined us, we have almost doubled in size.

Evan is an expert in helping to change the mindset of all people involved in the business. He showed us the greatest value of becoming a leader and effective manager and he is a very valuable contributor to the vibrant Device Consulting team.

The business advice Evan provides is based on fact. It’s relevant and even when it’s hard and I challenge Evan, he will work with me to get these results. Results come from the partnership we have.

I have and do recommend Evan – especially to our clients and people who have long term goals and are prepared to go through growing pains. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and the advice Evan has given me on improving my relationships – the human side of business is the greatest value imaginable.
Milivoj Boltuzic, Owner, Device Consulting Pty Ltd

I had been in my own business for over ten years with nine employees. I was resigned to the fact that I needed to be involved in all the day-to-day aspects of the business. This required me to work 60-70 hours per week and although I was earning a reasonable living, there was minimal profit and growth.

At the start of coaching I set a goal of $500,000 in profit within 5 years. After just a few months of coaching with Evan, I was astonished at how the business was progressing without my daily input. After some training and restructuring, my staff became a team and I became a leader.

At the end of the financial year following the start of coaching, the business’s profit had grown about 400% and my personal income had doubled. I had reached my 5-year goal within 18 months of the start of coaching! I was much more relaxed and working far fewer hours. A bout of pneumonia, which saw me off work for about two months, finally proved to me that I was no longer needed in the business! Something that was beyond my wildest dreams before I started coaching.

I look back and cannot believe that I was concerned that I could not afford the monthly coaching fee. The return on my investment in the coaching program was over 2500% within a year. Considering that I will continue to capitalize on this investment for many years to come, I cannot think of anything I could have invested in that would have had a better result or higher return!”
Paul Cowan, Cowan Air

Evan Rubenstein was recommended to me by a close friend after a discussion he and I were having about some business issues. My first impression of Evan is a lasting one. He was straight up and down, no games and he would tell me exactly how it is. He was very experienced in business himself and I felt I could trust him.

It was a good decision to go with Evan and we are still working together and I consider him part of our team. He gives me really good advice and the more I listen, the better I do. He makes it easier to focus on what needs to be done – the priorities rather than sweating the small stuff.

One of the main advantages I find working with Evan as my coach is that the goal setting we do together keeps me on track. It’s like he keeps me honest and I feel pressure to get things done because I know they will make a difference. As a result, we’re making good progress on fixing issues and focusing on maximising the positive aspects of the business.

I think the thing about being in business is that most people have bad habits. I tend to take on too many tasks and therefore can’t manage them all as successfully as I would like to. With goal setting and prioritisation, I can take on less, finish, plan and process the next task. It’s easy to see all this now now that I have learned through Evan and I can see the same issues in others so I do recommend Evan to other people when I see they have a need.

Working with Evan is like doing a business degree using your own company as the model so it’s all totally relevant. I can learn so much more easily because I know my own company and following Evan’s advice I can implement practical and hands on learning. Best of all I can see the results of my efforts.

I find Evan honest and forthright. We do a lot of IP development and I don’t share it with anyone except Evan. There is complete and total trust between us and I know he’s looking out for my interests.
James Rattray, Owner, Flowerdale Farm

“When Evan came to see me the timing was perfect because I needed a coach. I recognised that we needed to move into a growth phase and to be successful, we needed to make some pretty big changes..

I can talk to Evan and I can trust him with my confidences. He is knowledgeable and intelligent and will tackle the tough stuff with me. It can be a lonely world in business! One of the things I appreciate with Evan is that his advice comes from both the theoretical aspect and his own practical experience of running very successful businesses.

With Evan, I have a business partner that you have when you don’t have a business partner. He has my best interests at heart and at the same time helps me achieve my goals. He has the perspective to help me sift through, identify and focus on the relevant priorities for the business and what I need to do to grow it.

I can recommend Evan when I see people who are so busy in their business and they have no time for anything else. I can assure them that they will get systems and gain the organisational skills they need to free them from a manic existence.

As far as a return on investment is concerned, I’ve been with Evan for 2 years and we’ve improved considerably. I would estimate that we will at least double our bottom line within the next 4 years.
David Nolan, Owner, CIC Finance

“At the time I met Evan Rubenstein, I was seeking someone who could help me grow my business. Evan turned out to be exactly whom and what I need in a coach and I have great confidence and respect for him. Firstly, Evan’s credentials are impeccable and he is very astute in his approach to business. His advice comes from having years of experience and success in running large listed companies, his own companies across a number of sectors – coupled with his skills as a coach. I can talk to Evan about anything to do with business and he is a prolific reader who keeps me fully conversant with current thinking, research and best practice.

The benefits I have experienced as a result of having Evan as my coach are invaluable.

It does take commitment on my part too because our weekly meetings create a high level of accountability. Evan inspires me with confidence to take the big steps I need in order to grow – including employing people – and he continues to challenge and encourage me to think laterally and strategically. With Evan it’s like having a personal trainer – I know it’s going to be painful at times, but it’s worth it!

I particularly admire the way Evan’s mind works. He cuts through the clutter and is totally focused on our success as a business. Even now, after about 6 years and still growing h7, he continually proves he has our best interests at heart. Evan’s role with INFO-MED has expanded, he now coaches our two business development managers, as well as running annual goal setting workshops with the entire INFO-MED head office team and they all have a lot of respect for him. Evan can cover all the aspects for business growth that usually you’d need individual specialists for. It’s not just the ideas he has for us, but the implementation strategies he provides. In fact, just one idea he came up with paid for his entire annual fee and we were able to implement it very quickly too.

Evan is a part of our team and under his guidance, the business has continued to grow and expand. He’s like a virtual Chairman of our Board.

If you are considering a business coach and you are lucky enough to get Evan Rubenstein, fasten your seatbelt!”
Arlene Isaacs, Managing Director, INFO-MED Australia Pty Ltd

“Evan Rubenstein truly walks-the-talk and has helped our business produce results that frankly, we didn’t think we were capable of achieving. During the course of our coaching, our team of 10 has grown to 40 with offices in Melbourne, Sydney and London. Our revenue has grown by 310% and profit has increased by 185%. The exciting thing is; it feels like we are just getting started. Evan has helped us lay a foundation that will allow us to double our profit again within the next 2-3 years.”
Tim Fouhy, Reactive Media

“We’ve been working with Evan since 2002 and he has played a huge part in assisting us in our operations and growth. We’ve expanded our team from 3 to 15, multiplied our revenue five fold and have a large growth agenda that Evan has played an important part in putting together. Evan always has an answer to the specific challenges we face in our business and can guide us in the right direction – often realising we have issues even before we do. Evan is a valuable part of our management team.”
Heath
Kilgour & Nathan Isterling,
Footytips.com.au

My evolution from a sole trader who “just fell into” my business to being a company owner with 10 employees has been led by my journey with Evan as my business coach…..Evan showed me how to systemise my recruitment (which alone has saved me thousands of dollars), training, our service, our reporting, my financials, our marketing, our IT – every aspect of my business. What this means is that much of what I used to do can now be delegated, while at the same time, enabling me to have my finger on the pulse of every aspect of the business to determine the success of key performance areas….. after 2 years, my reward is a 374% increase in my net profit, and a 76% increase in my revenue. My team has also doubled in size in the last 12 months.

Having someone to be accountable to keeps me focussed on the important, strategic aspects of my business so that it continues to move forward…. I’m transferring Evan’s approach with my own team as a leader. I will continue to work with Evan, as I continue to set goals for myself to achieve, and know that Harvest is just the starting point for me in my personal growth journey. Thank you Evan.
Ingrid Maynard,
Harvest Management

Working with Evan has enabled our business to grow at an accelerated pace. The process of setting goals and developing a plan to achieve them and then seeing it through, has left me extremely pleased with the rapid progress we have made.No matter how busy I have been,

Evan has held me accountable to my goals and kept me focused, which has ensured that I have invested the required time working on my business required to produce the results. Rather than learning by trial and error, Evan has ensured that I have invested time on learning what I need to learn, when I need to learn it. This knowledge has been of significant value to my development.

It is quite clear when working with Evan, that he has considerable business experience. Having someone such as Evan whose knowledge base you can tap into, and to exchange ideas with, is very valuable and rewarding.
Tino Filippelli,
Liberty Builders

“One day I received a letter from a business coach offering to help me develop my business. I had seen this type of thing before so I did nothing about it. When Evan Rubenstein rang me up a few days later, I could hear that he knew what he was talking about and so I agreed to see him. That meeting started me and my furniture manufacturing business on an incredible journey!

My goal for the business was to grow it by 30% percent per year for the next 5 years. By the 9th month of coaching sales were up 250%; a lot quicker than we had anticipated! Further growth was limited simply by lack of manufacturing capacity.

Our team has grown from 15 to over 25 and we have moved from our 8,200 square foot factory into a new 22,000 square foot facility. All this has all happened while there has been a big downturn in the local furniture industry!

Having a coach has helped me to learn a huge amount about how to run my business more effectively. The coaching sessions are interesting and very motivational. I have learned how to think like a businessman and am now focused on building the business rather than simply building furniture.

Getting Evan as my business coach has been a dramatic turning point for the business. and has been one of the best decisions and investments I ever made for my business and for myself.”
Paul Cutting, Heritage Furniture Pty Ltd
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Paul Cutting

“With Evan Rubenstein as our Coach, we’re getting the advice we were after from someone who is qualified, who we can trust and who’s got the capacity to make it relevant to our industry. We’ve had a minimum growth of 20% over 24 months and we’re still growing. This can absolutely be attributed to Evan’s contribution as our coach.”
“Evan keeps us accountable, doesn’t let us slip and has a high expectation of us. He made sure we stayed focussed on the long and medium term goals. We needed to keep vigilant about working on the business rather than getting side tracked on the operational side of things and Evan is really helpful in ensuring we stay on track.”
“In recommending Evan I’d tell people that they can gain clarity, direction and increase their profits. We’ve seen the success and advancement in our marketing, direction and leadership. Evan bought a whole new look, perspective and understanding to the business. We can see that from the collateral we’ve gained, raised profile, brochures, USP, goals and vision and mastery of financial goals as well. These were all very important for us.”

Dan Baldwin, Insight Systems

“Having worked together with you, we have seen some great changes in specific areas. With a specific strategy in one of our markets we were able to increase sales by 150%. We have a clearer focus on what the business requires from us as owners and managers as well as where we want the business to be and be able to provide us with.

We have also been able to create a marvellous team atmosphere where our staff value and enjoy working together with us. Staff satisfaction is very important to us and we have achieved a high level. We are also better equipped on how to promote our business and advertise more effectively. We have also instituted a great recruitment process, which all participants have enjoyed thoroughly.”
Simon Weinstein, Perfect Blinds Australia
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Simon Weinstein

“When we first spoke, I relayed to you the perceived difficulties in systemising the business. Months later, after following your instructions, we now have a business that I believe if I chose to, I could cut my hours in half.

Further to this, your marketing ideas that I did not agree with have worked exceptionally brilliantly….”
Alan Nankin, Mortgage Masters
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Alan Nankin

“At all times Evan showed great business knowledge, he taught me things in areas that were not apparent, and that are not taught in universities. If you are contemplating the services of Evan in the future I would like to highly recommend him.”
Chad Warden, Barry Plant Doherty Real Estate

“Ampi Plastics is experiencing significant improvements in the way we are marketing the company in general, and in sales in particular. For the first time in 30 years, we are advertising effectively. We have put systems in place that allow us to run the company with far more professionalism. This area has had an enormous impact on our new and existing customers.

Thank you for working with us in helping to develop Ampi Plastics inta a more professional Business. It has been a good experience in developing the business and planning for the future growth of the company.”
Anthony Restaino, Ampi Plastics

“Evan has been a great asset to our business and has been fundamental to our growing success. Providing an external independent perspective, he has guided us to make informed strategic decisions about the way we operate, act and plan. After every meeting we walk away with a bit of valuable knowledge or advice that we have applied into real business scenarios that ultimately have made a huge difference to all aspects of our business.

We have exceeded our own expectations in our growth and profitability in the business and look forward to much more”.

Josh Cohen, Lemonade

“At first I was quite guarded about having a business coach, but I quickly learnt the qualities and knowledge base Evan brought were invaluable!

The knowledge and accountability that I have adopted in my business in the past year has given me a springboard for rapid growth over the next couple of years. The professionalism Evan has instilled in me has transformed my business, we now have a plan and procedure for all tasks in our business.

Evan truly knows what he is talking about. For any issues that may arise in my business he has an answer, which saves me money and more importantly time! He makes you think outside the box and gives you the confidence to pursue all business goals you wish to achieve.”
Gian Signorelli, SigClean

Evan’s excellent experience and guidance have resulted in many positive returns in our business. Our business to business sales are up, we have a real marketing strategy in place, with the collateral and systems to support it, we’re building a h7 team to deliver the work, and best of all our business confidence is up.

We’ve really enjoyed the process of Evan pushing us along and setting the goal post for our business planning –we’ve achieved so much more in terms of establishing a professionally structured business in a year and a half than we could have ever imagined possible. Looking back, I was the business and the business was me, covering too many roles, wearing too many hats! Now we have a real business that operates with or without my energy and efforts”

Natasha Dumais, Magnetic Design

More about Arlene's story
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Interviews

Coaching Client: Paul Cowan

Cowan Air

Paul Cowan

Simon Weinstein

Perfect Blinds

Simon Weinstein

Heritage Furniture

Paul Cutting

Australian Bathroom Concepts

Andrew Goodhue

Mortgage Masters

Alan Nankin

Testimonial for Evan Rubenstein by Warwick Matthews

Warwick Matthews, WARWICK CONSTRUCTIONS

Testimonial for Evan Rubenstein by Laudy Cincotta

Laudy Cincotta, NATURE’S ANGELS