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Coach Vs Mentor: Live COACHING with a SME Business Owner | Ep 89

Season #1 Episode #89

If you’re a business owner or founder trying to break out of the freelancer trap and scale with confidence, this episode is essential listening. MentorBusiness.com features in this real coaching session as Lewis Haydon works with Lalit Kumar Nag, a 23-year-old creative founder turning a solo editing hustle into a scalable marketing brand.

Lewis Haydon, a trusted business coach and mentor to growth-focused founders, is joined by Lalit to unpack what actually moves a service business forward. This is not theory, this is boardroom-level coaching you can apply today.

They get crystal clear on the root constraint (time), identify the keystone metric (income), and map the fastest path to win hire reliable talent to free founder hours for sales, relationships, and systems, so client retention, new client acquisition, and team expansion all accelerate.

You’ll hear exactly how to convert vague goals into SMART targets, reposition from “editor” to “marketing outcomes,” and build the communication cadence high-ticket clients actually pay for.


Takeaways:

  • The root goal that unlocks everything: income, because income funds talent, systems, and scale.

  • Turn broad aims into SMART goals (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-bound) so progress is undeniable.

  • Hiring isn’t optional: reliable talent gives the founder back time for selling, networking, and building process.

  • Client retention = daily communication, clear expectations, and consistent delivery, especially at higher price points.

  • Replace “more work” with “more value”: move from editing tasks to marketing outcomes clients can measure.

  • Networking beats platforms: get in the right rooms to find both A-players and high-value clients.

  • Passive income myths: in service businesses, “passive” means leveraged—via team, systems, and packages.

  • One step forward: build a clear, detailed roadmap, then follow it relentlessly.



    Chapters:

00:01 – Why coaching vs mentoring? What this episode covers

00:32 – Lalit’s story: from student to freelancer to founder

04:27 – Finding the real drivers: money, mastery, and client growth

08:34 – 5-year vision and the 30-age milestone

11:20 – Turning goals into SMART goals (and why it matters)

13:50 – The “one big goal” that makes other goals happen

15:47 – Mid-episode note: supporting the show & why it matters

16:34 – High-ticket clients, margins, and the systems you need

20:01 – Self-score reality check (7/10) and the constraint

20:21 – The bottleneck: hiring reliable, professional talent

24:26 – Freeing founder time to pursue higher-value work

25:52 – The networking gap: finding clients and A-players

29:55 – If time was solved: what to do first

32:08 – Final question: your next step today

34:49 – The answer: build the roadmap that saves time and scales results


Keywords:

coaching vs mentoring, SME growth, creative agency scaling, video editing business, marketing outcomes, SMART goals for founders, hire reliable talent, building a team in India, client retention strategies, high-ticket clients, founder time management, communication cadence, networking for service businesses, passive income myths, roadmap to scale, freelancer to CEO, systems and processes, boardroom coaching, Lewis Haydon podcast


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