There’s no shortage of people calling themselves business coaches in Australia. That’s actually part of the problem. When you’re trying to grow something real, the last thing you need is a motivational session dressed up as strategy, but unfortunately, that’s what a lot of coaching comes down to. What you actually need is someone who’s been through the mess of running a business, who’ll tell you what you don’t want to hear, and who can help you build a business that doesn’t collapse the moment you step away from it.
This list was put together with that in mind. We spoke with clients, dug into real outcomes, and filtered hard by credibility. Whether you’re a small business owner figuring out your next move or someone who’s built a solid base and genuinely can’t see why things have stalled, the right coach makes a difference that’s hard to explain until you’ve experienced it. Here’s where to start looking.
Best 10 Top Business Coaches in Australia to Scale Your Business
We cannot say this enough: good business coaches provide a truly important service, as they tell you the truth when nobody else will, so your business can grow into something you always knew it could be.
We, after speaking with our own clients and learning more about their pain points, understand the importance of finding the right kind of support in order to achieve your business goals, which is why we’ve put together this comprehensive list of the best business coaches in Australia.
We’ve hand-picked the coaches on this list based on reviews and expertise, to ensure you’ll get to improve your leadership skills, drive business growth, or overcome any other specific challenges.
Be sure to take a look at the industries the following business coaches have experience in, their reviews, and their services to ensure you’re filtering correctly to find the best match.
1. ActionCOACH Brisbane
ActionCOACH Brisbane is one of the most credentialed business coaching firms in Australia, operating within the world’s largest business coaching franchise network and backed by a track record that stretches back to 1997. The coaching team holds multiple global awards, including Global Hall of Fame, Global Master Coach, Global Founding Coach, and the Global Highest Client Retention award — recognition earned through consistent client outcomes across decades of practice, not just years. The firm’s methodology is built on the Action Business Operating System (ABoS), a framework refined over thirty years and designed to take business owners all the way from early-stage operations through to scalable enterprises with genuine capital value.
Programs range from one-on-one coaching to 12-week training programs across business fundamentals, leadership, management, and sales. Each engagement begins with a no-cost, no-obligation 60-minute Discovery Session, which shapes everything that follows. The coaching team works collaboratively, meaning clients have access to the collective depth of the firm rather than a single perspective, and the focus throughout is on shifting owners from reactive day-to-day management into the kind of strategic leadership that allows a business to run and grow without the owner at the centre of every decision.
Suited to:
ActionCOACH Brisbane suits small business owners who have built something real through hard work and technical ability, and now need the business knowledge and leadership development to take it further. It is particularly relevant for owners who feel stuck between being a skilled operator and becoming an actual business leader — a gap that costs more people more time than most are willing to admit. The firm works across industries and business stages, from those establishing foundations to those ready to replicate, franchise, or exit.
Results you can expect:
Clients describe meaningful shifts in both revenue and personal freedom, often within the first 90 days. The financial outcomes (higher profits, better margins, improved cashflow) tend to follow the strategic ones: clearer business design, more capable teams, and systems that remove the owner from the operational bottleneck. Longer-term clients consistently reference the compounding effect of the work; what starts as a tactical improvement in one area tends to change how the whole business operates over time.
2. TradesFormation
TradesFormation was built by operators who spent more than a decade building and exiting trade businesses before turning to coaching. Their work covers plumbing, electrical, HVAC, and roofing, with a hands-on method across sales, systems, marketing, and leadership. The 2x revenue target is backed by a $500-per-month guarantee if it isn’t hit within 90 days. Results across the client base are well-documented: a plumbing business scaling from $50K to $1.5M per quarter, a regional electrical company going from $16M to $23M in annual revenue in under two years.
Suited to:
TradesFormation suits trade business owners who are working hard but not seeing it translate into profit or freedom. Whether you are a solo operator who needs structure or a team leader whose people are underperforming, the program covers the full picture, and crucially, someone implements it alongside you rather than handing you a plan to figure out alone.
Results you can expect:
Revenue growth and margin improvement are the consistent outcomes, often within the first 90 days. Beyond the numbers, clients describe a shift from reactive to deliberate: clearer decisions, better visibility over what is actually driving the business, and teams that perform without the owner carrying everything.
Website: https://www.tradesformation.com.au/
3. The Entourage
Founded in 2010 by Jack Delosa, The Entourage has worked with over 3,500 businesses across 150-plus industries and credits its members with generating more than $6 billion in revenue. The flagship offering is one-on-one coaching through the Elevate program, supported by done-for-you digital services and access to a community of over one million entrepreneurs. The coaching spans retail, e-commerce, construction, hospitality, real estate, and professional services, and the methodology travels well. The same frameworks that helped a boutique fitness studio increase profit by 72% in twelve months also took a tech agency from a million dollars a quarter to a million dollars a week.
Suited to:
The Entourage suits founders who have built real traction and want structured support to scale it. It works best for owners who have already generated revenue and are ready to grow it deliberately, particularly those who suspect the ceiling they have hit has more to do with how they are running the business than the business itself.
Results you can expect:
Clients report substantial revenue growth alongside the recovery of personal time — two things that rarely improve together without deliberate work. The shift that tends to stick longest is a clearer understanding of what the business actually needs from the owner, which changes how decisions get made long after the engagement ends.
Website: https://www.the-entourage.com/
4. Evan Goodman
Evan Goodman spent more than thirty years starting, building, and exiting his own businesses before moving into coaching. He holds a Master’s in Business Coaching from the University of Wollongong, but the real credential is the operational history behind it. His approach uses no pre-built programs or set questionnaires; instead, he draws on systems thinking, self-awareness, and direct business experience to work through whatever is specific to your situation. He works exclusively with SME owners, family businesses, and senior executives, primarily in Sydney, and is a member of the Association for Coaching. As a small business coach, he offers the kind of perspective that only comes from having made the same kinds of decisions himself, with real consequences attached.
Suited to:
Evan is well-suited to small business owners and family business operators who need an honest outside perspective rather than a packaged program. His experience with business transitions (including handovers to the next generation and exit planning) makes him particularly relevant if you are navigating something beyond day-to-day growth.
Results you can expect:
Clients come in focused on a specific problem and tend to leave with a clearer picture of what has actually been driving it. The practical outcomes (better decisions, stronger delegation, a business that requires less of your attention to function) follow from that shift in understanding rather than preceding it.
Website: https://www.evangoodman.com/
5. The No Bullshit Coach
Rob is a Melbourne-based small business coach with 25-plus years in IT and digital marketing, and a background running three businesses of his own. The name is accurate. He does not dress things up, does not defer to process when directness will serve better, and is available to clients around the clock because he knows what it is like to be a business owner with a problem at 11 pm. His focus sits at the intersection of business fundamentals and digital operations: helping owners get their website, SEO, systems, and marketing working together without wasting money on providers who overcomplicate things deliberately.
Suited to:
He suits small and medium business owners who are overwhelmed, suspicious of expensive digital agencies, and want coaching from someone who has genuinely run businesses rather than studied them. If you need someone who will tell you something is not working before you spend more money on it, he is worth the conversation.
Results you can expect:
Clients describe getting clear, actionable direction quickly, including an honest audit of what is costing them money and what is actually worth fixing. The accessibility matters too: having a coach available when issues arise in real time, rather than waiting for a scheduled session, changes how problems get handled.
Website: https://thenobullshit.coach/
6. The Business Chick
Lisa runs The Business Chick out of Melbourne and works with small business owners across Melbourne, Geelong, and beyond. Her coaching is one-on-one and deliberately kept accessible: no overwhelming homework, no one-size-fits-all programs, and a money-back guarantee if you don’t get value from your first session. The work covers systems, automation, team communication, infrastructure, and time management, with the goal of building a business that can operate more independently of the owner. As a small business coach, Lisa focuses on making progress simple and strategic rather than adding complexity to an already stretched operation.
Suited to:
The Business Chick suits small business owners at any stage: those just starting out and trying to build the right foundations, those who are established but stuck, and those who are growing quickly and struggling to keep up. The affordable pricing makes coaching accessible to owners who have been priced out of more expensive programs.
Results you can expect:
Clients report gaining clarity on what to prioritise and how to act on it, often in the first session. The practical changes (better systems, more time, stronger team communication) tend to compound over time, particularly for owners who have previously been too stretched to work on the business rather than just in it.
Website: https://www.thebusinesschick.com.au/
7. CoachNick
Nick Ikonomou has been working as a small business coach since 1999, making him one of the longer-serving practitioners on this list. A qualified accountant with a Bachelor of Business in Accounting and CPA credentials, he brings genuine financial depth to the work (a background that not every coach can claim). He has coached more than 400 businesses in one-on-one assignments across industries that include retail, hospitality, trades, professional services, agriculture, health, and franchising. He works with around 35 businesses at any given time, with no lock-in contracts and flexible payment options, which says something about how confident he is that the work will speak for itself.
Suited to:
CoachNick suits small to medium business owners who want substantive, financially grounded coaching rather than motivational support. His breadth of industry experience means the work is relevant across sectors, and his accounting background makes him particularly valuable for owners who need help getting on top of the numbers as well as the strategy.
Results you can expect:
Clients describe getting tools and perspective that shift how they operate: better financial management, clearer systems, stronger recruitment and team accountability. The coaching also comes with access to a client network and high-profile events, which has returned the cost of the program for some clients before the strategic work even compounds.
Website: https://coachnick.com.au/
8. Jane Anderson
Jane Anderson is a Brisbane-based personal brand strategist and business coach with over twenty years of experience working with consultants, thought leaders, and B2B professionals across five countries. She has authored fourteen books on communication, branding, and influence, won more than ninety marketing and coaching awards, and has been featured on Sky Business, the Today Show, the BBC, the Sydney Morning Herald, and TEDx. Her coaching is built around a framework that connects personal brand, marketing, sales, and systems — the Grow With Influence program being the primary vehicle for business owners ready to build a scalable, visible practice.
Suited to:
Jane works best with B2B consultants, coaches, thought leaders, and professional services practitioners who are doing strong work but not being seen for it. If you are undercharging, struggling to convert, or simply unclear on how to position yourself in a crowded market, the frameworks she brings are specific and well-tested across a wide range of professional contexts.
Results you can expect:
Clients report income increases, clearer positioning, and systems that make visibility less effortful to sustain. Several describe a meaningful shift in how they think about their own credibility, from something they feel internally to something they are able to communicate in a way that actually attracts work.
Website: https://jane-anderson.com.au/
9. Donna Stone
Donna Stone is a Brisbane-based business coach with thirty-plus years of real-world business experience, including building her own company from a garage to a national five-location operation before selling it. She has won dozens of business awards, most recently Small Business Coach of the Year Australia, and has published six business books. Her coaching is entirely one-on-one, with no group programs, no lock-in contracts, and no other coaches delivering on her behalf. She works primarily with service-based businesses and covers the full range from startups to established operators navigating growth, crisis, or transition.
Suited to:
Donna suits small business owners who want a coach with direct operational experience and a genuinely personalised approach. She is particularly strong for service-based businesses, bookkeepers, tradespeople, and those new to business who need someone to challenge them constructively from day one rather than deliver packaged advice.
Results you can expect:
Clients consistently describe practical, focused guidance that moves faster than they expected. More than a few note that she achieved in weeks what other coaches had not managed in months. The outcomes range from clearer marketing to better systems, improved cashflow, and the kind of accountability that actually changes behaviour rather than just measuring it.
Website: https://www.donna-stone.com.au/
10. Keystone Executive Coaching
Keystone Executive Coaching operates on a model that is still genuinely uncommon in Australian coaching: they do not charge their full fee until clients hit the financial targets agreed at the start of the engagement. With over $300M in profit and $800M in revenue generated across 479-plus clients, and a stated success rate of 96%, the track record gives that guarantee some real weight. Services include the Sales Accelerator (a bespoke program designed to increase both the quality and quantity of sales), the Pay on Result Business Coaching program for twelve-month growth engagements, and the Keystone Boardroom, a high-end group mastermind reporting an average ROI of over $3M per participant.
Suited to:
Keystone suits business owners who are ready to scale and want a coaching partner with real financial skin in the game. The pay-on-result structure makes it particularly attractive to owners who have been burned by upfront coaching fees that did not deliver, or who simply want accountability built into the commercial arrangement from the start.
Results you can expect:
The financial outcomes are the headline: revenue growth, stronger sales systems, and a business that is less dependent on the owner’s daily involvement. The structure of the engagement means those outcomes are tied directly to what was agreed at the outset, which tends to focus the work considerably more than open-ended coaching relationships do.
Website: https://keystoneexecutivecoaching.com/
Benefits of Working with a Top Business Coach in Australia
Hiring a top business coach isn’t a straightforward financial decision, and framing it purely as ROI misses part of what makes the right coaching relationship valuable. Yes, revenue tends to improve. But the shifts that often matter more are less visible: how you make decisions, how clearly you can read your own business, how your team behaves when you’re not in the room.
Business coaches across Australia work with owners at every stage, from solo operators to medium business owners running large teams, and the pattern across successful engagements is fairly consistent: people come in wanting to solve a specific problem and come out with a fundamentally different way of running their business. Here’s what that looks like in practice.
Amplifying Leadership Acumen
Most business owners operate without honest feedback. The people around them have things to lose by being direct, so they’re not, and the result is a kind of strategic blindness that’s hard to even notice from the inside. A good coach fills that gap — and not gently. Business coaches understand that real leadership development takes time and regular challenge, not a single workshop. The improvement that comes from sustained coaching tends to show up as better decisions, teams that perform without constant oversight, and a business that runs with noticeably less friction. None of that is soft. All of it connects directly to business performance and business growth in ways that are measurable if you’re paying attention.
Boosting Profitability
Knowing your numbers could be better is different from knowing what to change. That gap is where a lot of business owners sit for longer than they should, and it’s exactly where a good coach adds real value. Business coaches mitigate these challenges by bringing outside perspective to pricing, margins, waste, and revenue structure, then helping you build a plan that connects to your actual financial position rather than general principles about what healthy businesses look like. The result, when the work is done well, is growth you can explain and reproduce rather than growth that just happens and then levels off.
Catalysing Personal Development and Growth
Business growth and personal development rarely happen independently of each other, and most business owners who have worked with a seasoned business coach for any sustained period would say that the personal development side of it was more significant than they expected going in. The skills involved (clearer thinking, resilience, holding yourself accountable, communicating under pressure) show up in every part of life, not just the business. Success in your business tends to follow naturally when the person leading it is actively developing rather than standing still.
Key Criteria for Selecting the Best Business Coach in Australia
Before committing time or money to coaching, it’s worth knowing what actually separates a good coach from a genuinely great one. These eight criteria are what we looked at.
- Experience and Expertise – There’s a real difference between someone who has run businesses and someone who has only coached people who run them. Both matter, but the combination is what you’re looking for. Extensive experience in business, across industries at least adjacent to yours, means your coach isn’t just applying frameworks they read about; they know what the problems feel like from the inside. When cash flow is tight, or your best employee just quit, that context makes their advice worth a lot more than it otherwise would be.
- Proven Track Record – Ask for specifics before you agree to anything. Not general claims about transformation, but actual numbers: how much revenue grew, which problems were solved, what changed in the business after twelve months of working together. A solid record as a business owner themselves also adds weight, because it means they’ve made the same kinds of decisions you’re facing right now, with real consequences attached to them. Documented outcomes across different industries and business stages are what you’re looking for here.
- Positive Client Feedback – A coach’s own website will show their best reviews. That’s expected. What you want to find is what people say when they’re not on that website: on Google, LinkedIn, or in industry forums where nobody’s filtering the conversation. Look for patterns. Do clients say the coach follows through? Do they describe getting honest feedback, or do they describe encouragement without substance? Consistent positive client feedback across multiple years and multiple sectors is genuinely meaningful. A single good review from a single client tells you almost nothing.
- Personalised Approach – Not every business owner is dealing with the same problem, and generic frameworks applied at scale have a way of missing the specific issue entirely. A highly personalised approach to business coaching means the coach takes real time to understand your team, your finances, and the particular constraints of your situation before recommending anything. It’s worth asking directly how they structure their work — whether content is tailored per client or whether everyone goes through the same program. The answer tells you a lot about how much your individual context will actually shape what you work on together.
- Commitment to Continuous Learning – The coaches worth hiring are still learning. Business conditions shift, new tools emerge, and the advice that worked in a different economic environment doesn’t always apply cleanly to the one you’re operating in now. Look for coaches who invest in their own business education actively, not just someone with credentials from ten years ago who hasn’t done much since. Business coaching and mentoring are evolving disciplines, and the coaches who stay close to what’s actually happening in the market tend to give better advice than those who don’t.
- Established Business Focus – Some coaches cover business, life coaching, and career development all at once. If your specific goal is business growth, you’re generally better served by someone whose practice is firmly rooted in business development, not someone who pivots between different kinds of work depending on who’s calling. Focused practice means the tools and frameworks they bring to your problems have been developed through sustained work on the specific challenges business owners face, rather than being borrowed from adjacent fields and loosely adapted. The difference shows up in the quality of the questions they ask.
- Strategic and Financial Depth – Real business success requires more than mindset work. A coach who can’t engage seriously with your numbers (margins, pricing, cost structures, what the business actually needs to hit a financial target) is going to stay at the surface of what you need. The best coaches help you improve your business strategies in ways that are grounded in your actual financial position, not just strategic theory. If your coach is uncomfortable talking about money in concrete terms, that’s worth paying attention to before you commit.
- Transparent Fees and Scope – Know what you’re paying for. What’s included, what isn’t, how sessions are structured, and what happens when you need support between scheduled meetings. Vague pricing is often the first indicator of a vague process, and realising mid-engagement that things work differently than you expected is a frustrating position to be in. Get clarity on fees and scope before the relationship starts. It protects both sides and sets a more productive tone for the work ahead.
Success Starts with Inspiration – Follow the Leaders of Business
The coaches on this list represent some of the most credible support available to business owners who are serious about building something. What they share is a commitment to honest, practical coaching — the kind focused on what will actually change your outcomes, not what makes for a good first conversation. Business coaches understand the unique challenges that these business owners face at each stage of growth, and the proven ones bring real depth to those challenges rather than surface-level frameworks.
Whether you’re looking for a business coach in your own city or open to working remotely, finding the right business coach for your specific situation is what matters most. Business advisors understand the challenges involved in building something that lasts, and every coach on this list has shown that understanding through consistent, quality work over time. They help business owners achieve their goals, and that’s not a claim made lightly, given what we looked at to compile this.
If you want to help other small business owners in your network, share this list. And don’t wait for a crisis to find support. Small business owners succeed most when they bring in help while there’s still room to build on what’s working.
FAQs
How much does a top business coach cost in Australia?
The hourly rate for one-on-one coaching in Australia typically sits between $150 and $300, with $200 per hour being roughly the national average. In practice, though, most coaches don’t charge by the hour. Monthly retainers are far more common, and they usually range from $1,000 to $4,000 per month, depending on the coach’s experience, your business size, and how much access and support the engagement includes.
Group coaching programs cost around $1,000 per month (roughly $12,000 per year), 1:1 business coaching is typically $1,500 to $4,000 per month, and Executive and premium coaching costs $5,000 to $10,000+ per month. Location still plays some role. Business coaches in Sydney tend to charge at the higher end, while Perth-based coaches are usually more affordable. Remote coaching has narrowed that gap considerably, though, and you’re no longer limited to coaches in your state.
Is it worth paying for a top business coach in Australia?
Generally, yes. When the right coach is matched to the right stage and the right goal. The return on investment from a well-matched coaching relationship tends to be significant, and that’s true whether you’re a small business owner formalising your growth plans for the first time or someone working with an executive coach on a more complex leadership challenge. The evidence across Australia for entrepreneurs who commit properly to the right coach is consistent: it works. Fit matters more than reputation, though. The best coaches in the world won’t deliver results if the approach doesn’t match how you actually work.
How long does it take to see results from the best business coach in Australia?
Clarity tends to come early, often in the first few weeks, sometimes just from the experience of having someone outside your business asking different questions and helping you see priorities more clearly. For measurable results, the realistic window is three to six months of consistent coaching. That’s when the strategies and habits start compounding into something you can actually measure.
How quickly things move also depends on a few specific factors: your commitment to implementation, where your business is starting from, and the scope of the engagement. Most engagements run six to twelve months. A lot of business owners continue beyond that because the sounding-board function becomes genuinely valuable on an ongoing basis, not just during the initial change period.
How did you come up with this list?
This list came from evaluating business coaches on expertise, client outcomes, and real-world reputation across Australia. We looked at verified reviews, industry recognition, and a track record of working with businesses at various stages of development. Every coach included was selected because they deliver consistent results and bring a clearly defined coaching approach to the businesses they work with, not because of their profile alone.
Is it better to choose a top business coach in my state, or work virtually?
Virtual works well when the coach is the right fit and has a structured process. In-person can help if you value onsite sessions with your team, but outcomes typically come down to capability, chemistry, and execution discipline more than geography. Remote coaching is now standard practice for business coaches across Australia, and the question of location matters a lot less than it used to. Find the right business coach for your situation first. The format is easy enough to work out from there.
