Angela Cote Inc

We Evolved Our Offering And Doubled Our Monthly Revenue

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Angela Cote

Founder, Angela Cote Inc

$100K

revenue/mo

Founders

Employees

Angela Cote Inc

fieldcoachexperts.com

from Victoria, BC, Canada

started November 2019

$100,000

revenue/mo

Founders

Employees

Discover what tools recommends to grow your business!

Discover what books Angela recommends to grow your business!

High Performance Habits: How Extraordinary People Become ... Brendon Burchard

Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business Gino Wickman

📗

Living with a SEAL: 31 Days Training with the Toughest Ma... Jesse Itzler

Want more updates on Angela Cote Inc? Check out these stories:

1. How I Created a Proven Franchise Growth System (2021) ➜

This is a follow up story for Angela Cote Inc. If you're interested in reading how they got started, published over 3 years ago, check it out here.

Hello again! Remind us who you are and what business you started.

Hi there, I’m Angela Cote, founder, and CEO of Angela Cote Inc – also known as AC Inc! My team and I help franchisors scale strategically and support their owners for system success. We shared some of our stories in our first Starter Story feature and we’re excited to share even more about growing an impactful franchise growth company here today.

Our mission is to help franchisors franchise strategically, and ethically, and make the whole process fun! We do this with several services: 1:1 growth advising, field coach training, peer-to-peer roundtables, and keynote speaking.

Our growth over the past year has been astronomical - we launched our AC Membership that gives franchisors access to all of our services through a flexible monthly subscription, and hosted a retreat for franchisors in Mexico that brought 20+ brands together for a week of sun, networking, and problem-solving to grow their business!

Tell us about what you’ve been up to. Has the business been growing?

AC Inc has been in “level up mode” for the past year (one of our favorite modes!), which means we’ve been growing and evolving rapidly. This rapid growth has led to some huge wins, plenty of challenges, and many lessons learned.

We’ve doubled our monthly revenue ($50k to $100k), grown our team to 9 members, launched a membership program, hosted an industry retreat in Mexico, and worked hard to create an even stronger foundation for our systems and processes.

I’m so proud that we are on track to hit our big, hairy, audacious 10-year goals! It’s crazy to think that all of this started with me, my laptop, a big dream, and two decades of franchise experience.

Something we talk about often with our clients and community (it’s a core value of ours) is that action equals growth - when you launch something and get the valuable feedback you’ll grow faster than waiting until something is perfect to share it with the world.

This is exactly what we’ve done with our core services over the past year - we launched our core growth advising services in 2019 and the past 12 months we’ve been making some major adjustments to our services based on the feedback over the past few years.

Evolving your offerings is not only normal and okay – it’s GOOD! It means you’re listening to your clients and community to create the very best solutions you possibly can. Here are a few ways we’ve evolved and shifted as we listened to our clients and community in the past year.

We’ve launched a membership that offers more flexibility for the support and coaching our clients get access to each month.
We’re focused heavily on field coach training and coaching, an area of franchise system success that many franchisors need expertise on as they grow to best support their owners.
We’ve created an annual retreat (in a tropical destination!) that creates a space for peer education, community-building, and problem-solving for franchisors.

From a marketing and sales perspective, a few things we’ve done in the last 12 months are rebranding and refocusing on our company podcast, the Franchise Growth Pod, and putting more energy into building out our processes, SOPs, sales flows, and tool integration.

Sometimes growth looks like a fun retreat in sunny Mexico, sometimes it looks like getting tech support to utilize your CRM better – that’s business haha!

What have been your biggest challenges in the last year?

One of the biggest challenges this year is a bit personal. As a founder, it’s amazing to build a team of people around you who are aligned with the company's mission. Each member of the team brings their unique perspective, expertise, and passion to the company. It’s truly such an incredible feeling to look around you (even on zoom hehe) and see such awesome humans working together to make a big impact.

But - something that I don’t hear a lot of founders talks about that I struggled with this year is knowing where MY role was as I brought team members on board. As I built this awesome team I started to wonder… “where do I bring value now?” and “I feel a little lost”.

For a while, I felt bad that I felt this way. My team is my proudest accomplishment, I should feel happy that they’re doing such an amazing job! But as I opened up to some mentors and even a few of my team members, I realized that growing pains are normal, and feeling a little lost as you transition into your role is just a part of growing a business.

If you have felt this way PLEASE know you’re not alone. Something I’ve been doing to dive inward and shift my mindset is getting clear with my fellow leadership team on what each of us as leaders brings to the business and growth. And of course, focusing on my mindset, journaling, gratitude, and personal development.

What have been your biggest lessons learned in the last year?

Undoubtedly, one of the biggest lessons learned this year was hosting our first international industry event! It was a learning experience in more ways than one. We learned a lot about event planning, event management, working together as a team, trusting the process, and more!

We planned and hosted the AC Retreat - a retreat at an all-inclusive resort in Mexico for 20+ franchise brands to network, learn from each other, and problem-solve the 3 biggest challenges in their business.

The process of planning this out was a lot more work than expected (as are most events haha) and we experienced some major self-doubt as a team at various points throughout the process.

We had to make major deposits earlier than expected (before the attendance list was filled), which was a big leap of faith for our first event. Many attendees who we thought would join us couldn’t make the dates for various reasons, meaning we had to do a lot more marketing and outreach than we initially planned.

But throughout the moments of uncertainty and doubt we continued to focus on our purpose and mission: Create a valuable opportunity for franchisors to learn from each other and leave with action steps towards their goals (oh, and spend time at the pool bar of course!)

Don’t be afraid to say “I don’t know” in a sales call, don’t be afraid to seek out help and external support… it’s a normal part of being human, and therefore a normal part of growing a business!

Keeping our mission in mind and believing in the process was a big part of our success. We ended up having an amazing group of franchisors and it was one of the best weeks of the entire year! It was incredibly validating and we are getting ready to host our next one in January 2023.

What’s in the plans for the upcoming year, and the next 5 years?

I’m so proud that we are on track to hit our big, hairy, audacious 10-year goals! It’s crazy to think that all of this started with me, my laptop, a big dream, and two decades of franchise experience.

Our plan for the short-term is to continue to scale the systems we’ve created to support franchisors across their stages of growth. This includes launching courses/education opportunities, more in-person events, lead generation opportunities for our clients, and growing our community!

Our plan for the long term? To make a genuine, long-lasting impact on the franchise industry. Ensuring franchisors have the information and community they need to scale strategically and ethically while having fun! And most importantly, to make a real difference for families in local communities.

What’s the best thing you read in the last year?

I’m not as much of a reader but I watch a LOT of YouTube videos (I put them on while I get ready in the morning!) and there are a few videos/creators/channels that come to mind.

Seth Godin: Marketing Strategies That Work on Marie Forleo TV

Seth Godin’s approach to marketing is very aligned with our philosophy here at AC Inc and the strategies we help our clients with. Specifically, his focus on empathy, authenticity, and the smallest viable market. Highly recommend.

The High Five Habit by Mel Robbins

I am very bought into the idea that we can change our perception and improve our outlook and as cheesy as it might sound, high-fiving yourself in the mirror before you start your day is a great reminder that “you’ve got this!”. She gives other very practical tips for how to shift your mindset and achieve your dreams

Living With a Seal by Jesse Itzler

I had the opportunity to see Jesse speak at a conference last fall and felt very aligned with his risk-taking, figure-it-out attitude. I bought his book for my husband for Christmas and when he was finished I snagged it to read and review so I could refresh on how Jesse lives his life and how inspiring it is for me to push myself beyond my limits (not that I will ever be THAT hardcore haha!).

I have lots more if you’re interested! Message me on LinkedIn!

Advice for other entrepreneurs who might be struggling to grow their business?

Something I see WAY too many entrepreneurs run into is thinking that they need to know everything to grow and succeed. News flash… you do NOT need to know everything! You can be very transparent about not knowing everything and you can STILL hit your goals.

We all want to do business with real humans - and no real, genuine human being has all the answers all the time. We make mistakes, we learn and grow every day, and that is what bonds us with other humans.

Instead of thinking you need to have all the answers, focus on being the kind of person who will always go FIND the answers. Don’t be afraid to say “I don’t know” in a sales call, don’t be afraid to seek out help and external support… it’s a normal part of being human, and therefore a normal part of growing a business!

The other thing I see entrepreneurs run into often is not seeing their blind spots. We all need a fresh perspective from someone outside of our brains on a consistent basis! The more we get that outside perspective to help us identify our blind spots, the faster we grow.

It sounds like a simple piece of advice, but we are often our own biggest roadblock (think limiting beliefs and mindset struggles) and the best way to jump this hurdle is to get expert, external help examining your business growth, goals, and strategy!

Are you looking to hire for certain positions right now?

We’re seeking support in our admin, tech systems support, and content creation in a part-time capacity as of July 2022! But more than that, we have an “always hiring” mentality at AC Inc because we know the right people can come into your life at any time. If you align with our core values and mission and would like to chat about joining the AC team, send us an email.