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Daniel Sagar on Experience Driven Coaching

By Daniel Sagar

Certified Business Coach at 91D Ltd.

For Daniel Sagar, an international career and his personal experiences from running his own businesses, have formed the fundamentals to his new path as a business coach.

Having spent his 20s travelling the world working on super yachts, followed by a five-year stint in New Zealand running a luxury lodge, Daniel has since set up several of his own businesses in the UK including a bespoke furniture business and an electric car sales company.

Through his own automotive business, Daniel was serendipitously asked to do some consulting work to support another company earlier this year, prompting his passion for coaching and helping other business owners with their goals.

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What's your motivator?

When I was initially asked to do some consulting at the beginning of this year, seeing that business improve and seeing the business owner’s reaction was just so rewarding for me.

Making that difference gave me an amazing feeling and I knew that I wanted to help more business owners. A lot of people are in business by themselves, like I was for a while, and you don't always have that support or someone to talk to. If I can be that person to help people grow their business and get out of it what they want in their personal life, it's massively rewarding and I absolutely love doing it.

What three words describe your coaching style?

Dynamic. Efficient. And personable.

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What’s a common misconception about Business Coaching?

Business coaches can sometimes have a bit of a bad reputation. If a business coach hasn’t done a good job, or given the best service, you can potentially get tarred with the same brush.

It’s important to work with clients who you can have a good personal relationship with. You need that trust because they’re revealing so much about themselves and their business.

If people have heard about, or know of a coach, who hasn’t done that very well, it can take even longer to build that trust. It’s a bit of a slow burner, people have to get to know me and realise they can trust me and talk to me.

What’s one of your proud moments?

Something I’m really proud of came from the consulting I was doing for the first business I supported. We set up a CRM for them because they were managing all their leads and customers on Excel. We got the new CRM and some email marketing set up, and they’ve had sales from customers who enquired over a year ago. We reactivated those customer leads, and that would have never happened if we hadn’t done that, they would just be lost in a spreadsheet.

"Making that difference gave me an amazing feeling and I knew that I wanted to help more business owners."

Daniel Sagar, Certified Business Coach at 91D Ltd.

What’s a helpful piece of advice?

Be conscious of the time you spend working in your business and getting caught up in the day-to-day, because the more you do that, the slower your progress will be to move your business forward. It’s important to find the time to work on your business, which is what I think the Old Bond Store is particularly good at facilitating.

Who’s someone you admire?

No one person in particular, but I read a lot of biographies and autobiographies of influential people like Richard Branson and Barack Obama.

"Be conscious of the time you spend working in your business and getting caught up in the day-to-day, because the more you do that, the slower your progress will be to move your business forward."

Daniel Sagar, Certified Business Coach at 91D Ltd.

What’s on your bucket list?

My focus with the business now is to grow the coaching side of the company. On a personal level, I’d like to go to Antarctica: it’s the only continent I haven’t been to.

What’s your go-to way to switch off?

Play tennis or go for walks around where I live in Lymington along the coast or in the New Forest.

What’s your favourite place in the world?

Probably Borneo. When I was working on the boat, we went to these amazing uninhabited islands that were just unbelievable. It was indescribable, there’s no place like it.

Favourite read?

They Ask, You Answer by Marcus Sheridan.

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