I’m here to help business owners develop and implement the right strategies to fulfill their organisation’s potential, creating the businesses they want.

Together, we tailor strategies to your stage of business ownership - both the stage you're in now, and the stage you aspire to. I offer a specialised range of start-up, growth or exit strategy services to suit the demands of the small to medium market.

I draw great fulfilment from this because I care about the business owner’s passion, creation of employment, efficiency, and progress. 

My work has traversed the areas of marketing & advertising, project management, business development, and entrepreneurship. I’ve always been at the coal face of the client’s change. 

In 2013 I started my first business, which I was able to successfully grow and later sell. Entrepreneurship had taken hold, and inspired by business coaches I’d worked with myself, I shifted my focus to helping others establish & grow their start ups. For the next two years, I embarked on formal qualifications, and the building of a formidable coaching toolbox. My coach training is credited by the International Coaching Federation.

Since 2022 I’ve combined my life work, experience as a founder, and powerful learnings, into a comprehensive service offering to help others avoid mistakes I made, and fast track their success. I've coached enterprises turning over from R5M to R250M per annum.

I work well with SME Founders who are:
-Committed to growth
-Willing to change
-Wired to put in the hard work
-In love with their businesses
-Generally overwhelmed by pressure, options, lack of clarity, not having tools and direction.

The three markets I serve best are:
A. Late start up phase. Established, but seeking growth, executive freedom
B. Early start up phase. Self employed individuals struggling to get past start up stage
C. Succession phase. Owner/s wish to extract, while keeping the business going. Selling, management buyout.

The process entails:
->Developing a customised strategy
->Creating a roadmap around the strategy
->Introduction of systems to support effective execution

My style is supportive & encouraging, and my strength lies in being able to look at the whole picture, ensure my clients have clarity, and are equipped to achieve the outcomes important to them. The approach is individual, structured, and effective.

If you would like to explore the possibility of working with me, please reach out to via message. We’ll set up a no-obligation discovery discussion to identify your needs, see how I can help you, and if we’re a good fit.

“Your way out doesn’t have to be closing the business.”

For a long time, I thought it did.
When I felt trapped in my first company, the only exit I could imagine was switching off the lights and walking away. Selling it felt like something “other people” did.

Then a coach introduced a simple idea: you can design your business to be valuable to someone else. That shift changed everything—and eventually led to a successful sale.

If you’ve secretly wondered, “How do I ever get out of this?”, here’s a clearer way to think about building something sellable 💡

1️⃣ Make the business separate from you
Right now, how much lives in your head—decisions, relationships, ways of working? A buyer doesn’t want your memory; they want a system. Start documenting the basics: who you serve, how you deliver, how money flows.

2️⃣ Stabilise your client and revenue mix
Feast-and-famine project work scares buyers (and exhausts owners). Aim for:

Fewer, better-fit clients

Clear core offers

More predictable revenue (even if it’s small to start)

3️⃣ Clean up the numbers
You don’t need perfect books, but you do need understandable ones. Simple, accurate management accounts, realistic margins, and a clear picture of owner drawings vs business profit. That’s what helps a buyer trust what they’re looking at.

4️⃣ Build for options, not a guaranteed sale
Not every business will sell—and that’s alright. The same steps that make it more sellable also make it more enjoyable and less dependent on you. You’re creating an asset, not just a job with a logo.

You don’t have to know who would buy your business to start making it buyable.

If you imagined handing your business to someone else in 3–5 years’ time, what would need to change in the next 12 months to make that realistic?

#smallbusiness #exitplanning #entrepreneur #businesscoach #southafrica #valuation #gettherewithacoach

Lin Kayton

Business Consultant with battle scars and a big tool box. My supportive, straight up approach will help you cut through the noise and move the needle forward. Your next station is calling.

Get there with a Coach. If you’re stuck and your business is in real need of change, I can help. Shift overwhelm to action, while freeing up your time. Enjoy the process & profit from the journey. 🎯 ICF Qualified Coach.

Fred Beunink

There is a danger in ignoring the red flags, and letting the window of opportunity close. By the time they reach out, it’s already too late for some founders.

I don’t mean that harshly. I mean it practically.

When cash is almost gone, you’re all exhausted, and as the business owner, you’re waking up at 3am doing mental maths… your options close very quickly. At that point, even the best strategy feels like rearranging the chairs on the deck of the Titanic.

If you’ve had a nagging sense that “something isn’t quite right”, here’s how I encourage owners to think about when to ask for help 💡

1️⃣ The Comfortable Stage
Revenue is steady, you’re busy, and there’s still some margin in your time and money.
This is the best time to get outside perspective. You have runway, emotional capacity, and space to implement. Small course corrections here can change the entire trajectory.

2️⃣ The Tension Stage
You’re still paying bills, but you feel stuck in the same issues:

Always behind on delivery

Same fires, different week

Growth feels lumpy and unpredictable
This is the “orange light” moment. You can still steer, but not if you pretend everything is fine.

3️⃣ The Crunch Stage
You’re borrowing from next month to cover this month.
You’re avoiding opening the accounts. Not to mention emails.
You feel guilty taking an evening or weekend off.
At this point, we can often stabilise, but it usually requires hard trade-offs. From cutting, restructuring, or slowing down plans you care about. The cost of delay becomes very real.

4️⃣ The “Too Late” Stage
No cash. No credit. No trust left with key partners.
Here, the work is often about responsible winding down rather than recovery. It’s still stewardship, although but it’s not the kind of conversation most founders hoped to have.

The earlier you raise your hand, the more choices you protect—for yourself, your family, and your team.

If you’re honest with yourself, which stage are you in right now—and what would it look like to ask for help one stage sooner than you feel you “deserve” to?

#smallbusiness #founderjourney #cashflow #businesscoach #southafrica #leadership #gettherewithacoach

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