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In 2011, Philip Hitchen was diagnosed with cancer and spent three months having chemotherapy. That experience changed everything, not just in his life but in business too. Since then, Philip has increased the turnover of his bus and coach hire business, Belle Vue, by £3 million plus. He’s added 40 vehicles to his company, has 93 employees and is helping other business owners to achieve similar results.
Here, we deconstruct all of that and map out Philip’s journey that led to Belle Vue becoming an award-winning, leading transport brand for education across Greater Manchester in the United Kingdom, moving 1.4 million passengers per year. This is definitely one to check out if you’re at a stage where you’re wondering how to scale your business and improve efficiency.
In this episode we really get into:
- How Philip overcame intense price competition with a simple, free product
- Using customer criticism to develop a better product
- How he decimated (and acquired) the competition to 100% own his niche
- Philip on how he acquired two businesses from hospital in between bouts of chemotherapy
- The mindset that helped him overcome cancer and also solve some major business challenges
- How he transformed a hard grind business into a lifestyle business
- Building trust and credibility with clients using a simple communication system
- How a stellar reputation and word-of-mouth landed Philip’s business with the biggest and most lucrative contracts
- Dealing with inefficiency and wasted talent to improve margins and revenue
- How Philip saved £43,000 per annum by improving his drivers’ performances
- Using the universal language of iMA to improve communication, trust, understanding, cooperation and ultimately sales
- The Wheel of Life – a tool Philip uses to help motivate and train
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