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Building strong foundations Business owner John Davidson was feeling exhausted from 100-hour weeks… that was until he met ActionCOACH fter nearly two decades in the corporate world, Alan Smith found himself yearning to escape the constraints of the daily grind to regain precious time with his family. The answer came to him in 2014 when he launched his own ActionCOACH franchise. Now, Alan is earning more than he could have dreamt in his previous career, while also enjoying the difference he’s making within the local business community. One such business within this community is Edinburgh-based A SouthSide Property Management, which was founded by John Davidson in 2009. Like Alan during his corporate career, John found himself devoting upwards of 100 hours a week to work, meaning he was missing out on precious time with his young family. Having previously used ActionCOACH services, John decided to act by seeking the help of his local Action Coach, Alan. “I’ve always believed in the advantages of internal staff development,” says John. “Unfortunately, I regularly have too much on my plate to devote the time I’d like to it, so introducing the quality service that ActionCOACH delivers to the team was a no-brainer.” LEARNING TO DELEGATE The primary objective for Alan’s coaching direction was to influence the leadership qualities within the team. Cat Dalrymple, head of development at SouthSide, has worked closely with Alan since the start of coaching. “At first, Alan came in and delivered monthly leadership sessions. These had a tremendous effect on my colleagues, Cat and Leah,” says John. “We’ve Alan Smith (left) with the SouthSide Property Management team at the BizX Awards BEHIND THE BRAND: PARTNER CONTENT 30 WHAT FRANCHISE | ISSUE 19.3