In this episode of Your Customer, Your Success, Gary sits down with Kenneth Kollasch, a certified business coach, founder of Kenneth Coaches, and former operator of an Arthur Murray franchise, one of the oldest franchise systems in the country at 114 years. Kenneth is also a certified coach under Will Guidara, author of Unreasonable Hospitality.

The conversation opens on the operator lens Kenneth built inside a business designed to last a century. He walks Gary through how a 114-year-old franchise weathers cultural cycles, market crashes, and shifts in relevance by pivoting its offer, its people, and its customer experience. That same operator instinct shapes the framework he uses with small business owners today.

Kenneth's sharpest challenge is that most owners over-index on what they supply and under-invest in what the market actually demands. He argues that a business ready to double in 12 to 24 months has two things going for it: an owner in a real growth phase, and the willingness to bring in someone the owner will trust with the business the way they trust themselves.

From there Kenneth walks Gary through the Customer Advantage Map, his applied version of the Will Guidara customer journey work. He explains why owners cannot read the label from inside the milk carton, how to map every touch point, and how ordinary businesses can create a premium customer experience at a fraction of the cost most owners assume.

Kenneth also breaks down the six suites of his Small Business Flight Plan, leadership, marketing, sales, product, management, and cash flow, and closes with a direct answer for owners who feel stuck: stop being alone. Accountability is half the battle.

This episode reinforces a core principle of the show:

Reinvention is the mechanism. Demand research beats supply thinking. Accountability turns intention into execution.

If you are a founder, operator, franchisee, or advisor thinking about how to build a business that lasts, this conversation will sharpen how you think about customer journeys, growth phases, and the operator discipline that keeps a business relevant across cycles.

What You'll Learn

• How a 114-year-old franchise stays relevant through cultural and economic cycles
• Why most business owners over-invest in supply and under-invest in demand research
• The two conditions that have to be true for a business to double in 12 to 24 months
• Why the biggest cost of hiring a coach is not money, it is exposing what is actually happening in the business
• How the Customer Advantage Map identifies positive, neutral, and negative touch points
• How ordinary businesses can create a premium customer experience without a premium budget
• The six suites inside the Small Business Flight Plan and how they compound
• Why the five-meeting cadence moves owners from reactive to proactive leadership
• Why James Clear was right: owners fall to the level of their systems, not the height of their goals
• The one question Kenneth asks every client that resets their focus

Chapters

00:00 Cold Open

00:59 Introduction

02:22 From a professional soccer contract to ballroom dancing and how it shaped Kenneth's decision framework

05:03 What a 114-year-old franchise reveals about durability, reinvention, and weathering cycles

08:29 Why most new business owners over-invest in supply and under-invest in demand research

11:32 The two conditions that have to be true for a small business to double in 12 to 24 months

15:43 Will Guidara's Unreasonable Hospitality applied to ordinary everyday businesses

19:27 The Customer Advantage Map and finding the touch points owners cannot see

25:27 The Small Business Flight Plan from leadership to cash flow

32:11 The one thing owners can do differently this month when they feel stuck

35:14 Does It Hold Water?

36:52 Chip Shots

Book Recommendation

The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John C. Maxwell

Also referenced in this episode: Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara and Atomic Habits by James Clear.

Connect with Kenneth Kollasch

Website: https://kennethcoaches.com/free

Generate your first (or next) $100k in your business with these 12+ free resources! Things like: • Courses • Assessments • Softwares • Workbooks • ...and more!

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennethkollasch/

Connect with Gary Marra

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gary-marra/

Website: https://www.schooleymitchell.com/gmarra

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@yourcustomeryoursuccesspodcast

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About Your Customer, Your Success

Your Customer, Your Success is a leadership and business growth podcast built on the idea that client focus is not just a service philosophy, it is a growth strategy. Hosted by Gary Marra, the show sits at the intersection of customer experience, employee experience, leadership behavior, and operational discipline. With listeners in more than 70 countries, each episode features practical conversations with executives, advisors, and business leaders on how better experiences drive loyalty, trust, retention, and sustainable business growth.

About Gary Marra

Gary Marra is a Schooley Mitchell Franchise Owner, business advisor, customer experience leader, and host of Your Customer, Your Success. Drawing on more than 25 years in financial services, client management, operations, and cross-functional leadership, Gary helps business leaders think more clearly about how service, trust, and execution shape growth. Through his Schooley Mitchell practice, he works with small and mid-sized businesses on vendor-neutral, performance-based expense optimization across telecom, wireless, merchant services, small package shipping, and waste removal. His perspective combines client-centric strategy with practical operator discipline, making the show especially relevant for founders, operators, fractional executives, and business leaders responsible for long-term growth and margin.

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