Home › Business Coaching
The team behind your store
Small business coaching for independent shop owners
Coaching from people who still run their own shops
Blooming Checkout's small business coaching gives independent shop owners 90 minutes with a coach who runs a real business: Nicholas James for online stores, and Josie van Aswegen for florists. One session at a time, $197, with written notes afterwards.
Choose my coach »Ask a question
One session, no package. Online, wherever you are.
90 minutes for $197
One session with either coach, booked and paid for on its own. No package, no monthly fee and nothing recurring. Book another only when you want one.
Two working coaches
Nicholas runs two Shopify stores of his own and this agency. Josie has arranged flowers since 1986 and still co-owns a working studio.
01 · Why these coaches
Small business coaching from coaches who run real shops
Blooming Checkout's coaches run the kind of business they coach. Nicholas James runs two Shopify stores and an agency, and Josie van Aswegen co-owns a flower studio she still works in. Every piece of advice they give, they have paid for with their own money first.
Paid a coach for a 90 day plan you could have written yourself? You are right to be wary. A shop owner on Reddit's r/smallbusiness described paying for exactly that, and the most upvoted reply put the problem plainly: paying people who have never done the thing they coach is useless. Our coaches have done it, and still do.
"Coaching isn't useless. Paying people money who have no experience doing the thing they are coaching in is useless."A small business owner replying on Reddit's r/smallbusiness, in a thread about a coach who cost $800 a month for six months.
02 · Choose your coach
Business coaching for online stores, and florist coaching for flower shops
Blooming Checkout offers two coaching sessions at the same price. Pick the coach who has run the business you run.
Nicholas JamesBusiness coaching for ecommerce and Shopify brands
For owners of online stores who want a straight answer on what to fix first. Bring your numbers. Nicholas looks at your margins, your marketing spend and your store, and helps you decide where the next pound, dollar or hour should go.
Josie van AswegenFlorist growth coaching
For florists and studio owners who want honest help with pricing, ranges, merchandising and the week that runs them. Josie asks what you paid for your last box of roses, then shows you where the margin went.
03 · Ecommerce coaching with Nicholas
Ecommerce coaching on your real numbers, not general advice
Nicholas James coaches online store owners on the decisions that move sales and profit. He oversees Google Ads, Meta ads, email and SEO on his own stores, so he can tell you which one deserves your next budget and which one to stop paying for.
- Where the money goes. Margins, ad spend and the products that look profitable and are not.
- Which channel to fund next. Search, Google Ads, Meta or email, judged on what each one sells for a store like yours.
- A store that converts. The pages that lose sales after the click, and what to change first.
- AI and automation. The repeat jobs worth handing to tools like Shopify Flow and Claude, and the ones to keep.
- The next 90 days. Three to five actions in order, so you leave knowing what Monday looks like.
Nicholas runs the SEO on his own flower store, where search clicks rose 55% in a year.Source: Google Search Console, the twelve months to 30 September 2026 against the twelve before, as set out on our Shopify SEO case studies page.
04 · Florist coaching with Josie
Florist business coaching from someone who still does the stem costs
Josie van Aswegen has arranged flowers since 1986 and still prices ranges, deals with suppliers and watches which buckets empty by Friday. Josie coaches florists on the arithmetic that decides whether a busy month leaves anything behind.
- Your markup checked against what you actually pay, including the stems that never sell.
- Ranges for weddings, events and daily orders without running three businesses.
- What to stock this season, and what you can quietly drop.
- Where your week leaks, in hours, and which jobs to hand over first.
More detail is on Josie's florist growth coaching page.
How a session works
How a business coaching session works
1
Book and fill in a short form
Your business, your numbers and the one thing worrying you most right now.
2
Your coach does the homework
Your coach reviews your store, your social pages and your prices before you meet, so the time goes on answers.
3
90 minutes, then written notes
You meet online and work through your priorities. Within 48 hours you get written notes and 3 to 5 actions.
05 · What it costs
Business coaching priced per session, with nothing to sign
Each coaching session costs $197 for 90 minutes. There is no package, no contract and nothing recurring, because a session either earns its place or it does not.
- Pay for one session at a time. Book the next one when the next decision lands.
- The notes are yours. Keep them, share them or hand them to your own team.
- No upsell on the call. If your coach thinks you need help with the work itself, they will say so once, and you can ignore it.
One shop owner on Reddit said the two coaches they rate charge $225 and $525 a session.A small business owner on Reddit's r/smallbusiness, in a thread asking whether a business coach is worth hiring. One fixed price for both coaches here is $197.
06 · Who it suits
Who our small business coaching suits
- You run an independent shop, online or on the high street, and you make the decisions.
- You can bring real numbers: what you sell, what it costs you and what is left.
- You want a straight answer on one or two decisions, not a year-long programme.
- It is not for you if you want someone to promise six figures in six months. Nobody honest can.
07 · Your coaches
Meet your business coaches
Nicholas James, founderRuns two Shopify stores of his own and Blooming Checkout, and has sold on Shopify since 2014.
Josie van Aswegen, florist coachHas arranged flowers since 1986 and co-owns a working studio.
Both coaches sit inside Blooming Checkout, so if a session ends with work that needs doing, the team that builds and markets shops for a living is right there. That work is quoted separately, and you are never obliged to buy it.
Works well with
Coaching sets the direction, and the work can follow it
When a session ends with pages to fix, our Shopify SEO services and ecommerce website design team can put the plan live. If you are weighing up ongoing help against doing it yourself, read whether an SEO retainer is worth it for a small business.
Questions shop owners ask
Frequently asked questions
How much does a small business coach cost?
Small business coaches charge anything from a free volunteer mentor to thousands a month. Blooming Checkout charges $197 for one 90 minute session with either coach, with no package or contract. You pay for the session you book and nothing else.
Is hiring a business coach worth it?
Hiring a business coach is worth it when the coach has run the kind of business you run and the session ends with specific actions. It rarely pays when the advice is general. Both Blooming Checkout coaches run working shops, and every session ends with written notes and 3 to 5 actions.
What is the 70/30 rule in coaching?
The 70/30 rule says the person being coached should do about 70% of the talking and the coach about 30%. Our sessions sit closer to an even split, because you are paying for the coach's experience as well as their questions.
What is the difference between a business coach and a consultant?
A business coach helps you make better decisions and holds you to them, while a consultant usually does work for you. Blooming Checkout's coaching sessions are coaching. If you want the work done as well, our team quotes it separately.
Do you only coach florists?
No. Josie van Aswegen coaches florists and studio owners. Nicholas James coaches owners of online stores in any category, from fashion and beauty to homeware and gifts.
Are the sessions online?
Yes. Every session runs on a video call, so you can book from anywhere. You fill in a short form first, and your coach reviews your store before you meet.
What should I bring to a coaching session?
Bring your numbers: your sales, your margins, what you spend on marketing and the one decision you are stuck on. A rough figure is fine. Your coach cannot price a problem without it.
Can I book more than one session?
Yes. Book another whenever you want one. There is no package and nothing recurring. Most owners take one session, do the work, and come back when the next decision lands.
Two versions of next quarter
In one, you keep guessing which change matters most, the advice you find is general, and the same problem is still there in three months.
In the other, you spent 90 minutes with someone who runs the same kind of business, you know the three things to change first, and the notes are on your desk.
Choose my coach »Ask a question
$197 for 90 minutes. One session, no package.
Last updated: 29 October 2026