Business Coach or Consultant? How to Choose the Right Help for Your Shop
You're working harder than ever, and the business isn't getting any easier. Before you hire anyone, know what kind of help you're actually buying.
33 years in the industry · 3,000+ shops · Author of Price for Profit
What does a decorated apparel industry shop coach do?
A business coach or consultant works with you on the business side: pricing, sales, production, people, and profit. That's true whether you run presses, embroidery machines, or a promo distributorship that doesn't decorate at all. The good ones get into your actual numbers and your actual workflow, then hold you to the changes you agreed to make.
The help is about running the business. You already know your craft. But chances are, I can help you get better with that too.
Signs your business needs outside help
Read this list and count how many sound like your shop.
- You're busy every day, but there's less money at the end of the month than there should be.
- You price jobs by gut feel or by matching the shop down the street.
- Every decision still runs through you.
- Jobs ship late, and you can't say exactly where they got stuck.
- The same mistakes keep coming back: reprints, wrong garments, missed details.
- You added equipment, people, or product lines, and profit didn't follow.
- Your managers wait for you instead of solving problems.
- You haven't taken a real week off in years.
- Sales are up, but margins get thinner every year and you're more stressed than when the business was smaller.
- You know something has to change, but not what to change first.
If 3 or more of these sound familiar, you don't have a hustle problem. You have a systems problem, and that's fixable.
Coach, consultant, course, or mastermind: what's the difference?
The difference is who the help is built around. A course or mastermind is built around a program everyone follows. A one-on-one coach or consultant is built around your business.
| Type of help | How it works | Built around | Best when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Online course | Recorded lessons you work through on your own | The program | You need the basics and can apply them yourself |
| Mastermind or group program | Regular group calls with other owners | The group | You want peers and accountability, and your problems are common ones |
| One-on-one coach or consultant | Private calls inside your numbers, workflow, sales, and team, with someone holding you accountable | Your business | You need specific fixes to pricing, operations, and profit, and help sticking with them |
Call it coaching or consulting. Either way, I work one-on-one on your business, in your numbers, and I hold you to what you said you'd do. I don't sell a course or a group program.
What does working with Marshall look like?
You get a 1-hour call on Google Meet at the pace you pick: monthly, twice a month, or every week. Every call is recorded, transcribed, and summarized, and the record lives in your Client Portal so you can go back to it anytime.
- Pick your pace of change. Weekly calls mean more change and more guidance. Monthly calls give you occasional guidance and more time between calls.
- Reach me between calls. I reply the same day.
- Bring your team if it helps. Some clients bring their leadership team or rotate managers through calls.
- It stays confidential. Every call is private, and I sign NDAs on request.
- My books are included. Every client gets all of my ebooks.
How much does a one-on-one business consultant cost?
Working with me runs $249 to $999 a month, month to month, with no contract. You can stop anytime by letting me know.
| Option | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Discovery Call | Free | 30 minutes to see if we're a fit |
| Monthly Check-In | $249 a month | 1 call a month |
| Twice Monthly | $499 a month | 2 calls a month |
| Every Week | $999 a month | Weekly calls |
| Retainer Block | $249 an hour, 3-hour minimum | Use hours as needed. They never expire. |
| On-Site Visit | $2,500 a day, plus travel | 1 day possible, 2 or more recommended |
Billing happens monthly, on the day you signed up. You can switch plans in either direction, starting with your next billing date.
Why work with Marshall Atkinson?
I've spent 33 years in decorated apparel, starting in 1993. I've designed the graphics, run the production floor, sat in the COO's chair, and worked with more than 3,000 decorators and promo businesses.
- Held the top leadership positions at two high-volume contract decorators, producing more than 1 million screenprinted shirts a month on a regular basis
- Author of Price for Profit, the pricing guide for decorated apparel shops
- Elected to the Academy of Screen and Digital Printing Technologies (ASDPT) in 2020
- Served on the boards of directors of the Specialty Graphic Imaging Association (SGIA) and the Sustainable Green Printing Partnership (SGP)
- Served as a PromoKitchen Chef, on the board of the promotional products industry's all-volunteer mentorship nonprofit
- Teaches sessions regularly at industry trade shows, including PRINTING United, Impressions, ISS, and GPX Expo
- Named to Apparelist's Top 10 Influencers in the Decorated Apparel Community (2022)
- Writes for Impressions, Screen Printing, Graphics Pro, Apparelist, and Images magazines
What should you ask before hiring an apparel industry coach or consultant?
These are the questions I'd ask if I were hiring someone to help my shop. Anyone worth hiring will give you a straight answer to each one.
- Have you worked inside a business like mine, or only advised one?
- Will you work on my actual numbers, or teach general principles?
- Is this one-on-one, or am I joining a group program?
- How would you help me make more profit on the work I already have?
- How would you get more finished work out the door each day without adding people or equipment?
- How do you help with planning, and how should a business like mine be using AI right now?
- How are print on demand and online stores changing this industry, and what should I do about it?
- How do you help with hiring, training, and keeping good employees?
- How often do we meet, and what happens between calls?
- Is there a contract, and how do I cancel?
If you ask me these on a discovery call, good. That's what the call is for.
Can AI replace a business coach?
No. AI answers the questions you ask it. A good coach finds the questions you didn't know to ask.
I worked with a shop owner who wanted faster setups. The bigger problem was press downtime of 53%, costing about 3.7 hours of printing per shift. AI never would have brought it up, because he never asked.
I use AI every day and teach shops how to put it to work. It's a great tool. It just doesn't hold you accountable.
Read more: AI Predicts. A Coach Provokes.
Common questions
Do you work with small shops?
Yes. I work with businesses of every size, in several countries. Usually it's the owner on the call.
Do you only work with screen printers?
No. I work with screen printing, embroidery, and other decoration shops, plus promotional products distributors, including ones that don't decorate at all.
Is consulting done remotely?
Yes. Calls are on Google Meet. On-site visits are available at $2,500 a day plus travel.
Is there a contract?
No. Every plan is month to month, and you can cancel anytime by letting me know.
What if I cancel with time left?
We'll talk it through. Your options are a partial refund, still having the remaining call, or saving it for a later date.
What happens after the discovery call?
You'll get a short survey about your shop so I can prepare for our first call. We start as soon as my schedule allows.
Is it confidential?
Yes. Every call is confidential, and I sign NDAs on request.
Not sure where to start?
Start with the free Shop Diagnostic. It takes 5 to 10 minutes and shows you where your shop is losing time and money.
Or book a free 30-minute discovery call, and we'll figure out together whether working together makes sense.
What's the one problem in your shop you're tired of solving twice?