In the U.S. military, boot camp is a six-week endurance test designed to transform 98-pound weaklings into lean, mean, fightin' Marines.

Business Boot Camp won't last quite that long. But it's no less intense.

Sponsored by Action International, the world's No. 1 business coaching team, Business Boot Camp is a high-energy, two-day exercise in mental muscle-building, entrepreneurial skill-sharpening and creative consciousness-raising.

"It's for all business owners. But it's not for the faint of heart," smiled Martin Park, one of two seasoned business coaches who will inaugurate the first phase of this quarterly series at Banff's splendid Rimrock Hotel, all day Friday and Saturday, Nov. 8-9.

Martin Park, right, accepts his award as Action International 2002 North American Coach of the Year.

"By the time the session concludes, each and every participant will have a clear idea how the principles we suggest can apply to their specific business," Mr. Park added.

Business Boot Camp is designed to equip business owners with specific strategies to help them increase productivity.

"Sometimes business operators hit a plateau," explained Mr. Park, who'll share head-coaching duties with co-facilitator, Dominic Rubino.

"Our program will provide each of our guests with in-depth plans of attack, almost a master to-do list, designed to help move their businesses along." Business Boot Camp is not a retreat, and it's not a leisurely getaway. Nor does it resemble your traditional, garden-variety self-help seminar.

What Business Boot Camp DOES represent is a rare opportunity for owner-operators to discover entirely new ways of thinking about their business methods.

"We try to create an environment that encourages our guests to see what they do from a wholly fresh perspective," Mr. Park said.

"We want to tear down some of their beliefs about their own business. Then we'll fill them full of new ideas – concrete strategies they can take back to work the following Monday."

Over the two days, 50 invited guests and several fully qualified business coaches will concentrate on the essential components of any business.

They include:

* Sales and marketing: Action International is dedicated to the proposition that no business should limit its sales and marketing strategies; but that every business must be able to measure the effectiveness of those strategies.

"We can help them make sure they get more than a dollar back for every dollar they spend," Mr. Park elaborated.

* Assembling a team: Business Boot Camp gets straight to cases, challenging participants to face one of the most crucial components of any successful enterprise – assembling the ideal team, as well as helping guests to analyse and improve their own approach to team building.

* Systemization: A minute examination of system efficiency. Sometimes owner-operators actually limit their opportunities by unconsciously limiting their structural capacity for filling orders or distributing product.

Business Boot Camp can help your enterprise break free of such self-imposed strictures and to subsequently soar to new heights.

For maximum efficiency, Business Boot Camp will be limited to 50 participants, thereby guaranteeing a maximum opportunity for one-on-one coaching. Nobody is to leave the Rimrock without a precise idea of how Action International's principles can enhance the profitability of their specific business pursuit.

But invited guests have an additional bonus waiting for them.

"Our focus is the business," Mr. Park began. "But one reason owners want to increase their profits is to allow them more free time with their families. We want to facilitate their original goals and dreams by helping them get free of the daily grind, to start having fun with their business."

With that objective in mind, participants in Business Boot Camp have ample opportunity to swap ideas and theories with fellow guests.

They'll be amazed to discover how often a strategy employed by their neighbour can work for them – even though their businesses may be completely unrelated.

"We'll expect our guests to interact. Here's how. We'll ask them to do things like steal three ideas from each person at their table, ideas they can implement in their own businesses," Mr. Park said.

For a one-time investment of $1,500, you and your company or store can benefit from this revolutionary and effective growth strategy. To register for the November 8-9 session, or to request more information, call Tara at 403.283.8337. Or access the Action International website at www.action-international.com

It's time to be pro-active, like the Marines. Enlist in Business Boot Camp and transform your business into a lean, mean fightin' machine.