For over 20 years we’ve helped more than 1,100 small business owners break free from the “Owner’s Trap” to build lives of freedom and legacy. We have been thrilled to see our clients win awards too. Our results-driven approach has led to a landmark year for our clients. In 2026, four of our client firms met the rigorous growth requirements for the Inc. 5000 list, with one standout founder doubling revenue from $6M to $12M in a single year. Additionally, two clients were honored in the past year with prestigious Industry Awards, and another was nominated for the Exceptional Women in Business Award.
A Legacy of Performance Excellence
From Inc. 500 Founder to 2026’s
#1 Small Business Coach
Small Business Coach Associates: Quick Facts:
- Founded: 2002
- Founder & CEO: Alan Melton
- Headquarters: Greer, South Carolina
- Markets Served: United States and English Speaking Nations
- Core Mission: Helping business owners “To Make More, Have Fun, and Work Less.
- Key Achievements: Ranked #1 Small Business Coach by multiple industry evaluators.
- Historical Milestones: Former Inc. 500 CEO and SBA Small Business Person of the Year.
- Impact: 1,100+ small businesses coached across the world.
MEDIA QUICK FACTS: Alan Melton and Small Business Coach Associates
National Media Recognition & Performance Awards
Ranked #1 Small Business Coach in the Nation for 2026
Legacy of Excellence:
Inc. 500: Fastest-Growing Private Companies (1989)
East Coast Auto Rental (Transportation), founded by B. Alan Melton and a partner, was recognized as one of America’s fastest-growing privately-held companies at #422 on the list.
U.S SBA Florida Small Business Person Of the Year (1994)
Alan Melton was named by the U.S. Small Business Administration and a U.S. sitting President as the 1994 Small Business Person of the Year, recognizing his leadership and the exceptional growth of East Coast Transportation in the ground transportation industry.
Governor’s Sterling Award for Organizational Performance Excellence (1999)
East Coast Transportation joined the Ritz Carlton and Merrill Lynch as recipients of the Florida Sterling Award for Organizational Performance Excellence in 1999. This award is modeled after the Malcomb Baldrige National Quality Award.
Alan and East Coast Transportation Team, Sterling Award Recipients
1999 Governor's Award for Organizational Performance Excellence
“Alan Melton has been working with me to set and meet aggressive goal for my company. He’s even gotten my employees on board with my vision, and I’ve had problems with them in the past. After several “false starts,” I’m finally taking my business to its potential, and I would like to see my clients do the same. He helped me identify $20,000 in unmade sales (services people wanted but we didn’t offer to them and they didn’t know we could provide) and another $25,000 in missed revenues due to under pricing certain services. We also found a way to change our process for preparing returns that cut the turnaround time by 30%.” Dan, Owner, CPA Firm
SBCA Leadership Team
Top-Tier Recognitions (2025–2026)
#1 Top Small Business Coach for Small Businesses (2026)
An award by Life Coach Magazine given to coaches who demonstrate exceptional success in helping small business owners grow their ventures, recognizing consistent impact and coaching excellence.
#1 Featured as Standout Small Business Leadership Coach (2026)
Alan Melton was featured in EntrepreneursHQ's 2026 Business Leadership Coaching Guide, recognizing his focus on building strong systems and leadership tools to help small business owners achieve sustainable growth.
#1 Business Coach Blog Globally (2026)
Recognized for delivering consistently high-value, actionable insights that help entrepreneurs grow revenue and profits.
#5 Top Executive Coach (2025)
Alan Melton was ranked #5 Top Executive Coach of the top 80 coaches for 2025 by Real Leaders, recognizing his leadership impact, proven business growth systems, and measurable results with entrepreneurs and executives nationwide.
Global Rankings:
#1 Small Business Coaches for Entrepreneurs and Startups (2025)
Ranked #1 on LinkedIn’s Top 10 list for delivering practical, results-driven growth strategies.
CREA Global Award Winner (2025)
Recognized by Brainz Magazine for innovation, adaptability, and leadership impact.
#4 Top Business Coach in 2024
Ranked #4 among the Top 30 Business Coaches in 2024 by Wikitia, recognizing his proven growth systems, measurable client results, and impact in the small business coaching industry.
#1 Best Business Coaches to Follow (2022)
Named among the “45 Best Business Coaches to Follow” by ArticleCity for delivering practical strategies that help entrepreneurs scale and sustain growth.
Best Business Coaches to Follow: Entrepreneur’s Guide (2023)
Featured by Artists in Business for delivering proven growth systems and practical strategies for entrepreneurs.
#7 The Six Figure Coach Magazine’s Top 200 Coaches (2017)
One of the Top 200 Coaches, honoring his leadership impact, proven growth systems, and measurable results with entrepreneurs.
“My coach is super encouraging. He is great at pointing out things I’ve never thought about. It’s nice to work with a male in business who has my best interests in mind. He is great at keeping me on task without making me feel bad about missing a deadline. Initially my sales grew by 100% and number of students have doubled since he began coaching me 5 months ago and I was able to take my first paycheck since starting my dance studio two years ago. Since then my sales have grown from $44,000 to $1,200,000 per year.” Beth, Owner, Dance Studio
Specialized Expertise:
#3 Top Coach for Higly Sensitive Entrepreneurs
Ranked by New York Weekly Magazine for delivering structured growth systems and team development strategies.
#3 Top Business Coach in the World (2023)
Featured on Medium for delivering scalable business systems and real-world results.
#1 Business Coaching Company – Worldwide (2022)
Small Business Coach Associates was featured in World Best Coaches’ “Top 10 Business Coaching Companies in the World,” recognizing its global reputation for delivering structured growth systems and measurable business results.
#1 Best Business Coaching Blogs (2017)
“The 6 Best Business Coaching Blogs” by Coaches Training Blog, recognizing its practical insights and actionable strategies for business growth.
Also Mentioned in:
Top 12 Business Coaches to Follow – (2026)
Recognized by Deliberate Directions for leadership excellence and results-driven coaching.
Top 60 Business Coach YouTubers (2026)
Recognized by Feedspot for delivering actionable business growth content on YouTube.
Featured Among the 22 Best Business Coaching Websites (2026)
Featured by CMOE for delivering trusted coaching insights and business growth resources.
The Ultimate Guide to Business Coaches (2025)
Featured by Growth Navigate for leadership-driven growth and scalable business systems.
The Leading US Business Coaches (2024)
Featured by Best US Business Coaches as one of the leading Coaching Organizations for unlocking growth and leadership potential.
Featured Among the 23 Best Business Coaching Services of (2022)
Was featured in Viral Growth Media’s “The 23 Best Business Coaching Services of 2022,” recognized as a leading small business coaching provider delivering structured growth systems and measurable results.
Recently Featured In
Named One of the Top Business Coaching Firms
Alan Melton and Small Business Coach Associates were named one of the Top Business Coaching Firms in a national press release distributed by AP News, recognizing their proven systems, measurable client results, and leadership in the small business coaching industry.
Real Leaders’ 2025 Top Executive Coaches
Alan Melton of Small Business Coach Associates was named one of Real Leaders’ 2025 Top Executive Coaches, recognizing his leadership impact, scalable business systems, and measurable results with entrepreneurs and executives nationwide.
Business Chief #1 Small Business Coach
This recognition marks the launch of his national "Founder Freedom" initiative, designed to help service-based founders scale from $2M to $12M in annual revenue.
“Small Business Coach Associates and his team are simply the best at what they do!!! They have become an extended part of our business. They have helped us to manage the business of the business by creating a Strategic plan that includes a Vision, Values and Mission in order to get a much better view of who we are, what we do and where we want to be by 2027. Through weekly coaching meetings with my coach we discuss our business and work through his modules for success. As such we have made significant progress over the past 12 months: 1. Sales grew from $300,000 to $820,000 2. Have grown our employees by three. 3. We take an additional day off per week 4.Grew Customer Reviews by 260% 5. Continue to Increase Work Life Balance through delegation We look forward to what the future will bring as we continue to work with SBCA and the team at Small Business Coaches.” Karen and Robert, Owner, Custom Carpentry