Stop Hiding Under the Covers | BE THE CEO

Feb 11, 2017

Stop Hiding Under the Covers | BE THE CEO

Are you a creative entrepreneur, who started your business because you wanted to live your passion? Now that you’ve jumped in, offering your service, but struggling to hold onto money, finding that there never seems to be enough money to pay for your business and your life. You’re a smart and capable person but feel shame around not understanding the financial aspects and would much rather ignore the numbers all together, and hide under the bed covers.

Not to fear.  You can crawl out from hiding and see how to look at your numbers without panic. BE THE CEO is you’re light in the dark.

BE THE CEO workshop is a two day intensive hands on workshop.

Day one: We will work to quite your money fears. Then finish calculating what you need to live your life and sustain your business comfortably, work on understanding how to do project forward to see the peaks and valleys of your income and expenses and end the day with pricing to make a profit.

Day two: We dive into positioning and messaging, understanding your customer’s experience and creating your businesses unique value proposition. And because we know that you might need to raise your rates or offer new products and services to get there, you will also make a plan for positioning your business in a category of one, so you can command better prices and attract your ideal clients.

  You will:
  • take the reigns of your numbers and work through your emotional financial roadblocks
  • have a plan for generating your revenue so your to do list is focused on moving forward allowing you the flexibility to get in the activities that refuel you.
  • learn what makes you the most money and be able to phase out the things that drain you (or at least charge more for them
  • be in a supportive group of entrepreneurs who face similar issues in running a business and understand the stresses
  • have a business coach with a unique point of view and background to help you create a map to reaching your chief initiative
  • have Brigitte Lyons, CEO and founder of B THE FORWARD-THINKING PUBLIC RELATIONS AGENCY, to guide you to positioning your business with consistent messaging
  • have an ongoing community to supporting you and helping you reach your business goals

The workshop includes:

  • writing out a revenue plan. Knowing when money is coming in is a good thing!
  • analyzing your current offerings. Are you accounting for the cost of goods and paying yourself for the production time?
  • positioning your business using your special sauce
  • digital and physical worksheets for you to continue to tweak and use as your business evolves
  • a notebook to write down your thoughts and break-throughs
  • light nibbles and refreshments on both days to keep your focused
  • lunch on day two

The workshop is open to a limited group of ten business owners. We will spend out a pre-work packet before the workshop. Two days beforehand we have gather together for an online meeting, allowing for the cohort to meet one another before, and answer any questions that came up for you as went through the pre-work.

Ready to crawl out from under the covers and take control of your business? Then register now.

Two locations to choose from:

Got questions, post them in the comments and I’ll answer.

Be The CEO Workshop 2.0

Jan 5, 2016

Be The CEO Workshop 2.0

As an entrepreneur do you ever feel like your stumbling around in the dark, trying to find your way? Be The CEO Workshop is the lantern to illuminate your path.

Have you ever:

  • struggled with figuring out what to charge
  • wondered how to price a package of goods or services
  • stressed that you won’t make enough to pay bills
  • felt lost on how to craft a clear message to position yourself to your clients
  • needed someone to help you prioritize your task list
  • lacked motivation because you felt you needed a resource or tool to move forward
  • wanted a small group of entrepreneurs to build a community with

If you are like me, you were nodding your head the whole time.

I’ve struggled to find the right fit for my business that matched my personal lifestyle needs and wants. I’ve downloaded ebooks, purchased templates, traveled to conferences, listened to podcasts and have read through tons of blog posts, only to find I still didn’t have the answer that fit my business. I felt like a fish swimming in mud. I would try something and then something else and none of the tactics seemed to work for me.

The reality is there is not a one size fits all answer. Each of our small business are operated by individuals who have different wants and needs. Therefore, our pricing, messaging and goals will all be different.

I found that by understanding my finances, the amount of time I spent working on different tasks and working to have a consistent message to my clients, led to building better systems, incorporating the how-to tactics that made the best sense for me and starting everyday with the a clear intention to work towards my business goals.

BE THE CEO workshop was born out of my experience.

Last year’s cohort spent an entire day digging into financials and pulling apart their numbers to find where they killing it and where things were going awry. This year’s workshop has expanded to two days, so we can take our financial learnings and apply it to our marketing strategy on day two.

 

This workshop is designed to give you the space and tools to focus on looking at your business as a whole. To give you the chance to step away from the production line and BE THE CEO.

Saturday and Sunday January 23-24, 2016
9am – 4pm
(location to be in the San Francisco east bay region)

You will:

  • take the reigns of your numbers and work through your emotional financial roadblocks
  • have a plan for generating your revenue so your to do list is focused on moving forward allowing you the flexibility to get in the activities that refuel you.
  • learn what makes you the most money and be able to phase out the things that drain you (or at least charge more for them
  • be in a supportive group of entrepreneurs who face similar issues in running a business and understand the stresses
  • have a business coach with a unique point of view and background to help you create a map to reaching your chief initiative
  • have Brigitte Lyons, CEO and founder of B THE FORWARD-THINKING PUBLIC RELATIONS AGENCY, to guide you to positioning your business with consistent messaging
  • have an ongoing community to help keep you moving toward your 2016 business goals

The workshop will include:

  • writing out a revenue plan. Knowing when money is coming in is a good thing!
  • analyzing your current offerings. Are you accounting for the cost of goods and paying yourself for the production time?
  • positioning your business using your special sauce.
  • digital and physical worksheets
  • How to Fascinate test to highlight how the world see you
  • a notebook to write down your thoughts and break-throughs
  • light nibbles and refreshments on both days to keep your focused

Ready to claim your spot?
Early Bird $385 and save $100. Ends Wednesday 1/6!

 

Carve Out Time to be the CEO of Your Business

Jan 15, 2015

time to planWe are just two weeks into the new year and already the days seem to be bleeding into one another. So much to get started on, so many things to do, so many people to connect with, so many projects I want to bring to life this year. And yet, I don’t know where in my calendar I’m going to carve out the time to create the plans to accomplish all of my ideas.  Further, I don’t even know when I’ll have a moment to forecast which idea, offering or product would be best to start with and which existing items need to be tweaked or retired.

I know I’m not alone. Many entrepreneurs I know, talk about writing out goals, want to create a year long marketing plan and have every intention of looking at last year’s numbers but don’t actually make the time to do it.

We talk about:

  • being more accountable to our families and friends.  We say things like, “If only I had someone to help me plan.” or “I wish I had someone to keep me on track.”
  • how our calendars are just sooo crazy. “I scheduled time for that but I needed to _______________ because the client needed it yesterday.”
  • all the shoulds. Yes we should all over ourselves. “I should make time to plan that launch,”  “I should make time for networking,” “I should send out promos,” “I should look at my numbers.”

We feel:

  • stressed at the amount of work it will take
  • overwhelmed in the process
  • a tad fearful that if we don’t figure out a plan than things will get out of control and we’ll lose opportunities
  • hopeful that the year will be successful

We think:

  • I can do this
  • I’ll run a report in my accounting program and it will tell me what I need to know. (Oh wait what accounting program?)
  • It’s too hard to plan. I’ll just wing it.
  • This is only a part time thing so I don’t need to really focus on it.
  • I just started doing this, so what’s there to really plan for?

We take the time to:

  • have Siri plot a reminder for an hour during the week to look over last year’s offerings, but let then swipe the reminder off the screen when it dings.
  • post on Instagram about nothing to do with our business (yes, I’m guilty of this almost everyday).
  • read about what others are doing on Facebook

How do we change this behavior?

We do it together.

(insert clapping and cheering here)

  1. You will have someone to help you plan.
  2. You will carve out a chunk of time dedicated to running your business that forces you away from your desk /kids/pets/house, so the distractions will be less allowing you to focus more.
  3. You will have a handle on your numbers and a revenue plan for the future.
  4. You will walk through the strategic process of planning for 2015 in a comfortable setting. No more overwhelm.
  5. You will have a plan for generating your revenue so your to do list is focused on moving forward allowing you the flexibility to get in the activities that refuel you.
  6. You will learn what makes you the most money and be able to phase out the things that drain you (or at least charge more for them).
  7. You will be in a supportive group of entrepreneurs who face similar issues in running a business and understand the stresses.
  8. You will create a map to reaching your 2015 chief initiative.

I invite you to come to this intimate, 12 seats only, business workshop on:

Saturday January 24, 2015
9am – 3pm
(location to be in the San Francisco east bay region)

The workshop will include:

  • writing out a revenue plan. Knowing when money is coming in is a good thing!

  • analyzing your current offerings. Are you accounting for the cost of goods and paying yourself for the production time?

  • positioning your business using your special sauce and the insights from Sally Hogshead’s How to Fascinate

  • drinks and snacks to keep you focused

  • PLUS you’ll be the first invited to join the 4 month coaching program for continued support to keep you accountable and moving forward.

This is the first time I’m running this workshop. So it is being offered at an introductory rate of $79 ($199 value). Plus I’ll be asking each participant for their suggestions, feedback and input to make the next iteration even better.

Mark your calendar for Sat Jan 24th and claim your spot today.

Sign up here!

Creative Entrepreneurship 101 Workshop | Stratiscope and Future Studio

Aug 14, 2013

My friends at Stratiscope and Future Studio have put together an amazing 3 hour workshop and asked Business Juice to tell you all about it.

It’s a jam packed morning filled with handouts to get to you thinking through various steps, like your artist statement and creating an online presence. Further helping you identify the right audience to market yourself and an action plan for getting out into the community. The workshop attendees is keep to a small amount (between 6-12) allowing for individual questions to be answered. The small group allows for insightful group discussions and learning between participants.

Future Studio says:

You should attend this workshop if you…
1. are an established artist/writer looking to be more effective and efficient with their the limited and valuable time.
2. have a creative idea and are looking to take it to the next level.
3. want the secret formula to take the relevance of their craft to the next level.
4. are looking to focus your creative passions as a source of revenue.
5. want to participate in more shows and create legitimacy for your brand.
6. want to get back into the business of the creative process.

After attending this workshop, you will…
1. …not only gain an understanding of your personal Creative Statement but walkout with a template to revise it;
2. …have strategies of how and with whom to partner with your community, as well as how to leverage that partnership for mutual success;
3. …have developed a draft plan to reach your desired audience;
4. …leave with “cheat sheets” for communication, audience engagement, & more;
5. …have an expanded network to collaborate and develop opportunities;
6. …increase your desirability and competitive advantage in a crowded field; and
7. …be able to create your own platform for your craft.

Space is limited to provide participants with focused attention. Please sign up today by clicking this link and selecting the date you want to attend.

The workshop is offered monthly on Thursdays from 9:30am – 12:30pm. Upcoming dates include: August 22, September 26 and October 24.