The Business Essentials: Recent Episodes
Viola Welang
Viola Welang is a champion for small business success and this podcast is dedicated to providing you with the foundation of what you need to create and run a successful business. As a business strategist Viola helps businesses exceed their goals. Her clients triple their revenue, increase their bottom line by up to 60%, improve productivity through efficient systems and ultimately have a better work-life balance. Her experience spans different industries including - information technology, AV, environmental waste construction, design, business services, government contracting, ecommerce, retail and non-profits.
The entrepreneurial journal is so rewarding, however it can also be challenging and overwhelming; it doesn’t have to be like that and I want to help you achieve your vision without the headache. In this podcast I will give you the scoop on creating a solid foundation to run and scale your business; welcome the business essentials.
I am continuing my series on simple strategies for business optimization. Today we look at three strategies to strengthen your financial positions.
Key points:
- Understanding what financial stability is
- Three simple strategies are:
- Improve business performance
- Review key financial ratios monthly
- Assess your money mindsets
- Make business planning a part of your operating framework
Mentions:
Ep 7 - Pricing at the Net
Ep 25 - 5 Tips for Reviewing Financial Statements
Business Done Right Guide - https://thebessentials.com/shop/p/the-business-done-right-framework
Strategic Planning Course - https://thebessentials.teachable.com/p/strategic-planning
www.thebessentials.com
hello@thebessentials.com
Social - thebessentials
I know that a lot of business planning is done around this time of the year, so I want to spend the next couple of weeks sharing simple strategies that you can implement to optimize your business performance as you go into the new year.
Key points:
- Strategies are a high level plan to achieve goals and objectives
- Strategies will center around financial, operational, customer and human resources
- Operational strategy - improving quality of products and services
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How to improve quality?
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Listen to your customers
- Fix the problem
- Measure the progress
Mentions:
The Ice Cream Maker - AMAZON
Business Done Right Guide - https://thebessentials.com/shop/p/the-business-done-right-framework
Strategic Planning Course - https://thebessentials.teachable.com/p/strategic-planning
www.thebessentials.com
hello@thebessentials.com
FB, IG, IN: @thebessentials
This is the time to start planning for the next year in business. If you wait until January, you are late. In this episode I share how my company plans for the new business year.
Key points:
- Planning ahead improves your chances of success
- Our business planning process in three phases:
- Assessment - a thorough deep dive into our internal and external business environment, including a key issues analysis.
- Build - create goals that align with our vision and cascade them down to objectives, strategies and tactics. The assessment phase helps us create the right goals and strategies to fit our unique business needs.
- Implementation - create an action plan with clear performance measures (KPIs and Matrix), ownership and accountability.
Mentions:
Business Done Right Guide - https://thebessentials.com/shop/p/the-business-done-right-framework
Strategic Planning Course - https://thebessentials.teachable.com/p/strategic-planning
www.thebessentials.com
hello@thebessentials.com
FB, IG, IN: @thebessentials
This episode is a Coffee Chat Workshop hosted by Channer Consulting LLC. During this workshop I talk about goal setting in business and how to do it right. Goal setting is an important part of any business's success.
Key points:
- What are business goals
- Why goal setting is important in business
- How to set business goals
- Creating an action plan that translates your goals to action
Connect:
www.thebessentials.com
IG/FB/in - @thebessentials
Today I am talking with Masami and she shares her entrepreneurial journey. She is a 2-time TEDx speaker, Amazon Best-selling author, winner of Sustainable Business Award and the founder of a global giving movement B1G1
Key points:
- Highlight of business ventures prior to B1G1
- Her Why
- The challenges along the way
- The business’s role in creating a united and sustainable world
Mentions:
Website info: b1g1.com
Masami’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/masamisato/
B1G1’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/buy1give1
B1G1’s Facebook: https://www.fa
In today’s conversation we are talking about social media strategies that work. Our guest Philippa is a Certified Digital Marketing Coach with Channer Consulting, LLC which is designed and optimized to serve small business owners who value the state of their marketing efforts but lack the time, resources, or expertise to develop a solid marketing plan.
Key points:
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The foundation of an effective social media strategy
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A plan that is unique to your business
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The resources to execute the plan
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Keep the momentum
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Monitor environmental changes
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A clear call to action
- Measuring performance of your social media efforts
- Current social media trends
Mentions:
Free monthly webinars, sign up is on the website
Websitewww.channer-consulting.com
Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/philippachanner/
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/channerconsulting/
Ecommerce is a big deal right now and we are chatting with an expert to understand what it takes to strive in this space. In this episode, Chase Clymer shares how he helps clients grow their ecommerce businesses, from strategic design to development and marketing decisions.
Key points:
- Standing out as an ecommerce entrepreneur
- Niching down versus mass market and why?
- Strategy insight -growing revenue by increasing cart size
- Pre and post nurturing sequence advice for ecommerce businesses
- A common challenge that ecommerce entrepreneurs face
- Marketing tips and industry trends
Mentions:
Website - https://electriceye.io/
Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/chaseclymer/
Podcast - Honest Ecommerce
In this episode, we have Maureen, who is the brand growth strategist behind some of America’s most beloved brands, like L'Oréal, Chobani, Dove, and Lays. She is taking her expertise to the small business world and helping clients create millions of dollars brands. She will be sharing all about product pricing models and retail readiness.
Key points:
- Numbers run deep when in comes to choosing the right pricing model for your products
- The different types of pricing strategies
- How to position your product for retail or success in general
- The 4P marketing mix - pricing, product, promotion, place
- Big brands versus small brands, what is the difference?
Mentions:
Strategy Call: https://startwardconsulting.as.me/growth-strategy-call
Website Site: www.startwardconsulting.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maureenmwangiofficial/
Linked-in: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maureenmwangi/
Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/groups/productentrepreneurswhoscale
Mindset impacts our businesses and leadership performance; in this episode we dive into the mindset of successful business leaders with Shawna Schuh. She is a Master NLP Practitioner and she coaches leaders who want to improve results with people.
Key points:
- Why mindset is an important part of being a successful leader
- Some mindset traits of effective leader include being coachable, confidence, focus and action takers
- Take action by asking “what is the next step”
- Challenges of leadership transformation
Mentions:
A free Quiz to uncover Your Leadership Blindspot
https://shawnaschuh.simplero.com/page/202649-quiz1
My Level Up Your Leadership online course.
https://shawnaschuh.simplero.com/page/181650-level-up-your-leadership-course
www.ShawnaSchuh.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/shawnaschuh/
https://www.facebook.com/shawna.schuh/
Overview:
What are the key issues holding your business back from growth or success? How do you identify those issues so that they can be prioritized and addressed? That is exactly what I am sharing in today's episode. Every business has multiple challenges, but not all of them are key issues; identifying key issues in an integral part of moving forward in business.
Key points:
- Understanding what key issues are
- es areHow to analyze your business’s key issues
- Review you successes and failures, financial ratios, performance and environment
- Prioritizing high impact issues
Connect:
www.thebessentials.com
FB, IG, IN: @thebessentials
My approach as a small business strategist has always been to look at best practices amongst successful companies and adapt to the small business environment. One of the things that I do not see enough of is a performance measure process within small businesses. It is such a huge part of business growth and success, and it should be at the core of every business’s operations. In this episode, I am sharing a simple performance measure process that you can adapt to fit your business’s needs.
Key points:
- Clear goals and objectives
- Outline strategies
- Identify KPIs
- Review meetings
- Recognition
Mentions:
Ep5: Strategic Planning
Ep15: The Right Way to do Business
www.thebessentials.com
FB, IG, IN: @thebessentials
Today's conversation is about clarity and why it is the key to business success. There are many components necessary for a business to operate successfully but none of them hold the key to business success.
Key points:
- Lack of clarity is expensive and wasteful
- Clarity provides a path forward to achieving your vision
- Decision making a a huge differentiator with successful businesses and clarity helps you make the right decisions for your business
- Clarity provides focus and direction for your team
- Clarity is also having the ability to operate with agility in a changing environment
Mentions:
Episode 26: How to Adapt Your Plan to an Agile Strategic Plan
In this episode I am talking with Shane Pounder of FLIPP. His unique experience in engineering, lean six sigma and operations have strengthened his role as the VP of Operations and Marketing at Flipp.com. Our conversation is centered around how FLIPP navigated the changes in consumer behavior during the COVID 19 pandemic.
Key points:
- Capacity building journey of FLIPP from start up to present
- Stages on consumer behavior changes during COVID-19
- How the FLIPP maneuvered through the crisis
- Always find a way to add value to your customer
Mentions:
Website: https://corp.flipp.com/about-us
Shane LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shanepounder
Download the Flipp App on Google Play and in the Apple Store
Flipp Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/getflipp
In this episode I am talking with Kelly Goss about small business productivity. Kelly is an expert in productivity and she helps small and medium-sized businesses achieve their productivity goals, save time, reduce costs and stay agile as they grow.
Key points:
- Increase productivity and save money
- Why and how to streamline and automate your business
- Overcoming the challenge of streamlining your business
- Case studies of client projects
Mentions:
Website - www.solvaa.co.uk
Harnessing the power of Zapier - https://solvaa.co.uk/wait-list/
My free ebook "Automate! The Essential Guide To Business Productivity" - https://solvaa.co.uk/zapier-ebook/
Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelly-goss/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/automationsolvaa/
Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCV7xqqyJYG-GRw0oXSdCj-Q
In this episode I am talking with Crista Grasso, also known as the “Business Optimizer. Our conversation is around getting off the hustle hamster wheel and accelerating your business growth while doing less. Crista walks us through her Lean Out Method which is designed to simplify business success.
Key points:
- Clarity and next level vision
- Lean out method - context, clarity, commitment, Kaizen
- Defining and implementing the plan by working smarter
- Engage you team with routine check up meetings
- Commitment to achieving goals by being focused, flexible and adaptable in order to achieve the results.
- Kaizen - continuous reflection and improvement
Mentions:
Podcast - The Lean Out Your Business Podcast
Website - https://www.leanoutmethod.com/
Facebook private group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/LeanOutCircle
Simplify to Scale Workshop - https://www.leanoutmethod.com/simplify
https://www.instagram.com/cristagrasso/
In this episode we are talking with Jeff Chastain about the leadership skills necessary for growth. He unpacks the roadblocks that hinder businesses from growing and how we can overcome them. Jeff is sharing all the insights from his experience in helping his clients to overcome the logjam and grow in an efficient and scalable way.
Key points:
- Understanding leadership in a startup versus leadership in a growth oriented business
- Growth starts with clear focus and direction from leadership
- How to effectively communicate company priorities
- Effective delegation of duties
- How to horn these leadership skill
Mentions:
Podcast: Building to Scale by Admentus Inc.
http://www.admentus.com/
https://www.facebook.com/admentusinc/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffdchastain/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/admentus/
Sound processes are fundamental to growing a business but oftentimes implementing these processes don’t always go as planned. After working on numerous process improvement projects, I have a formula for successful implementation that works every time. In this episode, I am sharing the exact formula I use to get the job done.
Key points:
- Documentation
- Communication
- Training
- Consistency
- Update
Mentions:
Free Guide: Processes & Systems that Work - Download Here
FB/IG - @thebessentials
Financial statement review is an important task of a business owner but sometimes it is challenging to do it on a consistent basis when you don’t know what you should be looking at or reviewing. In this episode I am sharing five tips to help business owners review their financial statements consistently and understand what the numbers are saying about their business.
Key points:
- Reviewing income statements in a month by month view
- Comparing performance to goals and targets
- Identify financial ratios that are important to your business
- Review balance sheet in comparison to previous period
- What do look at in your cash flow statement
Mentions:
FB/IG - @thebessentials
Financial Ratios - https://www.netsuite.com/portal/resource/articles/financial-management/small-business-financial-ratios.shtml
Understanding Your Financial Statement Course - https://thebessentials.teachable.com/p/understanding-your-financial-statements
The business environment is constantly changing and we have to approach business planning with agility in order to be sustainable. In this episode, I share five steps to adapting your current strategic plan to an agile strategic plan.
Key points:
- Having more frequent review meetings
- Constantly assess your business environment to identify changes that may affect your business
- Adapting goals and strategies to respond to changes
- Changing your performance measure approach
- Overall mindset change
Mentions:
FB/IG - @thebessentials
The Business Done Right Framework - https://thebessentials.com/shop/p/the-business-done-right-framework
Strategic Planning Course - https://thebessentials.teachable.com/p/business-done-right/26
In this episode Bill shares a lot of insight into his business acquisition journey. Bill acquired three companies in the space of one year and there is so much to unpack about his experience. We cover everything from scouting for businesses to due diligence to financing options and we look at the pros and cons of business acquisition.
Key Points:
- Ways to scout for small business acquisition opportunities include business broker listing and referrals
- Three things to look at when doing due diligence - the cost structure, the customer concentration and the business success factor
- Creating ways to finance for your acquisition includes seller financing and balloon financing.
- Some pros and cons of business acquisition
Mentions:
www.hempci.com
www.sanijohnservices.com
This episode is all about business planning, setting relevant goals and translating them into action. I introduce the strategic planning framework which is widely used by successful companies to consistently achieve their business goals.
Serena Gay is a podcast producer and she shares how she is helping business owners in her community to improve their visibility with podcasting. Podcasting has definitely been trending upwards and it is a great platform to share your expertise and connect with others.
Business success that satisfies at a soul level is definitely more sustainable! In this Episode Bethany shares a wealth of knowledge around developing energetic intelligence as a tool for personal and business development. We as business owners and people in general are constantly receiving information, and energetic intelligence helps us trust the information and apply it in our circumstances.
Marketing is simply how you communicate with your customer or clients; in this episode, we explore the foundations of creating an effective message. It involves getting really clear on your ideal customer and identifying your niche market so that your messaging is very targeted and subsequently effective. Rana shares practical tools for crafting consistent messaging that reflects our core values and brand awareness.
Sales can definitely be intimidating, but Rachele simplifies it in a way that is easy to understand and apply. She shares her one basic fundamental sales strategy which is applicable in any industry or business model. At the end of the day, we are all in sales whether we are conscious about this or not, and we have to be intentional about our sales process.
Resilience is a prerequisite for a great entrepreneur because there will be challenges in your business but you have to find the strength to move forward and not be tripped up by failure. In this episode I share six tips on being a resilient entrepreneur, and this is all based on my experience and how I deal with failures or challenges.
In this episode, I had the pleasure of talking with Alexandra Jellerette who is the President and co-founder of Zane Networks LLC, a health IT company in Washington DC. Our conversation was all about how the strategic planning framework transformed the way Zane Network operates.
This is a live workshop given to a culinary community on Processes and Systems that Work. Every business runs on processes and systems, so it is important to be intentional about creating processes that achieve our desired outcomes. This episode gives an inside look into processes and systems and how to create effective systems that work for your business.
This episode is all about having a clear vision and how it greatly affects your team and business.
Leading with a vision is in fact the gold standard when it comes to leadership. Not only does it provide focus and clarity to leadership, it also increases team engagement.
This episode is all about answering the question - is there a right way to do business? This is an important question to ask especially if you feel stuck and not making the progress you desire in your business. We get into business knowing the “what” but do we think about the “how”
In this episode I talk about a common problem that happens every year within small business establishments - theft. It is very unfortunate and we need to be aware of how to protect ourselves.
This episode is all about pricing; iff you have ever wondered about your pricing, I want to break it down with a simple formula.
Revenue = All Financial Obligations + Owner’s Pay + Net Profit
In other words, the amount of revenue you generate should cover all your financial obligations including the owner’s pay and provision for net income. Anything short of this signals a potential problem in your pricing, and it should be reviewed.
Co-ownership can be a great thing if it is done right. In this episode two co-owners touch on different aspects of running a business together.
Bookkeeping in my opinion is the most important function in your business, so whether you are a small business, seasoned business or just starting out, bookkeeping should be prioritized. Good bookkeeping makes you a better business because it helps you have a better understanding of your business, manage your finances better, review performance, plan and make decisions and helps with compliance. My five steps to DIY bookkeeping are 1) finding the right system 2) understanding the foundation of bookkeeping 3) recording transactions 4) bank reconciliations 5) review your financial statements.
There are so many business tools available and the question sometimes is which tool to use. Well depending on the stage of your business you may find the business model or the business plan more useful.
Most of us had big plans for 2020 am sure, and here we are in a lingering pandemic which might last for the whole year depending on where you live. The one way to stay productive regardless of what is going on is to plan, plan plan. In this episode I talk about planning as a productivity tool and how I use planning to be productive.
Whether you are a solopreneur or manage a team, the CEO role is still the most important function in your business. In this episode I talk about the responsibilities of a CEO and how we as small business should prioritize this role. It is all about finding a balance between the different things we are doing and making room for the CEO.
Just like in sports, it is all about what happens at the net. I this episode, I demonstrate how businesses can create pricing for product or services on the basis of their desired Net Income. I explore what it means to price from the Net Income and also highlight two examples to demonstrate this practice.
All businesses run on processes and systems, so we need to get it right. In this episode, I highlight four compelling reason why process improvement should be at the top of your priority list and I also provide six properties of a good process. The goal is to constantly take stock of our internal processes and ensure that they are working well for the business.
I have seen first hand the impact that strategic planning can have on a business and I truly believe that it is one of the most important exercises that any business can undergo. In this episode I talk about what strategic planning is, how it is done and why it is so important. It is all letting your vision lead the way.
The #1 reason why small businesses fail is around finances. I have pulled 4 tips from my 13 years of experience in financial management, which I am sharing in this episode. It is not about how much money you make but how well you manage what you make.
This episode is review of a crisis management tool I created; the Business Survival Guide is designed to deal with the daily challenges of a crisis while planning for post crisis recovery.
There are many wonderful reasons why we get into business, but a good reason alone does not guarantee business success. We need the right building blocks to consistently execute our business purpose. 1. Strategic Planning - let your vision determine your priorities. 2. Systems & Processes - create the right systems so that you business can function at on optimal level. 3. Financial Management - understand and manage your financial resources