Why dreams are important as we need something to hang on to when the going gets tough.

The importance of the business owner – why you need to be looking after yourself before you can help others – wearing your oxygen mask – how you think and behave will have such an impact on your business
success planning process – time to stop thinking about business as traditional functions and begin to think more in terms of what activities you should be doing: creating demand, producing/delivering what you do, administrating your business and building a team.

Strategy and tactics – the ‘what you’re going to do’ and ‘how you’re going to do it’ and how to make sure you are doing the right things effectively – and doing them efficiently to create a thriving business.

We introduce you to the Smarter Growth Plan – a one page plan which provides a step by step approach to what you need to do and how you’re going to implement it

What realistic timescales to set around your new business and what resources are you going to need?

Being able to articulate your Why? Why do you do what you do? We hear from Simon Sinek who helps us think differently about our motivation to start our business and begin to be able to communicate our purpose

We look at two key strategic questions – Who are your customers and What will you do for them? – and to answer that we really need to understand the market

Marketing is: Meeting Customer Needs Profitably –  it’s all about striking the right balance… between the needs of business owner and the needs, wants and desires of the customer…

Mapping the marketplace – and identifying who your competitors are and where you will position yourself in the market.

Understanding who your customers are – are they A-class awesome superstars or really a bit of a D-class disaster sapping you of time and energy?

Did you know that it’s significantly more cost effective to market to existing customers? However – 68% of customers leave due to a ‘perceived indifference’.

 Exploring the difference between ‘features’ and ‘benefits’ – and do we have the confidence to distinguish between the two? What is it that makes your business unique and how will you convey the benefits to your ideal customer.

Putting your marketing strategy into action – why should people choose you? What do you want to be known for? What makes you unique and how do you create a brand around those answers.

20 minute branding workshop – when we look at your businesses reputation – your reputation and how people will perceive you….

The famous marketer David Ogilvy often said: “You need to be damn good before you can risk being famous…”

Carmel Allen CEO of Tate Commerce and formerly Brand Champion of Heal’s, Editor in Chief of GDR Creative Intelligence and Creative Director of Linley London, talks to us directly about branding in this special session all about market positioning

Building a brand is like building a tribe – how do we engage with and get to know our customers? And why is important to build a strong brand identity (Harley Davidson)

Golden tips about how to develop a logo – how to make sure your logo gives off the image you want to create for your business

Working on how you communicate effectively – without being too overbearing and ‘salesy’ yet leaving people interested to find out more about what you are doing….

How to find the right voice to speak to your customers – not shout at them!

This module is all about creating demand – getting your name out there. Showing yourself in the best light and thinking about where to find your customers? (which one sells)

Look at tools to reach customers – you need to find out where they are – are they on social media? We need to find out the best way to engage with them….

Account management and how to retain our existing customers? Talk to them and give excellent service…

In the breakout rooms we will talk about how to make your customers more ‘sticky’

Setting a fair price – which strategy to use? And fully understanding the difference between mark up and margin  (also could use your pic of cash register)

Preparing a quote to make sure that there are no nasty surprises – for you and the customer and how to invoice correctly as well as making it easy for people to pay – removing the friction

This module is all about new customer acquisition – a real ‘nuts and bolts’ session about what strategies we use to create demand and find customers, and to do that we need to learn how to sell…

The sales paradox ‘People hate being sold to, but they love to buy’ . This week we hear from Elmer Wheeler – who coined the famous phrase ‘Don’t sell the steak, sell the sizzle’ back in 1936. Still as relevant today as it was then.

The customer journey – being able to put yourself in the shoes of your customers – helps remove friction and enables a great level of service

Planning your marketing activity – how only using one lead generation strategy is like putting all your eggs in one basket…. the best idea is to use more than one and less than 10…

We introduce you to one of Good2Great’s greatest tools in our client toolkit – our Lead Generator – a simple online tool which anticipates and predicts sales through targeted marketing activity – taking the guesswork out and allowing you to plan, budget, track and trace your marketing strategy.

In this module you will start understanding the numbers – and measuring what matters. Gaining confidence to manage your business finances.

Do you understand what working capital is? Have you accounted for it in your business plans? We will walk you (gently) through it…..

Breakeven – it sounds such an obvious thing to understand. It’s when we cover all our costs right? Do you know exactly what your breakeven point is? And how to calculate it and how it feels very different according to what type of business you are starting…

All about being as effective as you possibly can – focusing on 3 areas: the entrepreneurial mindset, building great relationships by using DiSC to become more self aware, and learning to prioritise and plan with better time management skills.

The entrepreneurial mindset – learning to think in a different way. What are the key determinants of success?

Exploring the 5 essential attitudes of entrepreneurial people: Opportunity takers, humility, active dreamers, creative problem solvers and evaluators (is the juice worth the squeeze)

The key to business success if about the relationships you build. In this module we are joined by DiSC expert Heidi Blakeway of the Fruitful Toolbox who guides us through a journey of self awareness which will help us understand ourselves – and others – better!

Time management  – making the most of your most valuable resource. How to prioritise and plan. And we hear from Tim Urban about procrastination in his acclaimed Ted Talk and look at Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.

We walk through and give you the template to plan your ‘perfect week’ to help you learn to prioritise what’s important.

This module is all about your future ideas for growth and sustainability. We examine what makes businesses more resilient; a healthy business owner, risk mitigation, understanding the need for a strong balance sheet and the need for knowhow and efficient systems and processes.

We cover the legal aspects of starting a business: how to register with HMRC, how to find funding for a new business and some of the legal documents you will need in place, such as terms and conditions, contracts and confidentiality agreements.

Systemising the small details of your business will lead to great efficiency and great profitability  – we will cover digital systems, CRM systems, banking and insurance, as well as take a look at intellectual property.