Episode 55: How to Recession-Proof Your Business with Sigrun

Intro (00:01): When you give smart women a five-year plan, simple business strategies and a positive mindset. It's amazing how fast your business can grow. Welcome to the fast track woman podcast with your host and business strategist, Terra Bohlmann. She helps women business owners stop winging it and board the fast track to success. When she's not making high flying dreams, the reality you can find her traveling to random destinations, desperately tracking down Chanel, broaches, or sipping overpriced coffee drinks. Her purpose in life is to help you build a profitable first-class business, smooth out the bumpy ride, and finally have more time, energy and freedom. So buckle your seatbelt because this episode of the fast track woman takes off right now. So welcome back to the fast track

Terra Bohlmann (00:59): Black entrepreneur podcast. I'm your host, Terra Bohlmann and I am super excited today to bring you an amazing guest. She is a huge advocate for women entrepreneurs. We are, I feel like soul sisters in some way. We both very much love to serve women. And I know she's going to serve us with everything she's got on today's episode. So let me read her formal bio and then I'll bring her on and we'll just hop right to it. So today we have on the show Sigrun she is on a mission to accelerate gender equality through female entrepreneurship. She is the leading business mentor for female online entrepreneurs in Europe. She's a TEDx speaker and the host of her own podcast called the Sigrun show. Originally from Iceland. She has spent more than half of her life outside her home country in Germany, in the United Kingdom and Switzerland, since she was a young girl, she's always been drawn to leadership roles.

Terra Bohlmann (01:59): So despite having zero business background, nor the education, she made a life-changing phone call and asked to become the CEO of a software company shortly after finishing her master's degree in architecture. And guess what? She got the job 10 years, another three master's degrees and several CEO roles later. Sigrun found herself in Switzerland with her newfound love, but sick and unemployable. Her dream was to be location independent so she could spend time in Iceland and Switzerland and travel the world as well as take care of her health. So in 2014, Sigrun started her online business. And within four years she built a seven figure business, helping women from all over the world. Her signature program is Samba [inaudible] online MBA and her other programs are SOMBA momentum, a group coaching program, and at VIP mastermind, a mastermind program and the circle, which is the first million dollar mastermind for female entrepreneurs in Europe. Synchrony's motto is be inspired. Think big and take action. So welcome to the fast track podcast. How are you? Sigrun thank you for being here.

Sigrun (03:15): I am so happy to be here with you, Kara and I love fast-track like that. So that's where we are aligned as well. Okay.

Terra Bohlmann (03:24): I love it. Like who we definitely resonate on this, like who doesn't want to be on the fast track, right? It's like I've found even in my corporate world, and I'm sure you were this way too, because you can't just pick up the phone and say, Hey, I'll be your CEO. If you don't want to just be on the fast track. And that is like the fastest way to become CEO is just ask for it like that. Yeah. So what gave you the confidence to even do that? Like to just pick up the phone and just say, Hey, I'm looking for a CEO role. You want to hire me?

Sigrun (03:57): It took a little bit more than that. It was quite scary phone call, to be honest. But what happened was that I was back in Iceland after studying in Germany and Switzerland architecture. And I had moved over to computer science. I decided not to become an architect after six and a half year study. And I wasn't a software company and it was a company that has their own CMS. This was before WordPress, before everything became, so Kinsey

Terra Bohlmann (04:28): Was so

Sigrun (04:29): Complicated and we thought, Oh, that's great. We have our own CMS. And I was just a project manager really, but I would be in contact with most of the clients. So I had a pretty good idea of the company. It was a small company with 15 employees. And one day after I had been there pretty much exactly one year I come to work in, the company had been sold. And first I just thought, you know, actually everyone in the company was sad because we didn't have clarity who bought it. What's going to happen to us. And with this on clarity with this confusion and chaos, that happened as a result, I started to get the crazy idea that I could apply for the job. It was clear that our current CEO would leave and he really was never acting as a proper CEO. He was like 50% there.

Sigrun (05:22): He never met any customers. So I had contacts with all the customers. So I felt actually that a lot of my job was already what a CEO should be doing. I just didn't have access to the books and I was not, you know, managing that part of the business. So I got the crazy idea and I throw it away. I was like, that's crazy. You're just a project manager with an architecture degree, like, or you do ask for the job. Right. And that's the thing. Sometimes ideas are just meant to come back and back until you accept that you have to do something about them. And after several days I was like, well, maybe, you know, who knows? And I, I truly also, I guess it's a naive belief that the world is good than anything is possible that helps there. And I'm like, Hey, we had a female precedent in 1980, already in Iceland.

Sigrun (06:16): So who knows, maybe this is possible for me to I figured out too, I bought the company and I went on their website and I see that I know a person I had played with her. She was my neighbor when I was 10 years old. And I was like, well, I'll call her up because you know, that doesn't hurt. She's not a stranger to me. She knows who I am. We hadn't spoken in 20 years or more. And I just call up and ask her, Hey, I see that your company has bought my company. Well, the company that I worked for, do you think they already have a CNO in mind? Or what do you think is happening? No, we don't. We're busy doing other projects. This is a relatively small company for us. So not the priority right now, but if you're interested, send us a memo.

Sigrun (07:06): So that's how it all started. And then I had to make a phone call one day. And because I had taken one day off from work to study for an exam in computer science, which I was studying on the side and exactly that day, the owner comes to take a look at the company. And I was like, this now it's in or out. Like if I don't reach out to this person today, I've lost my chance. That's basically the story I told myself. And I think I'm right. Like there are these moments. You take, you grab your chance or you leave it. And then, you know, it's gone and I'm like, I'm not going to let this chance go by. So I got ahold of him on his mobile phone and we were in a coffee shop half an hour later. And he was grilling me like his lawyer was with questions that I couldn't answer, but I think I could answer enough questions that we continue the conversation. This took a few weeks, but he said he loved my boldness.

Terra Bohlmann (08:07): Hm. Wow. How cool. And how inspiring is that for? Like, whether it's you want to be the CEO or you just want to land that next client, like, it's just, you know, you liquid reverse, engineered everything and just made it happen. So I think that's fantastic. I forgot that you had had a computer science degree too. So do I. And I was like, then I have a business degree and I think that's, we're very like system Z type of people. And I think, yeah, I think that is just like a perfect story of anything's possible. So thank you so much for sharing. So yeah, let's move into the women entrepreneur side. So what made you decide to go in to that space? What made you want to leave the tech the corporate side and then step into this crazy world of online business?

Sigrun (08:59): Well, it also took a few steps. I think I always knew kind of inside of me that I would have my own business. I was just looking for that perfect business idea. And unfortunately, a lot of us, I think women may be especially hesitate to take that step. So I needed several wake up calls. I was in Switzerland, I moved in 2008 with my now husband. I got a job, but then I became sick. And this is now 10 years ago, I got sick and I got so sick that I had like this horrible headaches and pain in my body. And I just had to take like a sick leave and that's sick leave for seven months. And it makes you think because my brain was on a hundred percent. So it was my buddy that just needed a break. And it makes you think like, what do you want to do for the rest of your life? Like, do you want to keep on working for others or is it time to finally make that dream come true? But I was still stuck on that business idea. It was like, what is it? Even though I had been a CEO for 10 years, had an MBA from London business school had done everything I'd done in my life. I still was avoiding the business coaching thing. So I was like looking for other ideas. I was like, thinking more like a startup versus actually being more like a coach consultant type.

Terra Bohlmann (10:23): Yeah. I did the same thing. And I think because same thing coming from the corporate world, I had no idea this business coaching industry even was a thing 10 years ago. And it wasn't as popular then as it is now, but it was like, I was very resistant to it and people would be like, it sounds like you want to be a business coach. And I was like, Hmm, I don't know. I didn't go. I know. I just want to mentor women with strategies and you know, so I was the same way. Did you have a practice business before you launched the online? But because I had a practice business, that's what I call it. When that I thought I wanted. And I thought it was like a bridge, but in reality it wasn't quite it. Or did you just jump right into the main thing?

Sigrun (11:03): So actually the sickness was like a wake up call, but I was still scared. You know, I think when you're sick, it's maybe not the best time to start a business because, you know, if the, you know, safety and security of some monthly income and when someone called me and offered me to be a country manager for a software company in Switzerland, you know, I took the job partly because I was like, okay, I need to heal. Even after seven months, I wasn't like fully healed. I was still having some issues. So yeah, it was a big scare to jump into entrepreneurship. Ben and I had the idea, I still was looking for my idea, which is totally stupid. You just have to do something

Terra Bohlmann (11:40): Totally.

Sigrun (11:41): But this job helped me because I could work from home and I could take care of my health and do the job, but it was it was like a cold calling job and I've never had such a job in life where I have to reach out, you know, I'm, I'm rather like the attracting model where I track the clients to me versus me having to make phone calls with absolute strangers. And then, and the job didn't suit me very well, but, you know, I was a complete start-up, so that was fun. And it was software. So I lasted there for about 15 months and I kind of suggested that they fire me, which they'd been bit to save money. So then I had lost my job twice in two years and been sick for seven months. I was like, okay, you need three signs from the universe.

Sigrun (12:25): Here are your three signs. And then I was kind of forced. I took part in a program in Switzerland. They have for unemployed people. If they see you as a potential entrepreneur, they actually support you. So you get paid without having to look for a job and you get an extra startup course for free. And I took advantage of that. And then I'm kind of forced. I had to found my company. And the first thing I did, I immediately went back into the safety zone of being a consultant, which I had done all along on the side. And I was doing like business consultancy, the old fashioned way, like where you do that PowerPoint slides and you'd come up with business development ideas. Right. And I realized as soon as I've taken on that client, I was like, no, this is not what I want.

Sigrun (13:14): Yeah. But online business, I was like, that's what I want. I want an online business. So yeah, I think I just needed six months of that test business doing something. I didn't like, I was getting paid for it. Not a lot, but you know, I was not on the street. And then in January, 2014, I'm like, no, I am going to be a business coach. I know it. I feel it like, it just took me a long time to get there. And that is also one of the things that I want to do for my clients if they are in that space of like, yeah, I've been thinking for several months or years seeing what I'm like, stop thinking, start doing

Terra Bohlmann (13:52): Yes. Hence the fast track. It's like get a mentor of someone who's been there. And that's what I admire so much about you Sigrun is that you've been in the trenches more so than anyone that a lot of we'll just say a lot of people who are business coaches now. And sometimes I feel like when you're in the trenches and you've experienced it, then you can help on that transformation faster because we're not, you know, making things up as we go along or repeating what another coach has told us, but it's like, Hey, this is what worked for me, you know, but how's this feel for you? Okay. And if that feels in alignment, then it's go time. Right. And you don't let people stay still very long. Yeah. And I think that's just something super powerful that other women entrepreneurs need to blaze that trail for others.

Terra Bohlmann (14:42): And you do that very well. So thank you for all that amazing work that you do. So now, like, you know what I'm curious, like, based on, cause worked with a good number of women as well. And I've continued to see the reoccurring theme of, I was in a corporate type of setting. I got ill or something happened because I was trying to manage such for me. It was like I was trying to manage a high level of stress and then I got burnt out. So then I did what seemed comfortable, which was I did consulting that type of stuff. But what I found was I was working harder for clients for far less money. And I was like, I just replaced my corporate job with a self-employed job, making less and being responsible for bookkeeping taxes, all the things. And I was like, well, that's not quite it.

Terra Bohlmann (15:34): But I feel like a lot of us, our bodies will almost let us know when it gets to be too much. And so for me, it came forth and I have an auto-immune, I have a thyroid issue, but then also I have that a Lago and which is the white, my skin turns white and in certain areas of my body. And that was like, my big aha was, Oh my gosh. Like I was pushing through stress so much that literally my body had to like show me that I need to relax and like restrategize. And are you seeing that as something for other women entrepreneurs to, especially the high achievers that literally your body will like tell you, you have to slow down.

Sigrun (16:14): Yeah, absolutely. I think, you know, I work with all the way from beginners to women making a million dollars. And I can see that when you're very passionate about what you do, it's kind of hard to stop working. And if they don't make that flip over to actually hiring a team and implementing processes and systems, as we both like, and to enjoy, you know, that is the real danger that you basically start to kill yourself, doing what you love. And then you start to resent it. You know, you may be, are charging too low prices and working too hard and that can kill your passion. So it is so important to realize when you lo longer should be a solo entrepreneur and actually have a team. And then there comes another point, which I feel I'm at right now is like, I need to change things into a corporation. Like when you start to have, like, I have a team of 10 people or so right now, and we're still operating a little bit entrepreneurish and I know this is exactly what I need to change right now, but I just like, there's a stage for everyone. And I know if I don't change, make changes, I also have this danger off, like not liking what I'm doing, because I'm doing things that I shouldn't be doing.

Terra Bohlmann (17:28): Right. And there's no, it's not a joke whenever people say like, cause the next level is, you know, new opportunities are always coming up. There's no, you know, I always say like, let's fast track your success and your success is gonna look different for you than it is for me versus the woman next door. Right. Because only we can define what that looks like. And so that's always like the step one when I work with my clients is like, what does success look like in five years? Let's define that. Because if we're not clear on that, you may end up building something that you don't want, or, you know, maybe you just want, I know you had trademarked lifestyle business a while back and it was like, maybe you just want that lifestyle business, but maybe you want to have the corner office with 5,000 employees.

Terra Bohlmann (18:17): Let's be clear with that right now. And then it makes it easier to, you know, for your business coach to help you get there. And you know, so I think there's something really powerful in that, but knowing we can't just close our eyes and Oh, you know, and blink and it's going to be easy peasy to be at that exact level there's work that is involved. And as you grow, no matter what stage, because like you, I work with women transitioning from corporate as a startup and then all the way to the million plus, you know, we've seen their evolution and its different problems for different stages and we can call them opportunities. Right. But it's like sometimes we're in one stage and you're worried about building a team when you haven't even made your first 20 sales yet. Right. So it's like, let's just take it in that step by step strategic order.

Terra Bohlmann (19:07): And I love that you do that for women, especially that are focused on the online business side. Cause it can feel really overwhelming. So we wanted to make sure we talked about how to recession proof your business because especially with what's going on in the world today, it's really important that women have that safety and security that we just naturally want in our life. And when things are out of our control, because you know, some of us may have some control issues. I'm raising my hand. It's like, then we don't know how to we just stall or we stop. And you know, and we don't want to do that, but you know, so will you give us your top tips on how to recession proof your business?

Sigrun (19:52): Yeah. So maybe when you know, COVID hit, I realized I should talk more about me. Actually. I was a turnaround CEO, you know, when I got that job with that one phone call, I thought I was becoming a CEO of a 15 people software company. Well, I became a turnaround CEO. What, I didn't know when I applied for the job, they had been losing money for seven years and without business education or proper business background, I somehow knew how to do it a turnaround. And I didn't realize like that's a skill that some people have and others don't or, you know, so you've not been there like, so within 11 months I turned around the company and then I took a one over another turnaround situation at a much bigger company the fourth largest it company in Iceland. So when COVID hit, I started to talk more about that.

Sigrun (20:48): I started to do a daily Facebook live turnaround talks and just talk about this. And I realized like, Oh, actually I can take some of that experience and, and help women reassess your proven business. So that's how it all started me talking so much about recession proving our business because in a typical recession, what we've seen like 2008 and you know, previous, typically every 10 years, there's a recession. So you just gotta plan this in. You know, even if you feel you can't plan it, you can actually kind of plant for it. And typically in a recession, people lean to low price or high price. So let's say if we take the recession that was 2008, the financial crisis McDonald's was a good company because it's cheaper to eat there, then going to a restaurant and dining properly. So they were in good business at the same time.

Sigrun (21:45): It's good to sell Louis Vuitton packs because rich people get richer in a recession and it's not good to be caught in the middle. That's the typical thing about recession, but this one is a little bit different. It is not good to be a little bit on right now. I can tell you that because in a lockdown there's no chance to go out and show your back or your shoes or whatever else they're selling. And actually at least in Switzerland, McDonald's closed down. They closed down all their for several weeks. Yeah. Burger King kicked that open. It was takeaway, but you know, so this recession was different. It didn't even follow the principle of a recession. And a recession also has phases. We haven't hit the deepest phase yet because when people get laid off, at least for instance, in Europe, they typically get three months pate.

Sigrun (22:44): So the economy doesn't feel the recession during those three months and people are maybe keeping their money a little bit closer to themselves, but they're still, you know, not completely stopping spending, but what this recession definitely has the same hallmarks as previous ones is education goes through the roof. I know just from the university of Iceland, like they're totally over booked for that fall. And you know, that's any of my clients that has like a training that has some kind of a certificate and like that it's kind of like a bit gives you some credibility in the market. Maybe if you can post and say, I did this or did that, they are doing crazy. Well, you know, a lot of online courses are doing well, like online is just booming. But if you have something like more tangible, like, Oh yeah, I get this completion certificate.

Sigrun (23:41): Those two, even better people are looking to use their time. Well, and they will invest wisely. They will look at something that is more lasting, more like feels more like a university, even if it's not university. Yeah. So this happens in every recession. So I think there are certain things that people can do. Even if you've done it, haven't done it already. Like you can implement certain things in your business that make it feel more recession proof. So you may not even have to invent a new program. You may just have to make it more desirable for this current situation. I think in this recession right now, people like us benefit more because we've been in the market so long. We have the brand, we have the recognition, we have lots of content out there. It's a lot easier than someone starting out, but it's never too late.

Sigrun (24:33): Like it's better to start than not start. And then you can immediately go and offer those programs that people are more interested in. So I would say don't be caught in the middle, whatever that middle is, adding some kind of certification, you know, I don't teach like, Oh, you learn X, Y set. I have implementation programs. My programs are designed for you to do the work still. I have a certification completion certificate that we have a company mail out for our participants. And we kind of like, and they post pictures online. They're so proud to have finished. So it does matter. Even if you think it's like, isn't it just enough that they're build their business and they make more money. No, they want that certificate. Yeah. I really found like if there is, because education is solid in any recession, so I'm not even just talking about this one, but 10 years from now, there will be another recession.

Sigrun (25:31): Yep. Do you have a, the feeling of your, whatever you're teaching, we're doing a coaching. Like, does it feel like an education that is worth investing in so good and PR the best time to deep PR is in recession because that is where people are looking and they're looking for credibility, so they will go and check and they will see. And if you see, you know, it could even be a TEDx, but of course you have to do it before the recession. You know, there's no events and learn, but you know, if you can get in the newspaper gone, multiple podcasts, podcasts going like crazy. There was a dip in the beginning though, where people stopped listening because there was less commute, but then it came back. So there's been a comeback. And I think people have found different ways to listen to podcasts. But yeah, so these are kind of, I'm not giving you 10 hits, but you know, some ideas how to recession proof, your business, that you can design a business that it's ready for a recession.

Sigrun (26:33): I think also because this caught in the middle thing is, is always what I'm very off. I think we've seen that less now, but people will not shy away from investing 3000, 10,000, 20,000 in recession, but they will do the due diligence. What we have found, for instance, they have talked to other clients, they have scouted your website multiple times that discovery call is not 15 minutes. Maybe it's 45 minutes to really make sure that this is the right program. So there are certain things you can also implement. For instance, we have this group coaching program and people could join any time. What we have done since the recession hit, there's a monthly information call and there's no strings attached and you're not booking a discovery call. You're just information call. So we're doing this monthly information call and every time more people sign up, every time we get more sales, but it's really like, it's easy.

Sigrun (27:30): Like you don't feel you're making a big commitment, just showing up for a call and listening to someone talk about a program. So it's kind of the easy way. And if you have more information more in like absolutely updating your LinkedIn profile, social media profile and focusing on credibility, like why you, you know, if people can have 10 different options, why are you the option? The go to, I think this, you know, when you say foster yourself, like when people see something like a tagline that they like, you know, this is kind of likely to get some in what is the promise that people are looking for right now? I suggest it to many of my clients to offer shorter programs. I have year long programs and we have no problem filling them at the moment, but a three-month program still sells easier. So I think recession proving your business is having the different options, different lengths and not being fixed. I had so many programs that were 12 months and when COVID hit, I immediately created a new program that was just a version of a 12 month program, but I made a three month program and it sold like hotcakes.

Terra Bohlmann (28:34): Yep. I did the same thing. And, and that to me is like what everyone listening needs to needs to do. And this was advice that I think I got maybe five years ago and I was like, okay. But you know, sometimes it takes a while for us to learn something and you know, like you, I had two year long programs, well, I took, how can I chunk out that year long program into just the foundation piece of building your business strategy and made that a mini offer or a bite-size offer that it was great cause people, and then I even took when they invested in that and if they wanted to join in on the year, I said, you know what? I will take what you invested. And it was a thousand dollars that thousand dollars for two months. And I will apply it to the year because you've already done some of the work.

Terra Bohlmann (29:23): And that, I mean, it sold like crazy because, and it was also a great way for me to test them out of what kind of client that would be for a year or two. So it's brilliant. So take what you have simplify it and make it so that it can be modularized and you can plug and play accordingly and always gives you something new to launch if you need to. And it's brilliant, but it takes strategy to do that. And so you have to think in terms of what that, you know, the next time. Right. And so that's so good. I love that. As far as no recession proofing, your business goes, I mean, what do you say to that woman entrepreneur that is kind of freaking out about sales and maybe she was having consistent $10,000 months. And now it's like, you know, squeezing by what, just a few thousand, what does she need to do?

Sigrun (30:18): It is really important. And I learned this from, you know, working on turnarounds. Women have to practice fast. Decision-Making I think procrastinating with decision actually makes it worse and worse. You are not going to know perfectly if a decision is right or not, but it's better to take one and move on. So I think that's one of the things that are really emphasized in my turnaround talks. When I was doing this daily Facebook lives, I was like, take fast decisions. So the first thing you need to do is, you know, take care of your team and then take care of your clients. And then you go out to the community. So that was the crisis mode. Now we've moved beyond, we're not in crisis mode anymore, but there's a lot of people that haven't like pivoted, but, you know, I have worked with people that their complete offline business was gone.

Sigrun (31:09): And we have no idea when, or if it's possible to go back, you just have to accept it. It's it's like this you know, you go through stages of grief. Yeah. It feels like some people just get stuck and said, I used to have this business, you know, and then, you know, it's like they're hoping from some magical thing, just got to accept that we're never, ever going back to the way it was before it. So what if the world is just like, it is now, what if we just have to live? What is wireless and whatever the economy will pick up again, they, money is not gone. There are people spending money. What are they spending money on? So one of the exercises I did, I did like a critical recession proof offer you know, training back in March and may.

Sigrun (32:00): And I asked the people in the training, I said, what would you spend money on right now? And be really honest with us. So I had them all bring the ideas in the training and it turned out people like, Oh, I wish I had a person doing that. I wish I would, you know, I would have found a course from this. And so there are people out there willing to invest. So I think it's more like the scarcity mindset because someone has been hit personally and they're just not getting over it, but there are literally your ideal client, or maybe your new ideal client is out there with money wanting to invest. And you got get out of your stuck mode and say, okay, I'm not going back. What is the new thing? So some people have had to find a new ideal client. Yeah. And sometimes you can actually stay with the same. I declined, but you have to tailor the program. So it actually fits the current situation better. Like we explained, maybe it's just a shorter program, but I have seen so many wonderful transformation. People teaching yoga and Qigong and who knows what, and they've taken their businesses online, piano lessons, jazz singers, like, yeah, I did a 12 week endless

Terra Bohlmann (33:13): Breathwork class where the woman in Canada had just opened her breath work studio and then it all this hat. And so she made it online and it was amazing to be able to breathe with people all over the United States and Canada for 12 weeks on Monday nights. Right. It was like, and once you go down that model, you're like, well, that was pretty awesome. Do I really need to have an in-person studio? I don't know. So I think the opportunities we, you know, we need to focus on the opportunities of now finally, everyone in the world is catching up to working virtually. I mean, I've known for years

Sigrun (33:51): Now. I don't have to explain soon to my friends. They've actually used it. That's it's so cool. Finally, this world that looked so alien to everyone, they're like, well, this is actually a real business. Oh yeah. I can do that stuff. So the opportunities are endless. And I would say for someone who just really sees no path forward with our current or previous business model is to go to the next best option. You know, you have to maybe just accept the fact that your ultimate passion is not the best thing to do right now. You know, I'm all about turning your passion into profit and making a living from your passion. But you also gotta be a realist. If your passion is not what's required right now, if it's not a priority for people, if people are not willing to invest, take whatever else you've done in the past and turn that into business and maybe you'll go back, maybe not. Yeah.

Terra Bohlmann (34:44): And, but you get a choice, but don't say stone, if what she's saying is don't stay stuck and don't let your own mind crap. Right. That's coming up around the stories you're saying that nobody's buying. No, but yes they are. Oh yes they are. Yes, they are. It's just different. So survey your audience, you know, and like, and then give them what they want. Right. They'll tell you. Right. They will tell you if you ask and I love that you asked your community, what would you buy right now? What would you spend money on? And I'm sure they gave you probably 800 business model ideas. Right? People will tell you, if you ask you just gotta be bold enough to ask, ask. I think that's the common theme of this podcast with the Instagram that she asked for the CEO job, she's asking people what they want to buy.

Terra Bohlmann (35:31): She's, you know, asking. And I do that all the time. I have I'm in a mastermind and I'm like, well, how'd you get all those testimonials? Or how'd you get it? She's like I just asked, I'm like, Oh, well, how'd you mail all that stuff to people. How do you get their addresses? I just asked him for it. And I'm like, Oh my gosh. Sometimes, you know, it's like the most simple things and you have to not be afraid to ask. And I love that. So that's beautiful. So as far as fast tracking, like, cause that's really what my audience and my customers love to be able to go faster. Right. And sometimes the real trick is you need to slow down, step back, build out the strategy. So you get more clarity on what you're building in the first place so that you can go faster. But what advice do you have for women entrepreneurs that say, Oh, I just should be further along now. Like I thought three years ago I would have hit the million Mark and I haven't, what do you tell her?

Sigrun (36:33): The first thing is to be surrounded by people who are on the same journey with you. I think there's like a, what do you call this myth? Them or forces like, you know, we just like, even if you're not doing anything, it's just hanging out with the right people is the first step. So depending on where people are in business mastermind could be the right thing, but it's not, if you're in the beginning because you're hanging around with beginners, that's not very helpful. It's fun maybe. But if everyone doesn't know their business idea, you're kind of get stuck there. So mastermind is really, I would say you got to be making 50 or a hundred thousand or even more. So a mastermind really works for you before some sort of a implementation program. It is what people need. And I procrastinate on this myself, you know, I was like, I've been a CEO, I have an MBA.

Sigrun (37:29): I don't need anybody's help. Yeah. Yeah. And it's full of crap. Like, it doesn't work. You need that support. And it's a little bit different depending on the stage. But what I found is I used to have like a course where people could just like, Oh, they can watch this module and that module. And I thought, Oh, that's amazing. They can just do whatever they want whenever they want it. What ended up they didn't do anything. Right. Right. So I completely changed things around few years ago and I'm like implementation. That's really what definitely people in the first year of business, they need that the most that someone telling them what to do, how to do it and just when to do it. And once you're further along, of course you should be able to be self motivated. And maybe you have a team where you can discuss, when is the right thing to do what? But basically just get the right help for the state you're in.

Terra Bohlmann (38:25): So true. And not trying to something I've done when I've done speaking gigs. And you know, I like to always bring worksheets. Like everyone laughs like I'm like the worksheet queen and it's like, cause it's important to me. So you want to teach something and then you want to give them something to apply what you just taught them to them personally. So that's why I love workbooks worksheets and whatnot. And what was amazing to me is how many women will, like, I would have them do an accountability assessment. Right. And so they would have to just like, when you go into the doctor's office, you have like the sad face at like a one and then you have the happy face at a 10. So then there's all the series in between. And then I would ask a specific thing, like, you know, how self motivated are you to, you know, reach out to 20 leads a week, you know?

Terra Bohlmann (39:13): And it would be like, I'm this, you know? And so they would do all their self-assessment and like rank themselves. And then I, what I did was on that other side of the worksheet, it was the exact same chart. And so I would say, okay, that's fantastic. And that could be how you think you're showing up or in your mind you expect for yourself now let's get in the reality, flip it over and let's say, okay, let's, let's get real. What are you really doing today? You know, are you doing these 20? And like, all of them were like, I'm shocked that like the first time we did it, how they try to poise, like they're all poised and together. And then when you get real with it, like tell us what you need, because that's, what's going to move you. We don't have to show up as this perfect person, but instead, you know, let's, let's show up.

Terra Bohlmann (40:03): And I love what you had said about, you know, that too. It's like just reinforces meet yourself where you are. We're not going to compare our beginning to someone else's middle. Right. Cause that's going to keep you totally frustrated. And instead just if you're at start-up own it and then go look for that program that is like the step by step. Tell me what to do. Right. If you're in growth, which means you've got clients, you've got some money, maybe have a couple of people in your team, great. Like go find the, whatever you need the done with you is like, I'm a big done with you person. So I make my clients, here's the thing, go do it, send it to me, I'll review it. And then we move on. Right. And you know, but if you're at that stage where you're in, where you want to scale, that's perfect for a mastermind because everyone else in there too, is that the same type of level as you are?

Terra Bohlmann (40:58): So that was amazing advice. I always ask everyone, I interview that question because and I'm always amazed that people have their own type of experiences, whether it's with customers or with yourself. And it's like, it's one of those things I wish I knew back then. Cause I wanted to go faster and I sometimes still find myself wanting to go faster. And sometimes the trick is, is, you know, we've got a slow down in order to go faster and get that clarity. So fantastic. Well, this has been so good. Will you let our listeners know how can they get in touch you or find out more about your Sigrun? Well, I think the best way is to check out the Sigrun show. And if you like what you hear or my YouTube channel, which we also upload our podcast episodes to it's, Sigrun calm the channel on YouTube, but yeah.

Terra Bohlmann (41:48): Check out the website if you like, what you hear or see on YouTube and the podcast it's sigrun.com. Love it. Thank you so much for sharing all your wisdom. You're just like full of all kinds of great knowledge. I mean this isn't somebody who's just started their company even a few years ago. It's like, that's what I love talking to you because it's like, Oh, we've been at this for this space for a decade. Let alone all this stuff from, you know, the business world and the corporate side that I think a lot of women think, Oh, well that doesn't apply to entrepreneurship, but at a hundred percent, does you just have to tweak it for the entrepreneur, which is really cool. So thank you again. And this was fantastic and go check out her podcast, the Sigrun show as well as the YouTube channel. And can always visit our website@sigrun sigrun.com as well. Thank you. Thank you for having

Outro (42:44): And there you have it. Another jam packed episode of the fast-track woman podcast, don't forget to visit Terra Bohlmann.com where you can get more business tips and strategies learn how we can work together to accelerate your business success or access this podcast. Episodes, show notes with a full transcript and links to resources mentioned today. And if you enjoyed this podcast, I invite you to leave a review so that we can help serve more women business owners to like you until next time here's to owning your time and valuing your word.