Episode #38: Accelerate Your Business Success Now with These 6 Steps with Terra Bohlmann

Announcer (00:02): Welcome to the fast track entrepreneur podcast with your host Terra Bohlmann, you are about to get filled with business strategies, advice and motivation to get you prepared to fast track your five year plan in less than one year. So buckle up and let's create your first class business with clarity and confidence.

Terra Bohlmann (00:29): Welcome back to the fast track entrepreneur. I'm your host , Terra. And today we get to talk about something awesome. And it's going to be all around accelerating your business success right now with six steps. And when I say six steps, I don't want you to feel like that's overwhelming. You don't need to take notes. You can go to my website, TerraBohlmann.com/podcast. And I will have the show notes out there with these six steps, as well as any resources or links that I tell you throughout this episode. So, whew, it's been a, it's been a year so far, right? It's been a little crazy to say the least. And now that we're entering the second half of 2020, I am seeing and feeling it too, from my clients, from other women entrepreneurs I talked to, but if you weren't able to keep your business going at the same momentum that you were prior to everything that happened with the quarantine and the different economy, things that had happened and whatnot.

Terra Bohlmann (01:44): Now you may be feeling like, Ooh, I've got a lot of work to do in the second half of 2020, and that's okay. And that's actually a really good thing. And I'm going to share with you some steps that you can take so that you'll feel like you'll get back that momentum and even hit higher goals than you had in all of 2020. You can get them done in the second part of 2020, right. And then have considered everything you've learned and all your experiences and everything up to this point, just that they are there. Those lessons are there to have taught you and maybe got you to slow down a little bit in your business. And that's really the secret. That's why I love the name of the podcast, the fast track entrepreneur, because sometimes to go faster, we have to slow down. And I'm a firm believer of everything that has happened has been a forced way to have us do just that.

Terra Bohlmann (02:47): And so if you're like me, I didn't do a lot of selling. And the past few months, it didn't feel an aligned in an alignment with me personally, I have clients that to sell, I have friends and all that kind of stuff. And they, some, some cases their businesses were the highest months I've ever had. And I'm so happy for them, but for what I was doing in my own business, I had to shift out my plan and restructure it a little bit because I needed just as much time to not just, I just, I served my current client base and I just wanted to be of service out there rather than focusing on selling anything. And if I did sell anything, it was a lower priced product offering that I have. And what is typically what I would call my down, sell, right? Or my intro offer.

Terra Bohlmann (03:40): Some people might call them a bite sized offer, but it's a way that you can still serve people at a great value, but get them transformations that they need. That aren't a huge investment. So I did a lot of that over the last few months, but now, as I feel things are getting to be moving again, it's time to think, how can we accelerate your business success so that you can achieve or exceed what you originally had planned for 2020? All right. So I'm gonna share with you six steps. All right. The first step will not be a surprise if you've listened to any other podcast, episode of mine before, but it's going to be having a five year plan in place. Why a five year plan and not a one year plan or a 10 year plan? I think a five year plan is something we can visualize a lot easier than a 10 year.

Terra Bohlmann (04:39): I think a one year plan, it goes really fast. And honestly, a large part of the five year plan is when you have these big goals, your brain starts figuring out a way to make it happen. And you end up achieving your goals sooner than five years. So I think five years is a great way because we can visualize it. And if you struggle with five and maybe three years, but a three to five year plan is a must. And all you gotta do is answer these questions. Where am I now? And where do I want to be in five years? And just sit with that. And then you ask yourself, what's going on. What's stopping me from getting there. And this is where you get true, raw, authentic with yourself and list out all those things of what's going to stop you. And then once you realize that and you pre-think about it, we don't necessarily need to worry about it anymore because you've already thought about it.

Terra Bohlmann (05:38): And usually we worry about the things that are way out of our control anyway, and as women, we literally can make up stuff in our head to worry about. And so I'm saying, I give you the permission to worry when you're writing down the answers to that question. And then once you do it, you can let it go and focus on achievement, which is fantastic. If you need a free workbook, I have one on my website, TerraBohlmann.com/workbook. And it's a free download. It walks you through step by step, and it really is super powerful. Honestly, it is the step one that I have all my private clients do and it's yours for free. And I do that with them. I mean, they will do it. And then we review it because I need to know where you're going to go. And your three to five year plan so that I can help you get there and put the right strategies in place.

Terra Bohlmann (06:34): So step one, get really clear on your five year plan. Step two, it's time to then work on your mindset and mindset is one of these things. If I can be a hundred percent honest, which I always am on this podcast, I don't know any other way not to be fully me, but mindset was one of these things that I heard when I first started in my business 10 years ago. And I, everyone would talk about it like, Oh, mindset, mindset, you got to get your mindset, money mindset. And I was like, okay, okay. Yeah, that's great. But I was really rocking it in the corporate world. So clearly my minds, that's not an issue. And the more I heard about it, the more I would just kind of continually honestly internally roll my eyes at it. And maybe even externally people, maybe a saw me if I kept hearing the word mindset and I was like, what the heck is all, is all this mindset talk about until you get into it?

Terra Bohlmann (07:32): Right. So what happens is your, you know, to me, if you can do it the right way, which is these exact six steps that I'm going to share with you, but maybe you're like me. And in some cases, you know, I had the third step in place, but I had to go back and get clear on the first step. And then I went to four and five and then I came back to two, you know, I wish I would have done them in sequential order, but you know, it is what it is and there's no accidents and how I grew my own business and my own personal development is so I could help you. But, you know, but that, that being said, mindsets, one of these things that you'll always continue to work on, there's no Holy grail with awe. I made it right. Even with people who are, so what you would consider super successful, they're still continuing to work on their mindset.

Terra Bohlmann (08:25): Cause you can always think bigger. You can always step into things. You can always clear things that I've programmed us. The way that we were in the past that are limiting us from moving forward. So the second step really is around improving your mindset. You don't need to do all the things and use this as a way to completely do real your business success, but maybe pick one thing that, you know, you could use help on. If you're struggling with closing sales or asking for the sale, maybe work on your money mindset. If you're having issues, putting yourself out there and getting on Facebook live or Instagram live or showing your face and feeling comfortable with being your face, being the brand of your company, you know, let's, let's look at some other areas of mindset around why that is. If you're not getting the results that you want and you're sabotaging yourself, you know, get to the root cause of why.

Terra Bohlmann (09:29): And this can be something that can be done congruently with step three as well. But remember, mindset's one of these things you always need to work on. Always this is part of the, the joy really that we have as being entrepreneurs is we get this opportunity to always be growing, which is totally cool. So we do the five year plan first, and then we wouldn't be because we want to be really clear on where we want to go. Then we do the mindset, work around how we accomplish the five year plan. And trust me, when you walk through the five year plan workbook, it's called destination success. If that's the workbook that is available for free on my website, when you walk through that, it's like, where are you now? Where do you want to be? And then what's stopping you on the, what stopping you is going to tell you exactly what you need to be working on with your mindset, right?

Terra Bohlmann (10:25): And then as you continue to peel back the layers of an onion, which is really what our mindset is, is once you pull back one layer, you get this transformation and then, you know, something else will, will happen and you have to pull back that layer too. So that really is a journey more than anything else. It can't be a check in the box. Mindset to me is something that's always got to work on. So that being said, you can work on the third step, which is putting your business strategies in place. And there's only six. You've heard me talk about the business map method. And if you haven't go listen to one of those podcast episodes, because I walk you through in depth,

Speaker 3 (11:08): The six

Terra Bohlmann (11:09): Business strategies that you have to have in place in your business so that you can run a business that makes you really proud, and that is scalable and really gives you that clarity and confidence that you need. And so many times we just zoom right through them, or we don't even think about them or even worse. You outsource it to someone else thinking they're going to be able to wave the magic wand and solve that strategy for you. And that's not the case. I believe when you're the CEO of your business and you can be a solo entrepreneur, but you are the CEO. It is a mindset. You want to be the chief executive officer of your business because only you can create and grow your business in a way that's in alignment with your own core values. So a quick recap of the six business strategies that you need to be really clear on and document them.

Terra Bohlmann (12:07): I walk my clients through a process called the business map method, and then it culminates in them creating their own business map. And I give them the template for it. I'm available the whole time they're creating it. And then we have a VIP session at the end where we walk it through and I help them tweak it and improve it even so, but the confidence that you have after you have answered how you're going to be running your business with these six strategies in mind, it's just, it's mind blowing on allowing you to accelerate your business success. And we need that right now, more than ever as we're in the second part of 2020, so six business strategies, I'll share them with you real quick. You gotta have a foundational step. You got to have your signature offers and your pricing. Your third thing you need to have them place is your sales process and how you sales is going to be different than how I'm comfortable selling.

Terra Bohlmann (13:06): And vice versa. Sales is not a one size fits all solution. And so oftentimes I've seen it. I've worked with so many women entrepreneurs and it breaks my heart. When they're trying to plug in the way someone else sells into their business and finding themselves, not getting the momentum they want, because it's just out of alignment with them. So when you go through a process, I teach this in my business map method, but a very step by step process so that you can pull out what works for you and what doesn't, it's amazing how your sales will be accelerated because of that. So that's the third strategy is your sales process. The fourth one is your visibility strategy. So once you're clear on who you are, what you sell and how much it costs and how you sell it, then it's time to go get in front of the right perfect customers.

Terra Bohlmann (13:58): So that they'll transact with you and that's done through your visibility strategy. So that includes marketing activities you do on social media, the things that you do, I call them traditional or kind of in person and strategies, which really work well and also in the online space, right? We don't need to do all the things. We just need to do the right things that get us in front of the perfect customer profiles that we want to work with. And so that visibility straps is really important. So it's marketing meets exposure and exposure is around things that are PR related. Publicity, letting people know that you're out there establishing your expertise and stuff like that. So you've got, gotta be visible in order to transact and harder to collect the money and in quarter so that you can serve, right. The people that you're meant to serve.

Terra Bohlmann (14:54): Right. And that's what businesses, right? So that's the fourth thing. The fifth thing is after you know how to get in, in front of the right people. And you've got a new, have new sales and all that stuff, but it doesn't stop there in business. We need to the fifth strategy, which is your customers experience. So once somebody transacts with you, what we've got to have, your automation, your systems, your, your setup in place so that you can onboard your customers with excellence, you can wow them with your delivery. And ultimately, which so many entrepreneurs forget to do is transition them with grace. Right? I always talk to my husband about business and we were talking this past weekend and her, no, it was last week. We were walking around the pond. We have like a big Lake in our neighborhood and it was the coolest thing.

Terra Bohlmann (15:48): Cause I was telling him about, you know, I had a client and I was in the transition phase with her and I said, and man, in the past I just kind of was like, okay, so we're done, you know, let me know if you need anything and you know, wow, it was great working with you, you know, by, and that was it. And now I told him, I said, what I have, and this has taken me years to cultivate the actual tree transition steps that I'm still continuing to refine this right over time. But you know, now I have at least defined and documented and I'll continue to improve upon it and whatnot. But, and I told him, I said, what I think of from a transition standpoint is once you're done working with someone or they, your product is delivered to them and the dates up, or your delivery steps are completed, it's such an opportunity to present back to them.

Terra Bohlmann (16:46): Like you would a Tiffany box, perfect white bow that is just wrap so eloquently. And it's like giving a gift back to your customer when you're in the transition phase. And he's like, I've never thought about it like that. And of course you would think of it like a Tiffany right box with this beautiful bow and a gift, you know? Cause I love that like gifts are my love language. So I've now think about transitions as gifts and as a gift for you because it's a closure sure. And a chapter, but it's also again for them that if they want to come back and work with you, then there's space to do that, right? If all all's good and all ended well and whatnot, giving that space back to them to do that, you're also giving them everything they need so that they can be successful.

Terra Bohlmann (17:37): I often say, you know, I'm a different type of a business coach. I really believe I have a uniqueness because in that, and I've met other women like this, I'm not saying I'm the only one who does this, but I'm very much a catch and release type of coach. I want you to go through my programs. I want to work with you, but I don't feel the need to hang on to you forever and continue to have you resign into my programs and never leave me and never leave our little bubble. Right? I believe people come into your life for a reason or a season. And my job is to catch women entrepreneurs and meet them where they are and then release them so they can fly. And maybe they can just fly on their own, which is totally fine. Or maybe they need to go find another coach after me that is going to get them to their next level because I know my strengths and I know the lane that I plan, I don't try to be everything to everyone and hang on to people that just don't think it's healthy, honestly.

Terra Bohlmann (18:38): And a lot of coaches do that and it really bothers me because it just becomes this scarcity mindset around. You can never leave my world or else I will, you know, or thing, great things won't happen to you if you're not in my world, it's not true. Right. So that is the fifth thing, which is around customer experience. And remember it's how do you onboard? How do you deliver? And ultimately how you transition and we want to do it. So it feels like a gift with a bow and some cases you can send a gift if you wanted to. All right. And then the sixth business strategy that you have to have in place is around your dream team. And that is all the people who are going to and tools I gotta say, and tools and apps that are going to help you accomplish everything that you've set forth in your business strategies, right?

Terra Bohlmann (19:33): So that is roles and responsibilities who needs to be, I call it beyond the bus. Cause when I think of business, as we're driving a bus, are you flying an airplane? And it takes a crew to do that, right? So that you're doing it with grace and ease and we're Soltz and all that kind of stuff. So the last thing that we put into place is your dream team, because how do you know who you need on your team or what roles need to be filled or what tools need to be purchased and implemented if we don't know what the heck you're doing and selling anyway. And so often people get that in the opposite order and it wastes a ton of time and money. And I'm raising my hand because I've been down that path when I first started in business too. So those are the business strategies that need to be in place.

Terra Bohlmann (20:22): And that is the third step. So step one, you got to have that five-year plan got to know where we're going. The second thing is we got to know what's going to stop us from achieving that five year plan and work on our mindset so that we can accomplish it. The third thing, as we've got to put these six business strategies into place, the fourth thing is to have some accountability around putting those strategies. Action. I'm a huge person on accountability. I think it's really important. And I like to think that we can all be accountable to yourself, but a lot of the times, especially I've found working with women entrepreneurs, and this was a large part of why I niche and the women entrepreneur space is we will do everything for someone else, but we won't take care of stuff for us. We will stay up all night burning the candle at both ends, put our health on the line, sacrifice our family to help serve a client that even pays us $1, but we won't do it for herself.

Terra Bohlmann (21:31): So I'm a big believer of accountability so that we can support each other and doing the things that we say we're going to do because we know life gets in the way. And, and I'm not saying we have to be perfect at it. I'm not, none of my clients are, we are not perfect people when it comes to accountability. But what I know for sure is you have tools and we have a system in place so that you can measure what needs to happen so that you are accountable on a weekly basis. It makes it so much easier. And you get that acceleration so much faster because you know how you're being measured every week. And you know, you're going to have to report on that. And so it's not for me as much as it is for my, for my clients, it's for themselves, that they're doing it.

Terra Bohlmann (22:21): And they're thinking of results first and how we can put these strategies in place after we define them. And then after accountability, the fifth step is community. It's really important to surround yourself with likeminded women. And it's something it makes honestly running business, a business, a lot more fun. And it also just as great to, I get motivated by women in my community. I get, I love sharing to other, with other women in my community it's competition or no it's collaboration, not competition. As I say, in the rising tide society, a rising tide lifts all boats. And I, I love that because there so much work and so many customers for all of us that if we just have that mindset around it, there is no, there is no competition so we can collaborate in our communities. We can also share. So I get just as much joy out of sharing resources, tips, strategies, and all that kind of stuff.

Terra Bohlmann (23:26): What's worked, what didn't work with people in my own community, as much as they give me, like, you know, Hey, this worked for me, this didn't, Hey, here's a resource. Hey, I've worked with this person. They're awesome. And it really is a beautiful thing. And when you're in that like-minded community, you don't feel like the fish out of water. You don't feel like, you know, the person at family dinners that are like, yeah, she's an entrepreneur. I don't quite know what that means, but you know, you don't feel like the black sheep as they would say, right. And I heard of all the white sheep. You, you want to, I think find joy and being the black sheep, cause let's go hang out with each other. So that being said, community's really important and not just community, but I really strive for having a diverse community.

Terra Bohlmann (24:22): I don't want to work with people who look and act like me or who all have coaching businesses. Yes, of course I coach business coaches, life, coaches, consultants, all that kind of stuff. Cause that's, you know, that's been my business, but I also coach women who are rocking it and health spaces and in services based and products and whatnot. I mean it's and nobody looks and acts the same and what works for one doesn't always work for someone else. And so I really, really strive in that diversity. And if it starts to feel too like me, I mean, I like to learn from people who aren't like me. So I like community of like-mindedness that are all based on the same core values, but also a diverse community where I can learn about other things and the way that other people think and how their life is.

Terra Bohlmann (25:22): It's really, really a cool thing. And then the last step is that support and business strategy that you'll need when you get stuck and that's a coach or, you know, in my case, I typically call myself a business strategist or a business advisor, but you have someone in your life that is not related to you because they will tend to see you who, for who you are now. They don't hold that space to see you bigger than you are. And that is my job. As a business coach, a business strategist is to see you bigger than you see yourself and then hold that space for you. So you can step into that. And I, and I truly, truly believe that. And when you have these six things in place, I mean, you're unstoppable. I that's, all I can say is, I don't know what else I could give my clients that would allow them to go faster, live their purpose, make the impact that they want to make and the income that they want to make.

Terra Bohlmann (26:27): So they can be doing what feels really fun and easy for them. So I'll recap, the six steps. First one, we've got to have a five year plan. Second one. We got to have that mindset. And remember it's always got, always gotta be working on your mindset. The third thing is you want to have those six business strategies in place and then culminate into some, I call it, I've tried Mark business map. Cause I give my clients a template to make it easy. That kind of thing. But you got, have them documented, get out of your beautiful brain and onto paper. The fourth step is have accountability in place. Somebody that holds you accountable. The fifth thing is to have a community of likeminded women, entrepreneurs that get where you're going and the struggles cause it's not everything is going to be peachy keen all the time.

Terra Bohlmann (27:18): I mean, I wish it could be rainbows and unicorns. And you know, we live in this perfect women entrepreneurial world where nothing goes wrong, but that's just not the case. And anyone who tells you that it was, is lying to you. There are going to be struggles. But what I can tell you is when you go through those struggles, it builds your muscles so that you can be stronger as a woman entrepreneur. And when that thing comes down, the pipeline later, you know how to handle it. So just know that for every struggle it's happening for you, not to you. Okay? And then the sixth thing is you want to have a business coach or strategist in your life or a business advisor, whatever you want to call them mentor so that you can go to them to help work out all those things that will come up. And it's not a matter of if it's a matter of when they, things will always come up, that you can brainstorm with, come up with a plan and off you go, right?

Speaker 4 (28:19): So those are the six steps.

Terra Bohlmann (28:21): And what I can tell you for sure is because of the six steps, when I sat back and thought about, if I could wave that magic wand and create something for women, entrepreneurs that are that'll help accelerate them, because I don't want you to be in struggle. I don't want you to feel like you should be so much further along than you are. I don't want you to. I feel like it has to be hard because I don't feel business is hard. We make it hard. Our brains make it hard when it doesn't have to be hard. So I created these six steps. And then from that, I've created my 12 month group business and mentorship program that gives you all of this. So if you're interested in talking to me about what it would look like for you and I to work together for a year, you would have a year's worth of support with me.

Terra Bohlmann (29:13): Okay? There is no going backwards, right? What I always can promise woman entrepreneurs that work with me is a year from today. You will not be the same woman that you were when you started. And that is something that's amazing. So if you want to chat about the fast track accelerator program, all you need to go to is my website, super simple, TerraBohlmann.com/consult. And you can fill out a quick intake form. I'll take a look at it. And if it looks like we would be a good fit to work together, then you'll get a link to my calendar so that you can schedule a date and time that work for you. It's a system, right? So, and then we'll have a time where we can hop on zoom or some of my potential clients like to just call me on a phone choice. Cause I totally get it.

Terra Bohlmann (30:10): Okay. And then we'll hop on the phone or hop on zoom and we'll dig deeper and I'll, we'll figure out your next best business step is what I can promise you. It may be working with me in the fast track accelerator. It may not be, you know, and, and I'm, I'll be honest with that because I, from the bottom of my heart, I am not in this to close a new client. I'm not, I don't think about it like that at all. I think about it as I'm more invested in giving you a transformation and sometimes that's with me sometimes it's not, and that's totally fine too. So I want to work with you when you're ready to go. And here's one thing I hear from people. It's, they'll be like, okay, they have the console. And they're like, I have been working on my business to get ready to talk to you.

Terra Bohlmann (30:59): And I'm like, what? And they're like, yeah, I have never been ready to work with you, but now I am. And I'm like, what does that mean? What does that feel like to you? And there's like, you know, well, you're, you have all that, your systems and this and that. And I wanted to like get some stuff in order. Sure. And I'm like, here's the reality. What I do is, is I, I get such joy out of getting the clarity and giving you the clarity of how to run your business. Like, I love messy businesses. That is like, that is my zone of genius. Like I love it. I love to do it again. And then we'll just tangle somethings that aren't in alignment and have to stay low. We have to let go of some things, but then we also need to build in some new and then we connect some wires and boom, you're off to the races.

Terra Bohlmann (31:48): So I like messy businesses. So don't feel like you have to be perfect or you have to be ready because there's no such thing. So if you're interested in chatting about the fast track, accelerated, sure. Just go to my website, TerraBohlmann.com/consult, fill out a quick intake and we'll hop on a call and it's me. I don't have salespeople that actually do the vetting and whatnot. And I don't plan on doing that. As long as I have time in my calendar to chat with women entrepreneurs, that is what I love to do. And in the accelerator, it really is a three part process. It's all about the first thing is we get really clear on your five year plan. Then we work on the mindset and then you get into your business strategies, which then culminate with your own customized business map, which is your, how to guide on how to run and scale your business for success.

Terra Bohlmann (32:43): And if I can leave you with anything, I want you to think about your business, not from today, but at the end game, you're doing this business. You're putting in time, effort, you know, everything. And you want to think what the end in mind, just like, I believe it's Jack Canfield. Does he say that? And I'm sorry if I'm misquoting, but you think with the end in mine and no it's Stephen Covey, who said it just was downloaded into my brain with Stephen Covey says, thank with the end in mind, do that in your it, with your business to thank with the end in mind. Do you want to sell your business someday? Do you want to legacy it down to a friend or family member or employee possibly like, what do you want to happen? And then we reverse engineer from there and build out what needs to happen.

Terra Bohlmann (33:33): And you've got to have stuff documented so that it's so much easier and people will pay a premium when you have everything organized and in place and the clarity you have priceless. Right? So that, and then, so once we have your business strategies in place, you're also getting weekly accountability. I have an awesome process for that and I love it. And I love celebrating the wins and also giving advice when it's a great way for clients to keep in touch with me as well and what else they need. Right? It's like great one-on-one tool. That's fantastic. And you also get community because there are other women entrepreneurs that are going through this with you. And ultimately you have the support, a coach on call. As I like to say of a business strategist like me, that's willing to roll up my sleeves and care about your business almost as much as you.

Terra Bohlmann (34:29): And I say almost because no one is going to care about your business as much as you will. And I found myself for years, caring more about my business, about my client's business than they did. And I would wake up at three in the morning hoping that she would close that sale or that website would go live without any issues. And in reality, I had to do a lot of internal personal development mindset work for myself around why I was wanting it more for them than they were wanting it for themselves. So now I know I can give you all the tools, systems, and strategies, but you need to come. You need to be the person that, that does it and shows up and is willing to roll up your sleeves too. I'll I'll work just as hard alongside of you when you do the work.

Terra Bohlmann (35:16): But I just personally know that that's how you're gonna get the result. It's have a plan and get into action. That's the difference of the people who are making it happen right now, like crazy and the ones that are staying in struggle. So that's what I have for you. On today's podcast, I would love to chat with TerraBohlmann.com/consult. We can have a real conversation and if I can help you awesome. If I can't, I will do my best to give you another resource and we will dig into your business and get you some wins. So I hope you have a fantastic day and until next time,

Announcer (35:59): Take care there, you have it. Another episode packed full of strategies and motivation that you can use every day to put your business on the fast track for a podcast, recap and more resources, visit TerraBohlmann.com. Don't forget, subscribe to the podcast and get what you need to help fast track your five year business plan.