Episode #18: Your Business Foundation and What You Need in Place to Feel Like a Legitimate Business Owner with Terra Bohlmann

Intro (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 (00:27): Hello, hello! Terra Bohlmann here. And I'm so excited to dig into this podcast episode. I'm going to talk to you today about what it's like to have a comprehensive business strategy versus feeling like you're making things up in your business as you need them.

So what I've found in working with my clients is there tends to be these gaps in your business model. And what happens is they get really stressed out and they feel the sense of overwhelm and they really feel behind in their business all the time because there's just no full strategy in place. So instead of, you know, doing little things to fill the holes and find the gaps and fill them, it tends to create what I consider a Frankenstein business model, which causes you a lot of unnecessary stress.

And what happens is when we have gaps in our business model, we completely spend too much time, money and way too much stress trying to figure it out and fill it.

Terra (01:33): So my thought process is what if we take a step back and take a look at our entire business strategy from a bird's eye view and then understand what needs to be fixed so that we can really have where everything ties together so much easier and it just makes running your business so much easier and honestly a lot more fun as well.

So let me talk about the map. So today is going to be all about digging into your business foundation and the things that need to be in place so that you have that strong foundation. Just like you're building a house, right? If you're building a house, you're going to focus time and energy around having create the plans. The architect has to come up with the plans, the drawings, all that kind of stuff. And then you have to then hire the contractors that come in and build that solid foundation.

Terra (02:26): And in some cases, like I'm from born and raised in central Illinois. So a lot of us had basements. You know, the first thing they have to do is dig the basement, you know, and, and then pour in the concrete and do all the things that really make building the house as super stable experience. And now I live in Texas where nobody has basements as far as I've met in Houston.

But it's one of those things that, you know, they have to get really secure and building that first floor so that when they build the second floor, it has something really stable to connect to. Right. So that's how I kind of think of business models as well is without the proper foundation in place, you'll end up continuing to build out other strategies that feel like they have holes in them because you didn't take the time to go build the right foundation.

Terra (03:17): And I'm not saying that that's wrong. Some people have very detailed business plans that have, you know, just been polished and you know, critiqued and reviewed and you know, especially if people need to get funding for their business and whatnot, you know, the financial plans in order, all the SWOT analysis and all this stuff, perfect stuff has been done to create a plan that feels not very attainable.

Right? And so, and then you have the other spectrum, like if you're looking at a continuum of when people start a business, people just build it out on the fly. Like they start out with a really cool product or an offer and then they just sell that one thing and then later on have to go back and say, Oh, okay, well, you know, now I've got to have marketing. Okay, so then what? Well, I need some help.

Terra (04:07): I'm getting overwhelmed in my business, so I need to add to my dream team. And you know, and they're piecing it together as they go along. Neither way is wrong, right?

And that's kind of the first step is really about being aware how you've built your business up to this point. And that's okay cause I did the same thing when I first started my business. I just sold one-on-one coaching and that's what I did. One client at a time. I had 30 clients a month.

It was a low cost model, high volume, no contracts. People were coming on one month and then going off the next and then, you know, I'd get three new clients but five were graduating and it was this whole back and forth model that I ended up realizing all I did was replace what I felt like was my stressful corporate career with a stressful business model because I didn't see how I was ever going to scale it, how I was going to ever be able to control my time.

Terra (05:01): Because in reality, I was on the phone eight hours a day back to back Monday through Friday. And that wasn't what I wanted when I started my business.

I wanted more freedom and flexibility. I wanted to make an impact, and instead I was completely moving into the burnout phase. And so I was at that point and really, and when you're in it, cause I've, I've been in it, which is to me why I created the Business Map Method to begin with. And it was like when I was in it, I literally couldn't see the forest through the trees because you're just going day by day and you don't have time and then you're trying to, for me, I was being a mom and working from home, you know,

I would start work at eight end at six and then turn into mom and wife and have to manage dinner and you know, all the things that come with trying to balance everything.

Terra (05:48): It just was like, is this worth it? And let alone, you know, I had made a fabulous salary in the corporate sector and you know I had those days where I just wanted to go back because it felt easier to get a paycheck versus having to make two or three times what I was making as a salary just to get back to where I was in my previous life. Right.

I was a great contributor to our family finances. And then I did this thing called start my business. And, and I remember having that conversation with my husband and I didn't just quit my business cold turkey. I went part time and then started kind of cherry-picking the projects that I wanted to work with.

Cause I didn't want our family income to go to zero. And then, you know, once my business started to take off, then I made the big leap and went into my business full time.

Terra (06:38): And that's when I really created, you know, pretty quickly a six figure business. But it wasn't one that was sustainable.

It wasn't a sustainable model. So I did that and you know, got to that point of burnout where I had to make that decision. And I honestly started applying for corporate consulting jobs and, and all that good stuff.

And you know, there was stress in the house, you know, like I was paying myself some but not nearly what I was making in the corporate world. And yeah, so my husband saw me always like stressed out and struggling and trying to hammer through and you know, and just go day by day, which was really like Groundhog's day because I was having the same conversations day in and day out, coaching women entrepreneurs on sales for eight hours a day.

And that to me just took a toll.

Terra (07:27): I started to take on the energy, the stress they were feeling. And you know, it just was one of these things that I knew wasn't sustainable longterm. So I decided to, I had to figure something out, right? I didn't want the strain on my relationship with my husband. I wanted to not just be a contributor, but make more than I did in the past.

And I wanted to build a business that made me proud and made me want to jump out of bed every day and just get to work to serve my purpose, which I was so in line with my purpose. And it was, I knew to serve women entrepreneurs, right? Like that's, I knew that was why everything in my life had culminated to that point with what roles I had taken and experiences I had in mentors.

And I knew I was supposed to take this knowledge that I had been working for years and Fortune 500 companies and strategies and just be able to serve women because that's who I love to work with most in the corporate world.

Terra (08:27): And I was in a very male-dominated industry and I just found such joy in mentoring the women and the

women consultants.

So I knew I wanted to make the leap. I didn't quite know what it looked like. I've talked before how I had a practice business, which was created websites for people and that was what I call yeah, my practice business, like some of us have had.

And I knew I wanted to help. And so I created my first website cause I have a computer, like a programming degree. And so that was easy for me. Someone said you need a website. So okay, off I went and created my website and then I would meet people and they make man Terra who did your website?

And I'd say, Oh well I did it.

And they're like, will you do mine? I'm like, sure. You know, cause I hadn't quite figured out how I was going to fulfill this purpose of mine to help women.

Terra (09:11): And so then, you know, I would say they'd say how much I'd go, I don't know, 1000 bucks. Okay, 1000

bucks.

And I started building, I knew how to build team, I knew how to work as a leader and offshore teams. So I had this sort of building out a team in the Philippines, you know, off I had this website design business and no matter how much I charge, I think my max website I ever charged for was $3,000 and it just felt like no matter how much I charged, my profit was staying the same.

So I was hitting a wall, you know? So kudos out there if you have a web design business and you figured it out because I couldn't, I just found I was working harder and making the same.

So then I was like, you know, I need to wind this down and this isn't quite it.

Terra (09:51): So I rehomed all my, my team in the Philippines and made sure they, you know, everyone got connected with a nice woman entrepreneur that became part of her team and stuff like that. We needed everyone to have a soft landing that's really important to me.

And then I just, then I just got quiet for awhile. You know, I took a few months and I wanted to get really clear with my next, and I remember sitting with a woman at a conference or sitting in the bar of the hotel and she's like, well, what do you want to do?

And I was like, I don't know. I said, I just want to help women entrepreneurs strategize their business model and fill in these gaps and just help them. And you know, that's where my expertise is. And you know, I just want to help women entrepreneurs.

And she's like, Oh, so you want to be a business coach?

Terra (10:38): And I said, Nope, Nope, No, Nope. I don't. That's definitely not what I want to do.

I don't even know what that really is. And, and then I said, no, I just want to be a mentor.

I want to help women. You know, I tried to re-explain, she's like, Oh, okay, so you want to be a business coach.

And we went back and forth and I was like, is she not getting it? And then I was like, no, I'm not getting it. And I guess that's what it was called.

You know, I was like, why didn't go to school for that? I've been a project manager and account managers and doing these big implementations and projects, you know, bleeding teams all over the world. And no, I didn't.

That's not what I went to school for. You know? And oftentimes we don't do what we go to school for, but you know, I just wasn't seeing it.

Terra (11:16): So then I figured out it was business coaching and this was an industry, and this was probably about 10 years ago that all this happened. And I was like, okay, so how do I become a business coach?

So learn how to become a business coach, really you know, lot. Okay, a good niche sales coaching, you know, that kind of stuff. And learned how to, you know, sales coaching even though it was, you know, it was business coaching, but it was like, to me, low hanging fruit because there were so many women that struggled with, how do I get sales?

How do I, you know, what do I need to do? So I worked for a year or so doing maybe couple of years doing that. Time flies.

Oh my gosh, I can't believe it's been a decade now. So I did my sales coaching and business coaching and speaking and yeah.

Terra (12:02): You know, and, I did some different things, created some online products and whatnot. And then I was like, okay.

And that's when I had created this cycle of continuous business development. So, because I didn't lock anyone into contracts, you know, I had a low cost monthly month-to-month fee that I would charge and there was no real, you know, this is how I know like pricing your pricing strategy really allows you to attract the right or wrong type of customers and you know, they're just for a low cost.

My brand looked really high end so people thought, Oh I can afford her. But I was like, no. Yeah really you can. And then I would attract people who could afford that low amount and ended up, you know, they, it just wasn't filling me up. So I was attracting people who needed money.

So I was taking on that stress of, Oh my gosh, I hope they can close these deals.

Terra (12:57): I just want them to be successful. And it just was like the right industry. Probably wrong niche for me. Right. But it taught me a lot. It taught me a lot about sales. It taught me a lot about mindset and what women struggle with and all that kind of stuff. So it was good, cause you know, I had to learn it.

I had always been okay at sales, but what I was good at was like the upsell process. I didn't know how to generate leads. So it taught me how to do that, which I'm really grateful for. So then fast forward, you know, so about this time I had, you know, a business which may have looked like it was thriving. So it was six figures, but it was, you know, my expenses were pretty high and I just was at that point where it was like, Oh, it just felt so much easier when I was getting a paycheck.

Terra (13:40): And you know, I knew I didn't want to quit. I didn't want to throw it all away. I knew I needed to push through and just keep moving so that I could fulfill this purpose that I felt that I, that I knew I was called to do.

And meanwhile, you know, it's like, you know, my husband's like, Oh, why wouldn't you just, you know, maybe you should just go back to work and you know, and this is just, he hated seeing me work so hard.

I have never worked so hard for so little in my entire life.

And then you start questioning like your value and all these things, right? I've said it once, I'll say it a million more times, but I always say, do you want to know all your insecurities as a woman? Open a business because they will all rise to the top.

Terra (14:22): So then, you know, you start really questioning a lot of things and you know, your money mindset comes into play and all this stuff and your value. And so I had to, you know, work through that and I was like, Oh, it just felt like such an uphill battle. So, I mean, I just want you to know that I've been there. I've been there too. And then I was going to Thailand, my husband and I had a anniversary, a big anniversary, and it was time to go to Thailand. And this was maybe about five years ago.

So we had been planning this big trip and it was like, you know, I was working with a therapist even and I was just like telling her, you know, she knew how much I had this fire and man, this passion, I wanted to keep going in the business, but I didn't want to strain my marriage.

Terra (15:01): I didn't want to, you know, I wanted to contribute more to the family. I have three boys, I know they're so smart, so they're going to go to fantastic colleges. Like I was just not seeing the light at the end of the tunnel or the for--I was in, couldn't see the forest through the trees because I was too in it. And so, you know, I went to my husband and I said, hun, you know, before we go on this trip, like would you use just, can you have a conversation with my therapist? I just, I mean, and at this time I don't think he'd ever been to one.

He's like, what are you talking about? And I was like, you know, this is just, I need you to talk to her and just kind of see, I want her to hear your point of view on things and, and whatnot.

Terra (15:38): And so he did and you know, and he came back with, yeah, she's really insightful and you know, he had learned some different things. And I think in what he had told me, she said, you know, Terra isn't going back to work. She doesn't want to go back to work, so how can you make this work? Right.

And that was kind of the turning moment is that we decided we were going to go to Thailand and then come back and figure it out. We wanted to go away and just have a good time, reconnect. And then we would figure it out. And that was kind of the homework was don't talk about this when you're in Thailand. Right. And so we went as soon as we get to Thailand, you know, after the jetlag wore off, you know, we were sitting at a resort at Phi Phi islands, which I'll never forget.

Terra (16:22): It was gorgeous. And just laying around by the pool, having our cocktails. And while I was drinking a cocktail, I'm sure he was drinking a beer and we just started to do the one thing that we hadn't been able to do in a long time, which is relax, talk, talk about life, understand the future, you know, and, and all that kind of stuff.

So we got talking and you know, even though the therapists said don't talk about it, we're like, no, we're going to talk about it and we're gonna figure it out. And you know, by this time, you know, I had sent in a couple applications and I'd even gotten a couple phone calls for, to come in for interviews and you know, and I just kind of pause on that, you know, until we had gotten back from our trip. And you know, when we were relaxed and laying by the pool overlooking the ocean, it was gorgeous, amazing food.

Terra (17:08): You know, we just were able to talk and I spoke my heart to him. You know, I feel like if you could support me in this and I want to do this and I want to make you proud as well and if you could support me instead of seeing all the struggle and try to help than just be like, you know, it's just easier to just go back to work Terra. I want you to hold my hand through this and I don't need you to fix anything.

I just need you to give me a hug if when I have a bad day, cause it's not a matter of if it's always when. And he said, okay, well how can I support you in this? And we talked about some things that he could do and a large part of it was he didn't have any visibility into the numbers of my business.

Terra (17:47): I was really talking to more of my female entrepreneur friends about the day to day strategy things. And so he felt like such an outsider. Right. And that's why we say, Hey, if, if your partner isn't in it with you, it's because they're feeling like they're on the outside.

So what can you do to make them have some visibility into your business? He just wanted to see my numbers. He wanted, he actually was like, I'll do your bookkeeping. I was like, what? Really? And that to him felt like he was contributing. And me having that accountability also allowed me to like focus more on making more profit, not just growing more sales. And so anyway, we came up with this plan that okay, he was going to support me and when I got back, I can't tell you how I had such a renewed energy to just sit down.

Terra (18:31): And by this time I had pretty much rolled off all of my one on one clients because I was pretty much planning to go back to corporate and you know, so I didn't have a ton of client load and so I knew at that point I needed to be my own best customer. And so I, I just throw that out there to you have like, do you need to take some time to be your own best customer?

Because oftentimes we don't do that for ourselves. We'll work really hard for a dollar if someone pays us a dollar, but we don't do it for ourselves. So got back to work. I just remember saying, okay, I'm going to take a look at this business coaching thing and I'm going to figure out the way that I can come up with a plan that I feel good about and then I can show my husband who can understand the whole big picture on where this thing can go and what I need to do and how everything's going to intertwine.

Terra (19:21): And that's what I did. So I was like, I, I literally, I remember sitting, you know, on the ground and I had sticky notes and I had poster boards and I was popping things in and I said, man, you know what? All this is is same type of analysis and stuff that I would do at for corporate companies when I was a consultant.

Why wasn't I applying that into what I was doing for my business? I was too busy serving everyone else to then even think about where my business was going longterm. So it was a, I was like a mad scientist and I had sticky notes everywhere and this and that and files and I said okay from scratch Terra, business coaching, this is something you want to do. And because I knew the industry was business coaching, I didn't necessarily know the niche.

Terra (20:06): Right. And that just kind of like where you fit in cause I was the sales and that just, that wasn't something that was 100% always lighten me up. It's important. I teach it as part of a strategy now, but it wasn't the only thing. And I said if I had to build this from the ground up the right way, how would I do it?

And so I took a look at the six areas of every business and I, and I created a strategy for each one and then I like typed up this document and added graphics and made it pretty and, but ultimately, you know, spelled out my customized business strategy from the foundation, what that needed to look like. You know, the what I was selling, my offers, and how much, cause at one time I had like 25 offers, which is absolutely crazy.

Terra (20:51): So then I came up with my signature offer, right? And I knew what I wanted to do someday for my upsells and downsells, but I just was going to focus on the one thing because I had made a business model that was way too complicated. So then I did my, got my offers and my pricing really clear, and then I was said, okay, now what's my sales strategy?

Now that I have these, I know who I want to sell it to because that's, I've gotten that clear in my foundation. How do I sell it? So then I came up with my sales strategy, then I said, okay, great. Now that I know how I'm going to sell it, how am I going to get leads.

And that's when I came up with the visibility strategy that I wanted. And then great, now that I am getting leads, I'm selling my thing.

Terra (21:28): How do I create an experience for my clients that wows, right? And just serves and allows them to feel as important as they are in my own life and just keeps things running and have some systems so I can put some on rinse and repeat and do some automation. And then ultimately who needs to be on my dream team so that I can get the support that I need to drive this bus. So, or pilot the plane.

And so oftentimes I realize what I did was I did things completely out of order. You know, I focused way too much time and money and energy around branding when, how like, you know, branding, so interrelates to what you sell and how you market. And, and I wasn't clear on some of that stuff. So the branding side, I was like, okay, I felt good at, but I knew it was gonna have to be where we're done because I was, you know, doing a whole new strategy now.

Terra (22:20): And then I would go out and get my team. So remember my, I think I had 12 developers and a graphic designer in the Philippines. I went and grabbed a team before I was really clear on what I wanted to sell and I, that's why I was just selling websites cause I dunno, I was letting everyone else build my business model for me at versus leading it and having a plan. Right?

So I had did it out of order, like so many of us, but then when I stepped back and I said, okay, so I created my map, I showed it to my husband and he's like, okay, wow, that's pretty impressive. Like that's crazy that you did that this quickly. And then I went and showed the map to a couple of friends and I said, Hey, I just did this one myself. If I could fill in all these gaps for you, would that be something useful? Do you want me to do them for you?

Terra (23:01): And they said, absolutely. So I went and did them and I did it for free. And then I improved on the maps. Right. And then I went to another friend who had a high end coaching program, and very high end. And so I went to her and I remember her flipping through my map and going, Terra, this is so amazing. Like all my clients need this. Can I just buy, I have six people in the program right now, can I buy six from you right now. And I was like, Oh, so my first sale was for six maps at a time versus you know, one. So that was pretty cool.

So I'm like, okay, I'm onto something. So I told myself I'm going to do a hundred maps personally me so I can refine the process so I can understand what resonates, what doesn't cause, and then I write and then I present them and then I hand over the assets and I could tell pretty quickly what resonated, what didn't.

Terra (23:50): So I was able to tweak each map got better and better and better and better. And I still have my original map, which is awesome to look at sometimes because it was good, but now they're just so good. And I realized, okay, when I do at least a hundred on my own, I'm going to figure out a way, because this is part of the scaling that we need to think about when we're creating a business model.

I want to think of a way of how I can create a method for women entrepreneurs so that they don't have to stress either. They don't have to feel behind, they don't have to have the gaps, they don't have to go back to corporate like, like I thought I was going to do.

I don't want have to be a choice for anyone. If they could just build it in the right strategic order and feel so confident about their business model and know what makes them so proud and they even have a tool which the business map is a tool that you can give to anyone that comes onto your team so that they understand everything.

Terra (24:46): Because 9 times out of 10 most of the stuff is in our head, but when we get it out of our head and on paper and we see it like we would from an aerial view, from an airplane, we see how everything connects.

There's just such ease and amazingness that comes with that. So from the map perspective, that's why it's so important to me. I have now had, I've done over a hundred maps in my mastermind program that I lead.

Every woman has her map. We're all on the same page on where we're going and confidence on the business model's important. Then you've got your accountability coach that helps you stay on track to implement what needs to happen. You know, it's all about having tools and systems and things to make things easier.

We don't need to reinvent the wheel. To me, business is business. Plugging and playing different offers is all that changes, right?

Terra (25:41): So that's the Business Map Method and why I've spent time or energy and how it even came to fruition.

Now I want to talk to you about the first destination on the Business Map. The one that is so important and that so many women entrepreneurs just try to push through or they ignore completely. And without that solid foundation, everything else is shaky.

So the first part of the map is around your, your business foundation. If you don't have your business foundation in place, everything else is so much harder than it needs to be because everything else builds upon each other. When you know what to sell, you'll know what to sell because you have a your foundation and you've done discovery on, you know who your perfect client is, what her, his or her name is everything about him or her, the psychology, the demographics that everything, the what he or she struggles with.

Terra (26:42): So you can give a solution, which is your offer, right? And so without doing some of the stuff, and I'm just using perfect, the perfect customer as an option, but it's just one of these things that just keeps building, okay, that's the easiest way I can explain it.

So the first thing in your business foundation really becomes around the basics, like to be able to answer the questions. Who are we? And what do we do? Who are we and what do we do? So when you go to a networking event and someone's like, Hi, I'm Carrie. So I'm Carrie Smith who you know, and you're like, Hi. And I'm a, and she, whatever, she goes into her quote unquote "elevator pitch" and I say, Oh, hi, I'm Terra Bohlmann. You know, blah blah, blah.

Like you have to be able to explain who you are and what you do pretty quickly, right?

Terra (27:31): So, and I know elevator pitches get people stressed out in the whole networking thing, but you want to be really clear on who we are and what we do. Because if you don't know, anyone who comes and works with you is going to be utterly confused as well. So we want to know the basics. Who are we? What do we do?

Your "what's your vision for the future", right? You want to have things like your professional bio done, right? So whether you're an amazing writer or not, you know, this would be something I would have a professional writer do because they can see you so much bigger than you can see yourself. And this was a space I hold for my clients all the time. I see them so much bigger than they see themselves. And I had to have somebody professionally write my bio because you know, I just, we're in it.

Terra (28:17): We don't, you know, it's just normal to us. Like I didn't think it was, you know, amazing that, you know, I've been published in Forbes and whatnot. Like you know, but that's really great info that needs apparently go in your bio. So, and then when you want to read your bio you're like, Oh my gosh, that's, that's me. That sounds amazing.

So you want to have a professional bio in your foundation. You want to be really clear with your contact information, your business address. You want to have an email address that's like completely legitimate, not a Gmail address, but like if you want to be taken seriously in business, you've got to have your company email address. And then people on your team also get a company email address. It's super affordable. It's like I use Google for business and it costs me about five bucks a month.

Terra (29:02): I think it's $6 a month now to have TerraBohlmann.com. So you'll want to have that. You'll want to have your website address or at least a landing page, you know, something that people can Google and like you're legit online, you want to have a business phone number. It doesn't have to be your cell number.

You can get a Google number for free and you know, and have a voicemail on there. So you want to set up these foundational things that are, that make you feel legitimate right out of the gate. Right? And so some, you may have some, you may not, you want to have a business address. It's definitely not your home address.

You know if you're ever going to send out emails on MailChimp or I use Kartra, or there's Keap, I think the forum has used to be Infusionsoft and then there's Ontraport and you know all these different apps that we can use to send out emails, but you have to have an address on it legally, so you'll want to have a business address.

Terra (29:58): In my case I just went and that one at the ups store, you know some people get PO boxes. I think you have to have a physical address but you need to have a business address as well. And then you can take it a step further and here's a hot tip around, you know, making sure you grab your Google place for your business as well so you can get some more traffic from Google and whatnot too.

Then you look at social media and you want to, even if you don't have a plan to use Pinterest someday, at least grab your domain name and keep them consistent with your business. So don't be Terra Bohlmann Business Coach on Instagram and then you know Navigation Forward, which is the name of my company on LinkedIn and you know, like keep them consistent. So we want to, you know, grab all your addresses as consistent as possible so that you're really professional looking.

Terra (30:45): Then you want to really dig into things like your core values. Your core values are so important in your business foundation. It's really one of the things that was the best exercise for me and I see it, my clients light up when they get their, their core values defined as well. Cause your core values are, and they can't just be, this is who I want to be in my business.

It needs to be, this is who I am as a person. I live these core values, whether I'm raising my family, I'm making a choice or I'm running my business. Because your core values really become a decision system for you. That if even if a customer is breaking one of your core values, you're willing to fire them. That's how I want you to think of your core values. Super important. You know your team members, you'll hire and let them go based on your core values, your everything.

Terra (31:36): It's just, your core values are your decision system. And I've had the chance to coach hundreds and hundreds of women entrepreneurs up to this point and I've found that when they get stressed or there's a struggle, especially around a customer or a team member or something like that, it usually is because it's bouncing it against one of their core values and it's not feeling good. So core values are everything.

And of course in your foundation we want to do things around your business operations. So you want to understand here and state these are our core business hours. I am open Monday through Saturday, you know, Monday through Friday, nine to five, Saturdays nine to one, you know, or whatever your hours are and what days you're open, what days you're closed, the times your open times are closed.

You have to decide that upfront because if not, you may end up working seven days a week and there is no badge of honor for people who work nonstop.

Terra (32:31): It will burn you out. And I don't want you to quit your business. So you need to have your white space time where you've shut off on business mode and become a human. A lot of the times the best, the best thing is when you can feel like you're human and you know, working in your business at the same time.

That's the ultimate--took me years to get there, but I'm feeling like I'm in that space a little bit more now. But you know, just trust me when I say this, you've got to have boundaries around your work hours and whatnot and especially if you're going to add a team to your business someday or you have team members, because if you don't have those core business hours, they are going to feel the stress of sharing to me to work 24 hours a day. You know, just be clear as well as when your business is closed.

Terra (33:19): So think in terms of your holidays and vacation. So one exercise I have my clients do is go to their calendar and take off every holiday they want to be off in the market, off on their calendar as well as two weeks of vacation.

Because honestly, if we can't take at least two weeks of vacation in our business we might as well go back and get that corporate job because I actually have three weeks over there. So let's be really protective of our white space and our time so that we're not feel like we're working 24 seven because there's just a law of diminishing return. So what, you know, holiday office hours, are you going to be closed and you know, are you going to work New Year's Day or are you going to be, are you going to be closed on New Year's Eve? You know, Christmas, like you know, whatever holidays work for you.

Terra (34:06): So you want to be really clear with that in your foundation so then we want to get to branding. And branding is one of those things that some people spend $20-30,000 to some branding alone. There's a lot of time and energy and money that can go into just branding. And, and having a good brand strategist is great because they'll, they know how to take it out of you and pull out all these things.

Cause you know, you may not know, which is fine, but what I was finding is I kept attracting brand strategists that would create a brand that they wanted versus really understanding who I was and where I was going with this. So there's a lot of psychology around branding and it's much more than just your logo and your graphics and your colors and all that kind of stuff.

So you want to really have an overview on your brand aesthetic and your vibe that you're putting out there for your customer.

Terra (35:03): And it really helps that you know your customer first. So you want to be really clear with your customer profiles and who you're serving and everything you sell pretty much needs their own profile. That's why I like starting with one signature offer. And then you have the one person that you sell to and then you can go up and down from there. Right? So, you know, when I had my 25 offers that really needed 25 sales funnels and 25 perfect customer profiles who it was great for, start simple and then go from there.

And then once you know that, then it's like your brand needs to be a combination of what you're attracted to but then also what your customer is attracted to.

So I've seen it before where I had clients that had like pink and gold websites, right? That would explode with confetti and sparkles, but then they want to start working with men and so then all that time and energy and money and website and branding and you know, it just, it was like a bit of a waste, you know, because it needed to be streamlined and you know, blue with pops of red and you know, a different color palette to track, you know, a corporate man versus you know, a female that they were working with.

Terra (36:15): So it's really important, especially before you invest in branding that you have this full picture strategy in place. So then you make it your brand strategist job a lot easier, which is really cool. So of course with your branding, you know, they usually start with a mood board. And when I work with my clients, I teach them how to fill in all the gaps for all these things.

So if you hadn't worked with a brand strategist, that's okay too. There's really cool things that we can do to build out a brilliant million dollar brand that's pretty affordable. So you'll want to, you know, start with a vibe, a mood board, and then come up with some signature colors, have your fonts that are your fonts so that you're not just randomly picking fonts. You know, you want to think in terms of, you know, when I look at like Tiffany & Company, it's like black and white and the Tiffany font.

Terra (37:03): It always stays the same. Same thing with, you know, I always look at high end brands cause I feel like they do branding really well, but it's like, you know, there's, you know, certain scripts that, and fonts >that you look at it and like, Oh that's Christian Louboutin right? Like, cause that's just their font.

So you want to kind of be known even at a foundational standpoint that Oh yeah, that vibe reminds me of so-and-so. So that's what we're going for. And when you have a consistent brand and colors and fonts and vibe and textures and whatnot, you're building trust with your potential customers that are going to transact with you.

And that's really where branding can pay for itself. Right? And so you can ease into it. You don't need to go all in at first. You know, you can do the basics and then go from there.

Terra (37:53): So then you want to have a brand style guide, which really is everything like that culminates into one document that if you go hire a graphic designer or you have somebody who's going to do something for you, you can just send them the one page guide, which will, you know, give them a total feel for your, what fonts you're using, the exact names or the color codes, the aesthetics, the mood, all that kind of stuff.

It's a tool that you can use over and over again, which is excellent. And one thing that I do in a foundation that I don't see a lot of people talking about, but it's called Strategic Giveback and Strategic Giveback is so important in your foundation because we all have this bigger why and when you build in giveback into your business foundation, the more you can make, the more you can give away to nonprofits and causes that are near and dear to your heart.

Terra (38:45): So for me, education is such an important part of everything. Like I didn't as a young girl, I mean education was important. Like I better come home with A's and B's, but I didn't know that education could further things for me the way it's opened doors now.

So you know, I had no intention of going to college cause I didn't even know that was an option. I grew up in a small town and but as I did and took these baby steps, I was like, Oh wow. I had no idea. I had, I completely lacked awareness on how important it was to further education, especially for females.

So I work, I partnered with the school in Africa. It's in Rwanda called Hope Haven. And I always try to, I have a sponsored student and we write to each other and it's just, there's such joy and I eventually want to help build you know, a classroom or do something to get more involved there.

Terra (39:36): So to me, you find your cause and then you partner with the best nonprofit that you can in order to take your gifts, your time, maybe your treasures, your talents, and be able to help a nonprofit and then it feels so good.

So rather than making a ton of money and having a really successful company and then deciding to sell it or retire and then going and doing your nonprofit work, why not just build it in to the model to begin with? It's really kind of cool. So we have Strategic Giveback that we put in as part of the foundation.

And then ultimately your Signature Framework, and your framework is your, what you're known for. So mine is called the Business Map Method. It's my six step process, which I'll be going over with you over episodes on the podcast right now. We're on step one, which is the foundation.

Terra (40:25): When you have your thing, you're known for your framework, your intellectual property that's in your head, and you put it out there in a way to serve others. That's really important. It establishes credibility.

It helps people step-by-step understand how your brain works or how your product's made or how you know anything, right?We just want to put that out there on rinse and repeat so that we're not reinventing the wheel. Every time you go to sell your offer, you know, we want you to be known for a thing.

So now I can say, Hi, I'm Terra Bohlmann. I'm a business coach for women, but I'm also the creator of the Business Map Method. It's a done for you business strategy that blah, blah, blah, blah. So it just gives that credibility to so establish your framework and your framework should of course lead into your offers and all that kind of stuff too.

Terra (41:17): Then we wrap up with putting a bow on the foundation. Boom. Picture a big Tiffany box bow. We're going to have six Tiffany gifts that are gonna, you know, make your entire business model right. And when you have those elements that I just shared with you in place, you really have a solid business foundation that will serve you for at least five years.

So you want to think in terms of everything you're doing, what this is going to look like, not just now but what can it look five years from now. And then I invite all my clients to lease, revisit their business map quarterly and improve and like, Oh well that changed and it's just, you know, maybe we'll take 20 minutes to make updates versus having a map. It's sitting out there forever and then you have to take like a week to update it cause it's a couple of years later.

Terra (42:12): So to me the business map is a tool that serves you for years to come, helps you get all your team members on board and eventually when you want to sell your company or your, you have your exit strategy in place. If someone's going to buy it, they want to buy the map, they want to buy a strategy, they want to buy the how-to. So that's kind of the end game is to kind of think of it that way. Right.

Anyway, so I just wanted to share the origin of the business map with you. I hope this has served you. The foundation is the most essential piece. And I'll probably say that one of the six strategies, but without the foundation we can't be really clear on anything else. And then we're kind of Frankensteining this business model together and we don't want to do that.

Terra (42:58): We want to be strategic with the way that we build it so that we don't miss anything. And then we have this business that makes us so proud. And all I can tell you is after I've presented so many business maps and I do them on Zoom so I can see the reaction is in, you know, sometimes I'm just presenting and then at the end it's like multiple women have just had tears streaming down their face.

And I'm like, what's wrong? Do you not like it? Like, well, you know, of course I'm like, Oh, she hates it. And you know, and it's like, no, Terra, like you have no idea how this makes me feel.

I feel like a legitimate business owner now.

And I'm like, wow, you were always legitimate. But having it all together and pieced together in a way that you don't have questions on certain things is just amazing. So take care and we'll talk soon on the next episode.

Outro (43:49): 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.

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