Avery Reid “Leap and a net will appear”
What terrifying advice. Heights are the #1 thing humans are naturally afraid of. Leap and a net will appear is counterintuitive to human nature. Only a fool would leap into the unknown, trusting that they will be safe.
Entrepreneurs are fools. Big beaultful fools who change the world with their visions. I leaped recently. And it wasn’t quite a net, more like a trampoline that caught me safely and projected my back up to new heights.
What does it mean to thin big?
SSeriously… as entrepreneurs we have the world a our door. Even just the idea of starting your business means you have vision, a vision for something bigger than yourself. Something that could help, that could make positive difference.
When I first started this business, I wanted to help small business owners. I still do. Where I got stuck was I was just one person. I had a full coaching schedule and a wait list of two years. Small business owners needed help. It was my vision to see a world where small business owners had the tools they need to prosper. And I couldn’t do that with my current system. How could I help more small business owners? I realized I had to share what I knew and make it more accessible to business owners. So Over 10 years, I wrote the Small BUsiness field guide. It breaks down everything a small business owner needs to know to be successful in business. I created courses. I started training other coaches to use the materials and help business owners. It grew from a small and strong operation from my home office, into a national endavour.
Yet, I knew I couldn’t stop there. I looked back at my vision a WORLD where small business owners have the tools – and so we grew. I applied to the Canadian Governemnt for th Canexport grant – I thought they would support me in sharing my vision with the world. And luckily they did.
And the results? More than what I could hope for.
INSERT VIDEO OF LITHUANIAN GUY
Where to start on this crazy journey of growth?
Let’s lay of the facts:
- Talked to Povilas through training him as a coach
- Realized there was spots in Lituania – applied to CanEx Grant to get there
- Wrote to the president of Lithuania
- Secured contract with swedbank
- Helped business owners – 10
- Went on to train coaches
- Flew over there
- Coaches graduated – important guy praised us
- Here’s how the coaches and business owners are doing now:
Due to working internationally with coaches, it was brought to my attention that there were organizations in Lithuania looking to help small business owners grow.
We translated over 25 blogs that were published weekly with increased readership over the course of 2021. These were informational in support of economic recovery. We wrote several proposals and developed a marketing strategy to build trust.
Additionally, we wrote a white paper on how the Canadian government supports micro and small business owners and translated it into Lithuanian. Our consultant in Lithuania connected us with Paulius Baltokas, who is an Advisor of the President of the Republic of Lithuania. This resulted in our newly translated program marketing materials being shared with the Vice Minister of Economics and Innovation, Vincas Jurgutis and THE PRESIDENT Gitanas Nauseda!
Then finally, in late August our efforts paid off! We were approached by SwedBank, the largest Bank in Lithuania who asked us to do a marketing project with them that included a pilot of 20 small business owners. Working with SwedBank opens doors for future project for Systems Business Coach globally.
That project launched on August 26, 2021 with our company being featured as the provider of the training material for their “Everyone Can” business development contest. SBC was a featured speaker on the day of the launch (Click here to watch the video) Since that day, our local Lithuanian SBC Certified Coach has been flooded with inquires about how they can get trained and certified as a business coach.
position SBC as a global provider of effective and affordable small business training
We signed an agreement with Swedbank, partnering with them on pilot project called Kiekvienas Gali( English translation: Everyone Can.) This high-profile program pairs 10 established small business owners with 10 micro business owners in Lithuania. The new entrepreneurs take our 12-week Business Development Course. The established business owners will mentor the new business owners as they go through our program. It is a high-profile project with significant social media including a national wide contest to find participants and is being watched by senior government decision makers in Lithuania. Similar to a reality TV show!
Having just been featured on television in Lithuania, partnering with an International Bank, we are feeling the star power of international business expansion. We have a media worthy presence in Lithuania (see article here) and are growing our brand-authority and positioning our founder, Beverlee Rasmussen, as a thought-leader on an international platform. An example can be seen in her keynote to launch the pilot with Swedbank.
Through this project we have learned that the system for business success takes patience and requires the time and effort to build trust with new partners. Building trust takes in-depth research, learning and giving first to fully understand cultures and business.
