Elaine Betts was our closing guest for our first ever Thrive NOW ™ virtual summit. Elaine is the CEO of Go Far Consulting, who sits down with me to talk about how businesses can find new streams of money, especially during times like those we’re experiencing during COVID-19. You could say we saved the “Betts” for last.
We are honored by the experts and business leaders who turned out for Thrive NOW™, the full-day virtual summit, especially for small businesses. The idea came to us at Smart Simple Marketing after having many conversations with fellow business owners who had questions, ideas, and concerns about how small businesses can survive an economic slowdown.
We reached out to our network and quickly assembled a program of five one-hour sessions, each with a different topic and expert guest. We were honored to have more than 300 people attend.
- Emotional health: How to Overcome Your Fears and Rewire Your Thinking for Success with business coach Michele Molitor
- Legal considerations: COVID-19 Legal Considerations – Action to take Now and Pitfalls to Avoid, with attorney Brian Ripley
- Getting found online: Getting Your Business Found Online and Attracting New Customers with Tom Petty, digital marketing consultant
- Working remotely: How to Lead a Virtual Team for the First Time Successfully with Tara Powers, founder, and CEO of Powers Resource Center
Meet Elaine Betts
Elaine Betts is the CEO of Go Far Consulting, a California-based firm that specializes in small businesses, executive coaching, and corporate coaching specializing in legal, construction, healthcare, and financial industries. Her signature “Four M” approach — method, management, momentum, and money — has helped numerous companies grow and earn more revenue.
Elaine joined me for the final session of Thrive NOW™, to talk about how she helps businesses grow and find new sources of income.
Key Learnings from Elaine Betts’ Session
Elaine and I began our session by talking about trying to remain optimistic during an economic downturn, especially when there is so much uncertainty. The word “unprecedented” has never been used as much as it has in 2020! (If you haven’t already listened to Michele Molitor’s session on rewiring your thinking for success during an economic crisis, you might want to check that out, which you can access here.)
These are the key points you’ll hear Elaine talk about during our session of Thrive NOW.
- Know your numbers. As painful as it may be to look at your financials and your analytics right now, this is not the time to ignore your numbers. You need to understand clearly what you have coming in, what you need, and what gaps you may have.
- Look for places where you can defer expenses. Contact vendors, restructure, and negotiate contracts. When a financial crisis like COVID-19 hits, few businesses escape unscathed, so reach out and communicate with your suppliers and vendors.
- Review your receivables. Reach out to your customers and clients who owe you money and find out where you fall on their “food chain.” The news may not all be good, but at least you’ll have an idea of what to expect with regard to your receivables.
- Talk to your bank. Financial institutions are open to talking during the current financial crisis, and many are offering creative solutions to help businesses get through these tough times.
- Inventory your assets. Do you have the equipment you can sell? Leases you can renegotiate? Services you can cancel? How can you quickly free up needed cash?
- Look for value-add opportunities. Is there a way to add existing value to the products and services you offer, as up-sell opportunities for your customers?
Elaine makes a very important point about 8 minutes into our conversation: Don’t make assumptions. For example, don’t assume that what you hear in the news or from friends is 100% accurate about small business loans and sources of funding for small businesses. Talk to your bank directly — get the information straight from your financial institution.
About halfway into our session, Elaine and I share specific examples of how small businesses have pivoted their business models to create new streams of revenue, such as salons adopting teaching models and selling supplies to their customers and showing them how to color their own hair.
Lastly, we have some words of wisdom that can apply to any business, any time:
- Don’t expect to have all the answers right away.
- Take small steps and set benchmarks to measure your progress.
- Don’t wait until you have it all “figured out.” Take action—even if that action isn’t perfect. Doing creates results.
- But, do your research. Make decisions based on facts and figures.
- Build relationships with related businesses, and refer customers to each other.
Connect With Elaine Betts
Visit GoFarConsulting.com to learn more about Elaine and her consulting company. You can also connect with her on Twitter (@ElaineCBetts), Facebook, and LinkedIn.
About the Thrive NOW™ Virtual Summit
We held the Thrive NOW™ Virtual Small Business Summit in mid-April of 2020 after we’d heard from our network about the need for support for small businesses and entrepreneurs. One resource predicted that 25% or more of small businesses may not survive in 2020, and we knew we couldn’t just let that happen.
Smart Simple Marketing has been serving the small business community for more than 14 years. We’re so proud to have worked with 8,000+ small business owners in 79 industries from around the globe. Thrive NOW™ is the product of our experience in results-driven content marketing, producing virtual events, and delivering hundreds of workshops, seminars, and webinars worldwide.
Our latest virtual summit was a great success, thanks to our roster of experts. We are planning the next summit, so connect with us and find out about future events.
Title tag: How to Create New Streams of Revenue
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