Chic Biz Academy
Enroll today to learn how to streamline your biz & maximize your profits.
Chic Biz Academy is now LIVE!.
It is a FREE 14 day Profitable Biz Academy to help you grow your biz.
I created Chic Biz Academy to help chic + savvy solopreneur women to automate their businesses + increase their profits.
It includes 3 Modules:
- MONEY GENERATION
You want to make money, and lots of it? Of course! I'll spill my best tactics to maximize your sales funnel from every angle. - MO' MONEY, LESS PROBLEMS
I will teach you how to track & budget all that money that will be rollin in once you maximize on your money generation efforts. - CREATE YOUR OWN BEYHIVE
No matter how strong your sales funnel is or how smart you are with your money, if you aren't treating your customers better than gold. I will teach you how to build a biz with buzz from your incredible consumers.
I can't wait to help you grow your biz. Enroll here.
xo,
Kimber
Yoga pants are deceitful...don't let your bottom line be too
Yoga pants and entrepreneurs become very close. The connection is almost as close as entrepreneurs and their financial systems.
Yoga pants are part of the work from home dress code. However, It's hard to notice that you've gained weight when yoga pants are your go to pants. Yoga pants are flattering and stretch like it's nobody's business. Even if you notice your yoga pants are tight when you first put them on, the power of Lycra makes you comfortable in minutes.
The reality is you know your yoga pants haven't seen the Yoga mat or the gym in a while.
Oh no she didn't.
& did.
Typically what we focus on is what grows.
However that isn't always true with thighs or booties. Or your business bottom line.
You know the income after all expenses (general, admin costs, interest charges, etc.) have been deducted from your revenue (net profit).
Focus and action are two different things.
Most entrepreneurs have no idea what their bottom line looks like, nor do they have a budget, or make time in their schedule to even review the financials. It's usually a quick look in PayPal- transfer to bank account and pay who and what is needed.
Boom! Financial System
When was the last time you looked at the numbers? The real numbers, not likes or follows, but conversions and expenses. What do you need to get where you want to be? Where do you even want to be?
In the beautiful words of my brother:
“Men lie, women lie, numbers don’t.”
You can ignore the numbers but don't be surprised when December comes and you haven't reached your money goals. Focus on your goals, take action, then assess how the action is doing, and take action again based on the assessment.
focus +Action + Assessment + action = Success
(the one formula you need to remember)
Can you imagine getting fitted for that little black dress for a holiday occasion and you didn't account for your new bottom? Every morning you pulled out a pair of yoga pants and Lycra worked its magic. You indulged in golden oreos, because they’re vegan so you might as well have the “healthy” snacks. You skipped meals because you were so engrossed in your business and weren’t really hungry. You skipped the gym because well...you wanted to and you’re the BOSS. Days turned to weeks and weeks to months and your focus wasn’t on your bottom line it was on doing the things you love in your business and life.
Yoga pants are deceitful. *sigh*
Business is a series of moving parts. There are some parts that you will adore and can’t wait to do (the fun and creative part of your expertise), and the other parts where you ignore until it smacks you right in the face and says:
If you have a business and want to make money, you need to have a solid financial system. Spoiler alert: PayPal is not a financial system.
Financial systems include budgets, quarterly assessments, accounting program, sales funnels, and processes to manage invoices and returns.
3 chic tips to a basic financial system:
1. Write down ALL your business expenses and cancel any programs/tools that you aren't using. Even that gym membership if you aren’t going.
2. Create a budget for your business & STICK to it!
3. Sign up for Wave Apps to monitor your money.
Automate Your Life
When you automate your business...you instantly find ways to automate your life. 3 chic ways to automate your life.
What's the one thing you hate doing? I mean you could think of 456,348 other things to do in place of this thing.
I for one hate cleaning, not like borderline hoarder, but it’s number one on my I could be doing something else list. I've always hated to clean up, I blame my parents. I never had chores as a child and my mom washed my clothes until I was 20. Talk about a disservice.
A year ago I outsourced cleaning to my older children. Fail. It must be genetic. They were horrible and I had to clean up after they cleaned, a total waste of time.
A few months ago I decided I wanted someone to come in and clean my house on a regular basis. The BEST decision I could ever make.
Initially I had to get my Huni on board because his thought process was we were able bodied and should be cleaning our own house. I thought to myself, “well you clean it.” I didn't say it but Lord knows my thoughts have to be filtered at times.
Hiring the house cleaner took away from thoughts of not wanting to clean up or having to use time and energy actually cleaning. That time is now spent doing whatever I want. And I mean whatever.
THAT IS PRICELESS!
Two years ago I outsourced my daughters hair care. It used to take me hours to do her hair. Remember how I said it should never take 8 hours to do a blog post. Well it was taking me about 3 to 4 hours to wash, dry and style her hair, and the style was bootleg. Every other Saturday she has a standing hair appointment. I drop her off and I go about my day. Priceless.
Here are 3 chic ways to automate your life:
1. Thumbtack offers so amazing services (house cleaning, food preparation, dog walking, etc.) to help you automate your life. The biggest win with with Thumbtack is you are supporting other small businesses.
2. Amazon has an auto fulfillment service, Subscribe & Save, that delivers baby items, health & beauty items, pantry grocery items and household items on a recurring schedule that you set. So put that toilet paper and toothpaste on autopilot and you don’t even have to think about it. Subscribe & Save even offers coupons.
3. In my signature program, Automate Your Biz, I help women to automate their business so they can enjoy their lives.
What can you automate in your life?
Stop treating your customers like gold! Treat them like Taylor's Swifties (pop culture case study)
People will tell you to treat your customers like gold. Ignore them! Gold is so cheap these days.
People will tell you to treat your customers like gold. Ignore them! Gold is so cheap these days.
Instead treat your customers like Taylor Swift treats her fans. Taylor Swift is known for the love she pours into those that support her. She calls her fans "swifties" and they all receive bestie treatment.
Taylor sends thoughtful gifts to her Swifties. Recently she sent $1989 to pay for student loans after reading a Swiftie wrote on social media that she was struggling to pay her loans. Taylor has invited her biggest fans to pizza parties at her home AND she bakes them cookies. Yes, homemade cookies. Beyonce hasn’t made me cookies YET. Meanwhile, Taylor also has sent jewelry, bought lunches, written handwritten notes and homemade Valentines cards.
No more gold. You want to treat your clients like Taylor treats her Swifties.
She pays attention to her social media and knows who is talking to her. She engages authentically with her swifties.
So if you're still treating your peeps like dusty gold sitting around on your dresser or stuffed in the back of your jewelry box- dust yourself off and move in a new direction.
5 chic tips for giving your clients superstar treatment:
Buy your customers gifts
Send them handwritten thank you notes just because
Randomly send past customers love tokens
Engage with your social media followers (let them get to know you while you get to know them).
Run fun contests that gets them involved in your business.
Use Evernote or Trello to keep track of the ideas that you come up with for your client lovin system. Because of course client lovin’ is a system.
Come across a cute etsy shop? Save the link in your Evernote so you easily can access it.
Your customers will love that you took the time to show your gratitude (no matter how big or small).
What ways can you woo your customers and make them feel better than Taylor's Swifites?
Why I created Chic Systems Mastery
I created Chic Systems Mastery program because I was tired of seeing chic + savvy solopreneur women struggling in their business. The behind the scenes biz struggle is U-G-L-Y they ain’t got no alibi. The back-end business struggle is real.
I would hear and see these women complaining about working all the time and never having time for herself.
What little time she could find away from her computer was dedicated to her family so her husband wouldn’t start looking at the random women in gym or at work, and so her children wouldn’t think that the computer was all mommy cared about. She craved time with her girlfriends aside from the occasional “LOL” and “I miss you,” responses on Facebook and Instagram.
I knew it was possible to make more money, have clients that adore and rave about you, cultivate relationships and network online; nurture and love a family, while enjoying the luxuries of life with your favorite people.
I’m living proof, as well as my chic + savvy solopreneur superstar clients. We have mastered systems. The dreaded “S” word is what can transform working 7 days a week to having 3 day weekends every week. Systems are traditionally dry and masculine. Most entrepreneurs are either intimidated by systems as they are “one more thing to do,” or they simply have no clue what systems are, or they assume the overwhelm and chaos is just a part of business. In knowing this, I have added my feminine flair of fabulousness to Chic Systems. I would lie to you and tell you systems are sexy and you should get excited about Evernote, Trello, and Toggl. Simply put, systems aren’t sexy. Yet, the bottom line that systems produce are beautiful.
Think of going to the gym for 30 days straight and how amazing you feel and look afterwards. Eating clean and exercise does a body good. Chic systems and implementation does a business good. Your bottom line increases which means you are making more profits. You aren’t just breaking even. You are able to outsource work that you either don’t want to do or cannot do. You are staying in your zone of expertise and taking on more clients (only if you want to), while that extra 8 hours a week is spent living your passions.
Chic Systems Mastery was created with you in mind. You’re already busy running a business, and some days it seems like the business is running you. This program has done for you worksheets and templates where you just copy & paste the system into your business. Easy peasy, I’ve done all the hard work for you. There are video and audio trainings teaching you to navigate through the tools. A coaching call each week to customize systems for your business. Weekly email coaching in between the coaching calls for support and mentorship. So many goodies and benefits.
My mission is to help women live their dreams. It’s really hard to pursue your dream wholeheartedly when you’re broke, overwhelmed, and working all the time. And what's sexy about that?
Are you ready to BLAST overwhelm and organize the day to day chaos? Let's do this!
Working Full-Time, Starting a Business and Partying with friends? Here's the only way to make it work
You've been bit by the entrepreneur bug. There's only one thing that's in your way...that 9-5 that pays primarily all your bills right now.
Le'sigh.
You know your purpose and are ready to fully step out on faith. Those bills are still relying on that good ole corporate check. No worries. I know exactly what you need.
Systems.
What are systems? Systems are a sexy word to describe business structure and processes. See how systems sounds much sexier?
Most of your day and time is accounted for with your corporate gig. The night hours, lunch breaks, and the weekend are all you have to make this dream work. A scheduling system is what you need first.
So let's map out a realistic schedule:
Monday - Thursday
Dedicate 8 PM - 11 PM to your business.
That means 5 PM-7:59 PM is yours.
Network, enjoy your family, workout, eat clean or take a nap [although naps after 4 pm aren't good for productivity].
I highly recommend having working lunches. So instead of spilling the latest tea with your friends at work, do these instead: catch up on your business emails, find new connections on twitter, listen to podcasts, draft a blog post, or read a book that will push you ahead.
Friday's are a free card. Make the most of it however you choose. A few suggestions: go to networking happy hours [don't drink...sip on your dream and soda], hang out with your friends and family that adore you, go do things that make your scream with excitement or party like its 1999.
If nothing is happening on Friday switch the time with Saturday or Sunday.
Saturday & Sunday
Dedicate 8 hours to your business. It doesn't have to be 8 full hours. Chunk your time if you like. Chunking is far more effective for productivity and creativity.
Chunking is merely setting aside a small "chunk" of time and using ALL that time to one task.
You can use a pomodoro app like Marinara Timer to schedule the time you want to chunk. Sometimes I'll do 15 minutes on 5 minutes off or 30 minutes on 15 minutes off.
The standard Pomodoro method is a 25 minute period of time with a break afterwards. Each break is 5 minutes long, with a 15 minute break after the completion of the fourth Pomodoro.
I love that the Marinara Timer gives you the option on how you chunk your time. After all you are the boss!
Every week you will need to compare your social schedule and your business schedule. This way you are able to enjoy your friends and family like the social butterfly you are, and also create amazing offers, products, and services for the world to enjoy.
Google Calendar is perfect and syncs with event invites on Facebook. Sunrise is a great app that ties to Google calendar, your smart phone, Facebook, Eventbrite, and majority of the productivity apps. SCORE!
Creating a business, working full-time and enjoying your social life is possible. You don't have to choose.
your time is already limited, Speed up the process to working full-time for yourself...secure your spot in Chic Systems Mastery.
The Cat in the Hat can teach you a thing or two
Every night (okay let me be real only Sunday through Thursday) I read a story to my 3 years old. For the past two weeks he has only wanted to read The Cat in the Hat. So last night I ask him does he want to read another book. Of course he says no.
WHY?? I ask.
“Because I like the characters, they use funny timing [rhyming] words,” he replies.
Kids are simple.
He didn't care that he has an entire library of other books- to include many Dr. Seuss books. The Cat in the Hat makes him laugh and he appreciates that.
Simple.
It made me think how sometimes in business [& life] we complicate things.
Overthinking and just being the expert can definitely complicate things from time to time.
Creating systems from scratch can be beastly and overwhelming. They aren't sexy. You are, but your systems, not so much.
Keep it Simple.
When creating your systems keep them simple.
Systems are a bunch of moving parts. Systems aren't your business unless you're in the systems business.
You're in business to make money, systems simply support those efforts.
If you're a checklist person use checklists & asana or evernote.
If you're a visual person use post-it's, white boards and paper & pen. Check out Trello too.
We have a baby night time routine system based on my son's behaviors. (Refusal to go to bed because he's "hungry " aka he's learned that kids aren't sent to bed hungry or he hasn't finished a puzzle or he needs to call his mama or papa.)
Here's how it would look:
- Baby eats dinner
- Baby picks out book
- Baby gathers toys he wants in bath if different from the night before
- Baby says goodnight to everyone in house
- Ask baby does he want to call grandparents...
- If yes call grandparents
- Remind Baby that he is not allowed downstairs after he gets in bath.
- Baby has bath
- Baby gets in Pajamas
- Mommy reads to baby
- Mommy & Baby says prayers
- Mommy reminds baby that he is not allowed downstairs
- Mommy kisses baby & tells him God will protect him he's already said his prayers
- 15 minutes mommy or daddy checks to see if baby is sleep
3 Chic Tips to Mastery:
1. Vow to keep life & business simple.
2. Assess where you can add The Cat & The Hat tactics: simple, fun, & helpful.
3. Laugh more. Worry less. Laugh lines are acceptable, stress wrinkles aren't as cute.
Systems reduce the worry about money and day to day practices.
I made a mistake
On my way back in town this past Sunday, I was editing my podcast in the car because I knew my schedule was thrown off, and it wouldn’t have been done. I haven’t outsourced my editing to my assistant, because I like to keep my personality and quirks part of the episode. So I edited the podcast in a car full of disgruntled traveling children. Note to self: just don’t!
When I recorded the podcast Skype cut out for a few moments while I was telling Chivon my story. When it reconnected I told her I would edit that part out. So when editing in the car full of distractions that was the one part I did not edit.
So as I listened to the uploaded episode this morning driving my babes to school and I heard myself say, “no worries I’ll edit this part out.” I felt like such a loser. How could I listen and MISS the one part that needed to be edited out. Immediately the perfectionist in me couldn’t get home fast enough. I wanted to delete the current episode, edit the portion out, and re-upload like it never happened.
Then I thought, “girl, you do not have time for ANY of that in your schedule today.” I was thinking how I could move things around to get it done, but it wasn’t plausible. Sometimes I have to have pep talks with myself.
So today’s pep talk went something like this:
Mistakes happen. You aren’t perfect. Get over it. No one cares. Really, no one cares. So what.
After my pep talk, I was fine. I went on with my day. I promoted the episode, because it’s a great conversation. Even the bit I had planned to edit.
3 Chic Tips to Mastery if you ever make a mistake:
1. Own it! Acknowledge that you made an error.
2. Apologize if necessary.
3. Move on! Try not to make the same mistake and keep moving!
Even with systems, you will make mistakes, and thats okay. Don’t let them hold you back. Download the episode on Self-care for solopreneurs. Being kind to yourself is definitely a self-care tactic.