So you’ve got a great idea for a business… Wonderful!  You’re going to create high-quality widgets or provide an innovative service offer and really WOW your customers… Awesome! You’re going to create a tribe of willing advocates who’ll sing your praises to all their friends and family and soon the world will beat a path to your door… Terrific!

Sound familiar?  It should – it’s a common story.  Entrepreneurs with a revolutionary offer, loads of energy and a head full of dreams are great to be around because their enthusiasm is infectious.

Sadly, the statistics are very clear – the vast majority will be out of business in three years.  Many of those will have a debt and need to find paid work to repay lenders.  In many cases, a little planning, marketing savvy and having the right business connections would have had a massive positive impact on the outcome.

For female entrepreneurs, that’s where Business in Heels comes in.

Business in Heels is an international organization dedicated to fast-tracking the road to success for women in business.  Through their 3 pillars of Education, Marketing and Connections, they assist businesswomen to achieve realistic results by avoiding the common pitfalls many don’t even know exist. With around 160,000 business connections, they are positioned to help members refine their offer and develop a plan before marketing the offer to numerous local and international groups.

Currently, their business communities exist across Australia and in the UAE, Philippines and New Zealand.

Lisa Sweeney is a corporate escapee.  (“Phew… thank goodness I got out of that rat-race!  I just added ten years to my life!”)

Now CEO and co-owner of Business in Heels, she believes another thing stopping women from running successful businesses is their own limiting beliefs. Most days, she can be found chatting to them and learning their business goals. Then, in the very next sentence, they express their lack of confidence in their own abilities to achieve those goals.  “That’s when we begin formulating a plan before showing them the tools required to make it all come together.”

Whether it be connecting them with others who can help or showcasing their business through video, Lisa gets her daily buzz out of getting these women to focus on what needs to be done instead of the self-fulfilling downward spiral many find themselves in.  “For example, if it’s education they lack, we point them in the direction of one of our many short courses that focus on their specific knowledge gaps.”

Chrissy Stoobs, a reflexologist, agrees.  “I’m feeling very confident I will finally put the other foot in and get this happening! Thank you Lisa for your support…I am so grateful for you.”

The right connections can make a huge difference so BIH encourages and facilitates members to form Collaboration Circles. Since no one is good at everything, these groups create a pool rich in resources all members can draw from and contribute to.

Importantly, it’s also the genesis of lucrative referral partnerships.

“Best of all,” says Lisa, “imagine not having to do the job you hate because you’ve met someone who loves that very job!  It’s such a wonderful feeling when we connect these women and lift this burden.  This happens all the time in Collaboration Circles.”

Connectors who facilitate these circles exist throughout Business in Heels.  They are the Branch Directors – a dedicated group of women who get to know their members’ businesses so well they are able to consistently make introductions that make a difference.

Melissa Ryan, Brisbane Branch Director, is a born connector and also runs her own insurance broking business.  She uses the opportunity of running her branch to boost her income while uniting other businesswomen who would otherwise never have met.  Says Lisa, “The number of connections that occur in any branch are phenomenal and the gratitude and business that develops just keep growing.”

Education is another pillar of the Business in Heels model and it’s played a pivotal role in outcomes for many members.  “Many business owners are excellent at servicing their customers or getting their stock to the right place at the right time,” says Lisa.  “But ask them to define their Target Market, navigate Social Media or deliver a presentation on their business and they struggle.  That’s where our short courses come in.”

Jay (Mitchell?) is a massage therapist and was considering expanding her offer to couples. As a solo-preneur, this would have added overheads

and numerous expenses. The Target Market lesson gave her real clarity and she instead decided to focus on Polynesian massage to cater for a niche without competition in her area.  We then helped her find three psychologists to regularly refer her clients.

“Jay is just one example,” says Lisa.  “We help with education all the time.  From honing your business networking skills to teaching members how to undertake productive business meetings or even how to generate referrals for themselves and others, our courses help so many women boost their cash flow and make a real go of their businesses.”

“Marketing is an element of business many women feel uncomfortable with because they believe it requires boastfulness or forceful sales techniques.  Nothing could be further from the truth,” advises Lisa.  “Successful marketing is about connecting with your Target Market by understanding their pain points and offering a genuine solution.”

Video is currently the most effective way of reaching an audience as it allows trust to develop much faster than other forms of marketing.  Business in Heels has an exceptional track record with video because first it produces the video before distributing it to its huge audience.  It is such a powerful viewer-to-customer converter, that BIH has structured the Scaling Membership around it.

Lisa lit up telling this story…

“Louisa Tew, CEO of The Away Team, was new to video and shaking like a leaf when we arrived to film. Her first video got over 200 likes on her Facebook page in just a few hours. A number of those people then private messaged her.  The result – 2 new clients in just a couple of days.”