Charging What You're Worth ...

This is a subject that I believe most people have difficulty either discussing with themselves and with their clients. I know what I charge and I feel confident with those fees ... I think people see the value behind my services ... the feedback to date agrees with this. The loop hole for me is then asking myself if I am not charging enough or if I want to increase my fees when and by how much so I am not charging myself out of the market place. I recently read an article in the December 2007 issue of Costco Connection ... if you are a member of Costco then you receive this monthly magazine. The authors Paul and Sarah Edwards list three "Don'ts", five "Do's" and one "Never".

The following is a short exert from their article and I believe they have hit the mark on all of them:
- Do's ... quote fees openly and clearly upfront, explain your policies clearly, calculate all costs and profit in any fixed fee quoted, let a prospective client know beforehand if you will be charging for your sales call, and discuss any possible additional cost increases;
- Don'ts ... discount your prices for fear of not getting enough business or feel embarrassed to openly charge a fair fee, forget to cover out-of-pocket expenses and indirect costs, and forget to add on a reasonable profit;
- Never sell yourself short!

After reading the article I realize that by writing and posting on my website my different policies including how I handle NSF checks, late arrivals, no shows, and when prices are reviewed for an increase possibility empowers clients and prospective clients to be make educated decisions with regard to how they interact with myself and others which work with me. The unfortunate part is I can not guarantee everyone will read these policies but I least I can be assured I have put the information in a readily available location for all to read.

Until next time ... thanks for reading and remember "Embrace your inner wisdom".

With gratitude,
Karen

Post Thanksgiving Thoughts - Business Plan?

I realize the Thanksgiving long weekend offers me an opportunity to reflect on the previous year and begin to visualize for the upcoming year; not only for me personally but for me as a business person and for the company as a whole.

A few of the questions I am pondering are:

- How am I best going to balance my personal and business lives? Especially since in April I will become a mother for the first time.
- Can I afford to take maternity leave or can I truly find a balance where clients can come and see me beginning just a few weeks after he is born?
- How big do I want to manifest my client base? 20 clients a week ... 30 clients a week ... 40 clients?
- The Tito's Touch products - how many different product lines with how many unique 'flavors' of each line?
- Where will the Interactive Pet Therapy (IPT) program really head? How big do I want to see it grow to? How will I monitor the quality of the IPT experience for those clients and handlers outside of my geographical area?
- Do I want to get into distribution of the Tito's Touch products? How will this be handled?
- How many employees do I want to employ for Therapy in Transition by this time next year?

I am sure most of you who are either in business for yourself or work for another are realizing that most of these questions look or seem familiar. They should as they are the root questions behind any good business plan layout. Getting clear on goals and aspirations for a company is the first step to writing a solid business plan. Not every company has a good business plan let alone a plan at all but for me and my partner we both believe in at least having a fairly solid outline of what we would like to achieve as it helps us with manifesting, visualizing and budgeting how we expend our funds.

Thanks for reading. Embrace your inner wisdom.

Until next time ...

In gratitude,
Karen

Happy Turkey Day!

That is what my family always says to each other instead of Happy Thanksgiving. I am not sure why but I think it was a way to interject a little humour into our lives. I was thinking of making a list of all things I am very grateful for like my husband, my two puppy dogs, my health, the child I am carrying, my parents and sister etc then I realized I have so much to be grateful for in business as well and maybe this year I will make list of what I am grateful in this regard. So here is my list ...What I am most grateful for in business:

1) New clients ... my client base is continuing to grow and I am grateful for having a full book of 30 clients;

2) New product creations ... under the Tito's Touch name I have introduced a Whipped Hand and Body lotion which is getting awesome reviews so I am grateful for the remaining products which I will be launching during the first quarter of 2008 for each of the same type of response and acceptance;

3) Ladies Who Launch ... this women's network has been an amazing source of inspiration, love, support, and introductions to a new set of friends and associates;

4) Studio Cue ... Kelly has been not only a wonderful graphic designer for the organization as a whole but she is becoming a very good friend for which I can not be more grateful;

5) Aine & Tucker ... my two dogs which continue to inspire me to move forward with the Interactive Pet Therapy Program as they begin the third portion of their training to become certified therapy dogs;

6) My business partner ... Jerry, who also happens to be my husband and best friend is a wonderful source of support. He has given me the best opportunity to follow my dream of starting this business and the natural/organic product line and I can not be more grateful to have such support and unconditional love to be surrounded by;

7) My creativity ... I am grateful having an outlet in which to express my creative side and having it be so readily acceptable and understood - well for the most part any ways :)

8) A wonderful office and practicum room ... I am grateful for the fact I have a safe, beautiful, and loving environment in which to work every day as well as to offer my clients to come and find a place of healing;

9) Abundance ... I am truly grateful for all the abundance I am surrounded by. Abundance of health, love, harmony, peace and joy. As well the abundance of wealth which I find being brought forth every day empowering me to continue to follow my heart and life's purpose; and

10) Education ... every day I learn something new which enlightens me and excels me to a higher level of compassion, understanding and knowledge.

This is my list of this year's things in which I am most grateful for with my business. I thank all of you for reading my posts, believing in me and supporting me with your love and best intentions.

Embrace your inner wisdom.

Until next time,
Happy Thanksgiving!

Karen

Firing the Boss?

I read this biz blog on MSNBC this morning. The title certainly caught my attention and I have to agree with most of what Eve Tahmincioglu has to say. I have witnessed entrapranuers not recognizing when they have outgrown themselves in their companies. I currently consult with a company and the founder shows classic signs of not wanting to let go of the reigns. He certainly believes he is surrounding himself with the correct individuals but yet he hasn't really. They are for the most part yes men who will do his bidding and will raise their concerns but defer to him even when the topic is not his area of expertise. Frustrating to say the least.

I have this concern for myself. As I move forward with Therapy in Transition I am seeing how big this can really become. It does scare me but I believe if I keep reading stories and blogs such as these and holding the intention the right person to step into CEO position comes along that I will definitely recognize it. I just hope a part of me really is that person :)

Reading this biz blog this morning has certainly opened my eyes a little wider and my thoughts inquire how many other individuals who have started their own business in the last six months have already begun thinking about such things?

Thanks for reading. Embrace your inner wisdom.

Until next time, I am in gratitude for all you do.

Karen

To Blog or Not to Blog?

The question still remains to be answered but after listening to Tay and Pam on Thursday night speaking at the ongoing meeting for Ladies Who Launch, I am beginning to ask myself on a more serious note am I the right type of person who should be blogging. I think I am. My intentions back in June when I started definitely thought I was so I am setting myself a few new goals since a lot in my life has changed since my last post at the end of August.

Let's see if I can quickly bring you up to speed ... yes my mother-in-law did not leave until the end of October - yikes!!! I started my Masters in Psychology in September, I found out I am pregnant and due with our first child in or around April 20th, 2008 - yippee!!! We couldn't be more excited. I did a bit of traveling to go see family in Hamilton ON as well as travel for business and I finalized the logo for Therapy in Transition in full color. Oh yes ... LWL held their LIVE event on the 25th of October here in Portland and I donated 300 jars of the 100% natural and organic whipped hand and body lotion to be put in each of the gift bags. Not including celebrating my birthday this past week and taking on new clients. Whew! It has been a busy 8 weeks.

But my new moon resolution from yesterday is that I would post twice a week until it becomes a habit and I am writing information which people find useful and interesting empowering them to come back and read.

Short and sweet today but I am back and I am giving this blogging thing my attention and making it a priority.

Thanks for reading. Embrace your Inner Wisdom!

Until next time, I’m in gratitude for all you do.

Karen

Back on track?

Well I am not sure if I really am back on track but life has been throwing me a few good things to keep me busy and away from being able to keep my intention of posting at least four times a week.

My mother-in-law is still staying with us and I believe it will be for another 4 weeks or so. For a total of 10 -11 weeks. Yes - a long time time especially when you remember my parents were with us for 3 1/2 weeks prior to that along with my sister and her family. So since the middle of June we have not had the house to ourselves and company galore. Don't get me wrong I long company but it isn't conducive for trying to get focused on starting a new business nor is it conducive for scheduling clients to come over for an appointment.

I have realized that doors or something on the front room are a must and will most likely get these installed shortly after she leaves at the end of next month. Her staying with us is a small sacrifice on my part knowing my husband is able to spend quality time with his mother which he sadly missed out on as a child and young adult.

Also 3 1/2 weeks ago my older puppy (15 mos) had knee surgery so I have been kept busy trying to keep her quiet and my younger puppy (8 mos) from jumping and running with her. Sedatitives were of no real help here so we stopped giving them to her and have just tried to keep them naturally quiet. Very difficult but they have done well. This is where I am grateful for my mother-in-law being here; she has been a tremendous help in just trying to keep the peace. She has here with her a 5 year old whippit mix which is a very laid back dog and doesn't get too excited over anything; her name is Shu Shu. Shu Shu has been a great example for the other two dogs of how to take life easy :)


I have been also focused on my non-profit: Sponsor a Teacher Program. I started this non-profit 10 years and have not been able to make it move at all. I joined the local chapter of Ladies Who Launch and just last night completed the four week Incubator Intensive. It was amazing and I have already seen so much movement with the company that I joined the ongoing intensive. I met a great group of ladies who are very supportive and genuinely excited for my successes. We have decided to continue to meet monthly as a group to help each other stay on course. I will be posting a second time today with a link to each of the women's websites.

I have also enrolled and begin my Masters of Science in Psychology on September 19, 2007 which will give me a graduation date of December 2008. This will have me fulfill one more of my life's goals. The first was to own my home by the time I was 30; I moved into my first home 2 1/2 weeks after my 29th birthday and the second is to have my masters completed by the time I turn 40. Well I turn 38 this coming November so this second goal is well within reach!

Oh yes ... Therapy in Transition has adopted the branding logo to the left and we are now adding color. Kelly has been amazing and I am so grateful to have her and her creativity.


Thanks for reading. Embrace your Inner Wisdom!

Until next time, I’m in gratitude for all you do.

Karen

Family has left the building ...

For the last month, well really since my last posting, I have been inundated with family and to say the least I am very tired now that they all have left and feel I need a vacation just to get rested up to do the day-to-day things.

I have decided not to move forward with a permanent position with the company I am consulting with part-time as I realized this company, Therapy in Transition, is the one I want to see rise to the sun and back with success and I can only do that by allowing myself to give more and more of my time to it. So part time I remain. I have agreed to take on a third student to tutor. I have been tutoring two Korean girls since February for reading comprehension and this most recent addition will be a sixth grader who has lost her love of learning. Before saying yes to this third student I really thought about how taking on such a client would be in alignment with my mission here at TITO. This young girl is most certainly lost and needs to rediscover her inner wisdom to see and know success back in her academic career. This client will be different from the other two as I intuitively feel it will be more mentoring her through what a young 12 year old girl might need emotionally and mentally but from someone other than her parents and step-parents. An objective viewpoint perhaps.

I thought I would be able to keep up with signing on daily to post what I have been working on for Therapy in Transition and getting it up and running but alas I have found there is not enough time in the day to do so. I guess I better get myself a schedule and stick to it so I can continue with what I have set as priorities to truly remain a priority. Does that even make sense? Oh well.

I met with the graphic designer Kelly this morning; she brought six different designs for the logo/branding icon. To say I was impressed is an understatement. For the next week or so we will review them and offer comments back for the next round of images. I already have an idea which marries two of her concepts into one so we will see how it will look once refined. As soon as we confirm the final version then I will post it here.

The next thing on my list of ‘to dos’ for the company is finalizing the other aspects of advertising. I have made the decision that I must be in the yellow pages since it is a staple of those looking for resources; through Dex online I will be accessible to even more people than just those using the paper phonebook. The other aspect of advertising which I started last week is GoogleAds and already having people click through to my site for just pennies a click.

Still trying to find a custom door guy to work with on getting the doors measured and built. If anyone has or knows anyone in the Portland OR area send 'em my way.

Small items of concern such as getting the bank account established has all been done.

Oh the other big news is both puppies have completed their level 2 training and will begin level 3 in September. Aine goes for knee surgery on the 1st of August to stabilize her patella bone in the right knee. I have been told it is an easy surgery and she should see a full recovery quite easily due to her age. I will keep you posted how things go with her.

Thanks for reading. Embrace your Inner Wisdom!

Until next time, I’m in gratitude for all you do.
Karen

Rain Rain Go Away ...

Another day which I spent with my mother looking at flowers for our backyard while the whole time I was thinking of what else I could be working on for Therapy in Transition. I need to email Kelli, I need to email Laura, I need to contact Sandy ... I need ... I need ... I need ... I need to just enjoy my time with my mother! So I did. I let go of the list of a 1000 things which could be occupying my time and mind and just focused on trees, shrubs, petunias, and hostas. It was wonderful.

Now that I am home and the plants are now waiting until the rain stops so I can go outside to plant them - I am now getting to the mental list of the to dos. I am excited as we decided to let Kelli know she is the one we are going to be working with regarding the establishing our identity.

My father was going to put the doors on the practicum room while here but now that he is able to 'see' the space he feels to make it look right and add value to our home I should go with a customized door builder/installer. So now my to do list has just gotten longer and this becomes a higher priority than original thought. The reason as it comes back to what I discussed earlier ... location. In order to have clients come to my home I need a space which not only offers them a safe space but also the privacy and confidentiality that they and I both deserve. It also will allow my husband/family to continue their lives with minimal interruption.

Another item which has just been added is adding a second line to our phone - one which is dedicated to the business so the rest of my family and household do not have to worry about answering it and I do not have to worry about a client calling for the first time hearing - 'Hey' when they call instead of 'Therapy in Transition, Karen speaking'.

As well this morning the company which I have been consulting with for the last three years has now opened the discussion of a more permanent position with them and asked for me to think about what position I would like to hold. So for the next three days I am trying to put together how my life is going to look if I accept this new permanent position and if I am able to continue the balancing act or if I ultimately need to cut myself loose from it. Ironically my husband just accepted a new position at a new company which alleviates the need for me to really bring in any income while I get Therapy in Transition up and running fully.

So figuring out which pieces of my life's puzzle fit on which side of the balance and how they positively or negatively affect my over all goal truly begins. What fun!

So off to my emails ... off to try and find a door guy ... off to return phone calls ...

Thanks for reading. Embrace your inner wisdom!

Until next time, I'm in gratitude for all you do.
Karen

Policies ... A necessary evil

Last week I spent a good portion of two days thinking about what types of policies we need to have in place. When you are starting your own business the last thought you like to have about your new customers is how they are going to screw you. I always like to have my focus on the glass is half full but in reality there are always those customers who fail to live up to your expectations by not showing up for appointments or writing you a check which just happens to clear the day before their paycheck is available to them.

After reading and reviewing I'm not sure how many different organization's policies; I finished writing what I feel are the four main policies to have in place in any sized business. These policies are not to turn off customers but to communicate your level of seriousness and what they in turn can expect if or when they might consciously or subconsciously consider writing a bad check or canceling appointments.

The four policies which I wrote and we've agreed to implement are of course the Non-Sufficient Funds policy - this tells the customer/client that if they do write a bad check what they can expect to be charged by me to cover my costs and what would be the consequences (no more checks accepted); the second one was our Privacy Policy - this one reassures our clients that their identity and personal information will not be shared with anyone outside of our own organization; the third was our Cancellation Policy - this policy states what we expect regarding timing of canceling appointments or rescheduling them. We know life happens and therefore schedules needs to be adjusted accordingly but this policy also allows for equal respect to be given between both us and our clients regarding in the value of both our times; and the fourth policy was Payments, Tips, and Refunds Policy. We know you can not please everyone and to communicate a touchy subject such as tipping in a non-objectionable way is certainly appreciated.

Now that I have these primary policies written and basically implemented I will be sending out a formal introduction to our current clients with this information. Getting ready to launch a new company has certain prerequisites which can not be over looked. The policies is one, creating a recognizable identity is another, and the third which is on my plate for this week is creating the actual work/session space in which to meet clients. This step is again a critical one to consider all possibilities available or not available to you. My situation is I am establishing the company to be ran out of our home - which means I need to balance the privacy of my clients and the privacy of my family members equally. We have the space but now it is actually figuring out how to best install doors/curtains etc to offer the available space the best for both needing privacy. Good thing my parents are here - building and reconstructing spaces is one of their favorite pass times.

Well I guess I better get back to staring at the entry way to figure out what types of doors and furnishings I need to bargain hunt for. Just a few weeks and my clients will be pouring in.

Embrace your inner wisdom!

Until next time, I'm in gratitude for all you do.
Karen

Parents Arriving and Other Thoughts

Today my parents arrive from Spaniard's Bay Newfoundland Canada; they were suppose to arrive last night but they were delayed due to fog. A little dissappointed? Yes but I would rather they arrive safely than not at all.

Starting your own business can be extremely stressful. There are many decisions to make and in most cases with limited funds. I have been a management consultant for the last four years and as a result I do have an income already. These funds are obviously useful to pay ongoing bills but it is enough to allow me to have a little extra for starting this company.

We decided one of the most important elements to inject some of our hard earned savings into is the logo - you know - the icon which gets burned into consumers minds so they instantly recongize you. Through a resource directory - The NW Women's Directory - I found an amazing young woman - Kelli who is a graphic designer. We hit it off with immediately, she is extremely talented and also very reasonable on my wallet. We are excited about this new partnership and how positively it is going to support our business plan.

Why at this point might some of you ask is the importance of spending a few thousand dollars on such an item? Well it is all about setting yourself apart, making yourself instantly recognizable, establishing yourself only once, and effectively communicating who and what you are. This ladies and gentlemen is called Marketing 101. One of the biggest mistakes a new company can do is to keep changing their 'icon' or their main visual message(s); doing this keeps your consumers confused and in the mind set that your organization is not established. This lends to your target audience (the people you would like to have use your goods/services) to go somewhere else. As you know yourself the last thing you want to do is go into a partnership (the moment you exchange any goods/services with another you enter into a partnership - it is just the length of the partnership which becomes questionable) with another individual/company that is unstable. It is because of this we are choosing to invest, yes it is an investment, into our new company these funds to ensure our message to our audience is clear, concise, consistent, and effective.

Well, I am off to write and establish policies today before my parents arrive ... fun eh?

Embrace your inner wisdom!

Until next time, I'm in gratitude for all you do.
Karen

Welcome

Hey ... it is the Summer Solstice today and what a great way to celebrate by starting something new and completely different. I am new to blogging and haven't really thought of myself as a blogger but this morning I was hit with the inspiration to become one. As I was sitting drinking my morning coffee while working on the website of my new company I received this, I guess the best word to describe it is inspiration. Ironically I still have not even read any other blogs to see what people are writing about and discussing but I trust my intuition that starting this blog is something which will be good for all those which are drawn to read, comment, and share.

My intention is to post four or five times a week to share my experiences of starting my own business - Therapy in Transition. Oh I grew up in a family owned business so being in business is not new and I started a non-profit organization called Sponsor a Teacher Program which ironically and surprisingly has been a long time in the making; but this organization my husband and I are starting is really about me embracing my own personal growth experience while truly allowing my passion for helping others to shine through without allowing fear to enter into the race of finding success.

I hope by sharing my experiences of starting my own business that those individuals which read my blog will enjoy it, learn something, and be willing to share it.

Embrace your inner wisdom!

Until next time, I'm in gratitude for all you do.

Karen