Soul Business Program for Business Owners and Entrepreneurs

For whom is this program?

Most often I see entrepreneurs fall into one of these three categories:

1. They started with passion and realize after a few years in operation that they could fulfill their mission better (and be rewarded properly) when they take their business to the next level.
2. They became an entrepreneur because they saw a (short term) opportunity to make money or because they needed to take over the family business.
3. They are already a successful entrepreneur (10 years or more) but have lost the connection with their original passion. They also feel that it is time to look inward, and potentially transform their company to be of even more value to the world.

In other words, there is a need for increased financial compensation, a desire to work more from the heart, or there is the longing to leave the world in a better condition and really make a difference. Most of the time it is a combination of all of these.

To support them I have designed the “Soul Business” program. 

To keep it simple, the content is divided according the triangle of Paul de Blot of the Business University of Nyenrode (The Netherlands).

Cooperation (Right Side): This side has to do with whom and for whom do we work for. It entails different aspects of cooperating; on one hand, customers, employees, partners and suppliers. On the other hand, the local, national and international community. These days, the world is so interconnected that you cannot do it on your own anymore (nor have to do it on your own!)

Idealism (Bottom): This side is related to meaningfulness and purpose. It is about why we do something, what our mission in life is and what the mission of our company is. What are our passions, dreams and desires? This is the side of the heart, gut feeling, intuition and the subconscious.

In reality, we see that the side of “idealism” is often taken for granted and often skipped. As an entrepreneur it is often something you feel and not always are able to describe adequately. You feel that you need to do something and you just do it. What often happens is that after a while the passion disappears. This even might lead to bore-out or burn-out. To avoid the latter, it is important to give attention to the “idealism” side every once in a while. Even more important is to know what your deepest passions, core talents and life mission are so you can keep reinventing your company in order to stay relevant for (new) customers and above all stay happy yourself.

What also belongs to the “idealism” side are blocks, limiting beliefs and fears because they reside most of the time in our subconscious. Since they have such an impact, they are a fourth crucial element for success that needs to be explicitly mentioned. Believe me, if I tell you that I know what I am talking about from personal experience.

Entrepreneurs are usually familiar with the sides of “realism” and “cooperation.” However, often the business is not running smoothly or far from what could be considered the optimal way of working. There are not enough customers (or not the right ones) and also the right employees or partners are difficult to find. Then they start looking for a solution in new tools or technologies. However, the problem is often there are so many platforms and devices that it is hard to decide which ones will be worth the investment in time and money. If you just think about all of the social media options available (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube), which are the right ones for your company and which are just hypes? And if some could be beneficial for you, how do you go about it?

In short, when first giving enough attention to the “idealism” side it becomes much easier to create brands, products and services with your company (“realism”) and it becomes much easier to attract the right people and parties to work together with (“cooperation”). By consciously looking at blocks, limiting beliefs and fears (“blocks”), the rocks in the undercurrent will be cleared away so you can enjoy Happy Profit in the top layer.

What does the “Soul Business” program look like?

You will see a bit further down that there is an individual program and a group program.

Although the content for both programs is broadly the same, the length per module and the exact topics differ because the emphasis is dependent on the participant(s). The group program is a co-creation project and the specific wants and needs of the participant(s) are taken into account. The individual program is completely designed together with the participant.

It is important to know that besides the traditional way of rational reasoning, exchanging ideas and finding solutions, we also work with mind-mapping, the hats of De Bono, visualization, meditation, systemic work (constellations), EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques) and kinesiologic testing. In this way the triangle of Paul de Blot is also used in the way we work so our whole being is employed to reach the optimal result.

Module “Realism” (what, how, where, when)

This module is a mix of (for example):

• Determining your company’s ideal business model (and not what the latest hypes or business gurus tell).
• The road to your dream: defining your long-term strategy with the “bowling pins”.
• Taking an honest look at current products and services:
  • Do they fulfill the needs of your perfect customers? Does anything need to be added, changed or removed?
  • Is the price (policy) right?
    • Do you have enough of a profit margin?
    • Do you attract the right customers with this price (policy)?
  • Does anything need to be changed regarding your products or services in order to be the best fit for your customers, for you and for the world (e.g. environment friendly).
• Defining the best fitting sales funnel for your company.
• Setting up an (automatic) lead generation approach and visualizing this on a lead generation map.
• Discovering which marketing channels are the best fits for your company (and again not what the latest hypes or business gurus sell).
• Deploying the following marketing channels (if applicable, see previous bullet point) in order to more easily attract the right customers:
  • Passively (in-bound):
    • Your own website: do the ideal clients recognize themselves? How easy is it to take action? How well does your website score in Google and can this be improved in an easy way?
    • E-mail list with potential customers: how to build this automatically.
    • Business Card(s): how to use this as a lead generation tool and to build the Know, Like, Trust factor.
    • Flyers and other paper marketing material: is it attractive for your ideal customer?
    • Social Media: how to be found more easily and how to increase the Know, Like, Trust factor before someone gets in touch with you:
      • LinkedIn personal page
      • LinkedIn page company
      • Facebook page company
      • Twitter personal account
      • Twitter company account
      • YouTube
      • SlideShare
      • Mindmeister
      • Pinterest
  • Proactively (out-bound)
    • Giving information and demonstrations in order to increase your visibility by showing your expertise:
      • Events
      • Webinars
    • Finding customers and referral partners with LinkedIn
    • Attracting customers with Facebook by using messages and possibly ads
    • Discovering trends, maintaining relationships and offering customer service with Twitter
• Deploying other marketing channels if appropriate.

Module “Idealism” (why and for whom)

This module is a mix of (for example):

• Discovering your passions based on the Passion Test (Janet Atwood).
• Finding your values using the value game.
• Defining your personal mission, vision and purpose.
• Writing down the mission, vision and purpose of your company.
• Determining your Sweet Spot and Ikigai.
• Making a description for your company of your perfect customers, based on what you desire (and not what it should be according to others).
• Describing the uniqueness of yourself and your company and (re)translating this in an attractive business proposition.
• Understanding the 3 Phases of Life.
• Personal transformation: from phase 1 to phase 2 and 3.
• Developing your intuition and gut feeling so it will become much easier to take decisions.
• Reaching your goals faster via a 3 step process.
• Creating an inspiring vision board.
• Checking what you have created so far with the Golden Circle (Simon Sinek) and Soul-Heart-Shell (Barbara Gray).

Module “Cooperation” (with whom)

This module is a mix of (for example):

• Creating the profile of your perfect employee(s). And translation to attractive role descriptions.
• Describing your perfect business partner(s).
• The gift of difficult customers/coworkers: improving the organisation and stimulus for personal growth.
• Creating ambassadors: stimulating word of mouth and referrals:
  • Describing your perfect customer so that other people can easily recognize and refer them.
  • Creating material that people can easily refer to and in which people can experience the expertise of your company (e.g. e-book, e-course, event, webinar, sampling, etc.).
  • Story telling: several examples of what your company, products and services have done for your perfect customers.
  • Crafting your Sticky Story (= Elevator Pitch 3.0): what sticks with people about your offering and target group?
  • Describing your perfect (structural) referral partners.
  • How to set up referral meetings so you can introduce each other in an efficient way with potential customers.

Module “Blocks” (what is holding you back?)

To be clear, this is not a separate module. During each step of the program, there is a check to see whether or not there are blocks, limiting beliefs or fears.

For example: fear of lack, fear of success, fear of rejection, belief “I’m not good enough”, belief “I’m on my own”, belief “running a company can not be combined with a happy (family) life”, etc.

Often a block or conflicting beliefs on one level cause something not to flow on another level. For example, fear of lack can make an entrepreneur work many hours while the limiting belief that a successful company cannot be combined with happy family life may block being successful. Then there is a short circuit between two desires with accompanying fears/beliefs, resulting in a minimal flow of energy and the feeling of being stuck.

A very powerful method that is used to dis-cover the subconscious blocks and their origins are constellations (systemic work).

Extra

As already mentioned before, each program is customized according to the needs and desires of the participant(s). These are a few examples of topics that can also be included:

• How to get more – and free – press coverage.
• Alternative financing using crowdfunding: what is it, what can you expect and what to look out for?
• Tools for automatization and increasing efficiency:
  • Website software
  • Autoresponder and newsletter software
  • Webinar software
• Book:
  • Book writing
  • Book publishing
  • Book marketing
• Speaking:
  • How to market yourself as a speaker.
  • Price policy for speakers.
  • Preparing a presentation.
  • Structure of a presentation.
  • How to use speaking engagements as a marketing tool.

Result: An (updated) business plan for Happy Profit – both strategically in the long run and action oriented in the short run – originating from the connection with your heart. It is a dynamic plan that can change when you are further down the road, but now you know what to take into account when you change something.

Why should you do this program with me, Jan Vermeiren?

Am I the best coach for everybody? No. Although I have worked as a trainer, coach and speaker for more than 450 companies all over the world, the ones I can provide most value to are entrepreneurs. The reason? I know what it takes to build out of a passion something from scratch (my previous company Networking Coach in which nobody believed in at first), be very successful (international best sellers “Let’s Connect!” and “How to REALLY use LinkedIn” and the first training partner of LinkedIn worldwide), almost go bankrupt (with the Generous Networkers project), doubt myself and have a burn-out, getting back on my feet (with the successful sale of Networking Coach), reflect about what happened and share the insights (in the book “Life is a Game!”) and finally from a renewed connection with my passions bring something new to the world (this Soul Business program and constellation for entrepreneurs).

In other words I know what it is to (often alone) bring something to the world, with ups and downs. If we work together, you can ask me any question, I will share both my successes and failures. Because that is information you don’t often have access to as an entrepreneur.

The “Soul Business” Programs

As already mentioned before, not all entrepreneurs are in the same phase of entrepreneurship, nor does everybody has the same time or budget. And some people prefer individual sessions while others love the energy of a group program.

That is why there is an individual program and a group program (12 participants maximum) that are both customized to the nature of the program on the one hand and the needs and desires of the participant(s) on the other hand.

Good to know: Flemish companies can use the KMO Portefeuille (= subsidies from the Flemish government).

Why are these “Soul Business” programs so effective?

• First, you go back to your own core. From there you re-define the direction of your company. We go deep here because in that depth you will find the strength to “birth” your company again.
• From this core your business model including brands, products and services are reviewed and optimized.
• Together we create a profile of your perfect customers (and yes, you can be picky!)
• We choose the marketing channels that are the best fit for your company (not the latest hypes) as well as the lead generation approach that suits your company best.
• You will learn how to attract the right employees (including what to look out for during the interview) and the right referral partners that bring new prospects to you for free!
• Since limiting beliefs can be big hurdles for success, we look at them and transform them into supporting beliefs.
• Everybody experiences fears in one way or the other. These fears cause (subconscious) blocks. We look at them and transform them as well.

In other words, the two programs are an excellent mix of the three sides of the triangle of Paul de Blot combined with the transformation of limiting beliefs and fears. Most books, workshops, training courses or other programs (like the ones I offered myself in the past) focus on just one aspect or a limited combination. It is this unique mix that leads to real results. That is why there is a “not satisfied, money back” guarantee: if you feel at any moment in the process that the program is not the right thing for you, then you get your fees back.

If you are interested in one of the “Soul Business” programs, you can get in touch via connect@life-is-a-game.org or +32 3 337 40 60.