PowerLink February 28, 2022 Blog: 4 Lessons Learned from the February PowerLink Advisory Board Meetings of 2022 – “The Art of Conquering Any Obstacle with the Slight Edge Technique (when you have a little time and a huge goal)” and a Sneak Preview of the March Sessions….

 

This month, PowerLink worked with more than 202 small business owners who attended one of our 50+ Community Advisory Boards, Custom Advisory Boards or Private one-on-one mentoring sessions over Zoom. The topic was one that everyone has been dealing with: accomplishing any goal one tiny step at a time.  All of our owners faced dilemmas this month. So, we shared our Zoom stage with our EIR’s and guest advisors to review “The Slight Edge,” a way to deal with business challenges with one tiny step each day. 

In 90 minutes of talking, writing, sharing, laughing, and listening this month, here were a few of the Lessons Learned from February 2022 among Powerlink Small Business Owners across the United States about “The Art of Conquering Any Business Challenge with The Slight Edge.” 

1. “I have to save for my retirement and I’m way behind. How do I start with tiny steps?” The answer surprised me. Most owners already had a plan in place. But due to circumstances this owner felt way behind. We figured out using an investment calculator that saving just $14.50 per day could get them to $1M in 40 years. The power of baby steps! 

2. “How do I convince my best employee to stay?” This created some great ideas…little things that add up to big benefits (paid days off given randomly, extra contributions to retirement savings (CPA approved of course), bringing their dog to work. It was a lively discussion!  

3. “How do I raise $1M to help my thousand students continue their education in Afghanistan?” Our first international PowerLink Custom Advisory Board College president is trying to change the world in the face of insurmountable odds. PowerLink is working to help them with fundraising. The tiny step, the “Slight Edge”… is $15/month. If we can find 1200 donors each paying $15/month, we can get her students (mostly women) back into class. Go to PowerLink.org Recurring Donation to help!   

4. What are tiny things I can do to generate more revenue in my slow season? Even though the business is only a few years old, they have already served more than 100 customers. So their Slight Edge” is to call each past customer (1 per day for 100 days) and leave voicemail offering a special price on any project in their home this winter or Spring. Even if only 25% of the customers do something, that is $75,000 in new income! A great example of the “Slight Edge.”

5. Writing one proposal per day, writing one heartfelt email to a customer, one simple thank you note to an employee per day. The Slight Edge created hundreds of great ideas this month!  The discussion around this was lively! All our Executives-in-Residence: Harry Edelman, Sherry Jordan, Patricia DiVecchio, Doug Stone, Brian DeCelle, Jimmy Lourenco, Brenda Dare, Tia Baker and me gave a thumbs up to their guest advisors at their meetings. 

March Topic: March for PowerLink owners means the end of Q1 “Rocks” and a first quarter gut check. How am I doing, really? They will be asking themselves the toughest question of the year: (1) Am I clear about where I want to take my business now that I’m three months into 2022? (2) Am I clear about the top three business challenges (“Rocks”) I have to overcome in the next nine months of the year? (3) Am I clear about how I am delegating some of these tasks to others? (employees, contractors, sub-contractors, or vendors).

Calendar of Events: PowerLink March 2022:

Here is the Calendar for March 2022 (Community Advisory Boards).  If you are not already registered and interested in joining any group, just email or text me. The first few meetings are always complimentary if you qualify for one of our scholarship programs.  Thanks to a multi-sponsor scholarship program through PNC Charitable Trust, Standard Bank Foundation, FNB Bank Foundation, Huntington Bank and Citizen’s Bank, we may be able to lower program fees to as low as $25 if you qualify.

If you are new to PowerLink or returning but not registered through the program, let us know if you want to register for any of the monthly meetings in March over our Zoom platform by texting your contact info to 412.721.3186: 

Tuesday, March 8, 2022: 8:30-10 am Succession Only CEO Circle—only for companies intending to sell their business, buy a business or pass it to their children or employees in the next 5 years (for our more mature PowerLink companies anywhere in the US. March Topic is How to Hit My 2022 Revenue Goals with 9 Months Left in the Year? And what issues am I still Confronting for Q1?” . Guest advisors presenting and interactive advising at all sessions.  Also share your own revenue strategies. By invitation only. Register by text to Harry Edelman, Regional Director at 412.389.5297 with your email and location desired if you are new and interested. Facilitated by an experienced Exit Planning specialist with a passion for helping smaller companies exit successfully.

Tuesday, March 8, 2022: 4-5:30 pm City of Pittsburgh Businesses sponsored by Citizen’s Bank—to promote growth and new business strategy. March Topic is How to Hit My 2022 Revenue Goals with 9 Months Left in the Year? And what issues am I still Confronting for Q1?” . Guest advisors presenting and interactive advising at all sessions.  Also share your own revenue strategies. By invitation only. Register by text to Harry Edelman, Regional Director at 412.389.5297 with your email and location desired if you are new and interested.

Wednesday, March 9, 2022: 11-12:30 am Pittsburgh East—PowerLink Without Walls II  – Community Advisory Board to promote growth and new business strategy.  May Topic is How to Hit My 2022 Revenue Goals with 9 Months Left in the Year? And what issues am I still Confronting for Q1?” . Guest advisors presenting and interactive advising at all sessions.  Also share your own revenue strategies. By invitation only.  By invitation only. Register by text to Harry Edelman, Regional Director at 412.389.5297 with your email and location desired if you are new and interested.

*Thursday, March 10th, 2021: 8:00-9:30 am Harrisburg/York Regional Community Advisory Board sponsored by FNB Bank to promote growth and new business strategy. May Topic is How to Hit My 2022 Revenue Goals with 9 Months Left in the Year? And what issues am I still Confronting for Q1?” . Guest advisors presenting and interactive advising at all sessions.  Also share your own revenue strategies. By invitation only.  Register by text to Sherry Jordan, PowerLink Regional Director at 814.881.8106 with your email and location desired if you are new and interested.

Monday, March 14, 2022 4:30-6 PM Executive CEO Circle --$1 million and more (open to our larger PowerLink companies, manufacturing companies and alums anywhere in the US with $1 to $10 million growth and income goals). May Topic is How to Hit My 2022 Revenue Goals with 9 Months Left in the Year? And what issues am I still Confronting for Q1?” . Guest advisors presenting and interactive advising at all sessions.  Also share your own revenue strategies. By invitation only. By invitation only. Register by text to Harry Edelman, Regional Director at 412.389.5297 with your email and location desired if you are new and interested.

*(NEW) Tuesday, March 15, 2022: 8:30-10:30 am Purposeful Business Circle (for startups and micro-businesses generating $2000+ in annual revenue or working on testing and growing their new business concept).  Register by text to 412.721.3186 with your email and location desired if you are new and interested.

(NEW) Tuesday, March 15, 2022: 11 am-12:30 pm: PowerLink without Walls I for Small Businesses Anywhere in the World —to promote growth and innovative new business strategies regardless of your location.  For owners doing $150,000+ in annual revenue wanting to hit $1M in the next 5 years). March Topic is How to Hit My 2022 Revenue Goals with 9 Months Left in the Year? And what issues am I still Confronting for Q1?” . Guest advisors presenting and interactive advising at all sessions.  Also share your own revenue strategies. By invitation only. Register by text to 412.721.3186 with your email and location desired if you are new and interested.

*(NEW) Tuesday, March 15, 2022: 3-4:30 pm: Penn State PowerLink Community Advisory Board for Contractors Only—if your business is connected in any way to facilities, construction, design, renovation or maintenance and you want to grow through private sector and government contracting, this group will limit its discussion to only construction/maintenance related marketing and new business strategies.  March Topic is How to Hit My 2022 Revenue Goals with 9 Months Left in the Year? And what issues am I still Confronting for Q1?” . Guest advisors presenting and interactive advising at all sessions.  Also share your own revenue strategies. By invitation only.  Register by text to 412.721.3186 with your email and location desired if you are new and interested.

Wednesday, March 16, 2022: 2-3:30 pm: Westmoreland County CC Community Advisory Board sponsored by Standard Bank: to promote growth and new business strategy.  March Topic is How to Hit My 2022 Revenue Goals with 9 Months Left in the Year? And what issues am I still Confronting for Q1?” . Guest advisors presenting and interactive advising at all sessions.  Also share your own revenue strategies. By invitation only.  By invitation only. Register by text to Harry Edelman, Regional Director at 412.389.5297 with your email and location desired if you are new and interested.

*(NEW) Wednesday, March 16, 2022: 5-6:15 pm Downtown Washington, PA Businesses sponsored by Huntington Bank and PCRG—to promote growth and innovative new business strategies in the urban/merchant areas of the City of Washington. March Topic is How to Hit My 2022 Revenue Goals with 9 Months Left in the Year? And what issues am I still Confronting for Q1?” . Guest advisors presenting and interactive advising at all sessions.  Also share your own revenue strategies. By invitation only  Register by text to 412.721.3186 with your email and location desired if you are new and interested. Or you can contact Christy at PCRG crowing@pcrg.org or Sara at Downtown Washington, PA sarah@downtownwashingtonpa.com

Thursday, March 17, 2022: 3:30-5 pm Washington County Businesses sponsored by the Peters Township Chamber of Commerce and Huntington Bank—to promote growth and innovative new business strategies. March Topic is How to Hit My 2022 Revenue Goals with 9 Months Left in the Year? And what issues am I still Confronting for Q1?” . Guest advisors presenting and interactive advising at all sessions.  Also share your own revenue strategies. By invitation only. Also share your own hiring and retention tactic. By invitation only.  

*(NEW) Wednesday, March 23, 2022: 8-9 am Retail Only Community Advisory Board in Indiana PA (open to retailers and downtown/urban location businesses) to promote growth and new business strategies beyond bricks and mortar street traffic.  March Topic is How to Hit My 2022 Revenue Goals with 9 Months Left in the Year? And what issues am I still Confronting for Q1?” . Guest advisors presenting and interactive advising at all sessions.  Also share your own revenue strategies. By invitation only.  Register by text to 412.721.3186 with your email and location desired if you are new and interested.

Also note that our March session will also let everyone share their key New Business challenge and let the group help “crush” that challenge with insight based on experience, lessons learned and mentoring. These meetings are private and confidential. You must register in advance to attend as a guest. 

Have a productive and prosperous 2022! A. 

Anita Brattina, CEO and Board Chair, PowerLink

3367 Babcock Boulevard, Suite 101, Pittsburgh PA 15237, 412.721.3186 www.powerlink.org | anita@powerlink.org

“Helping small and emerging companies achieve their next level of success through access to executive and CEO advisors.” A Pennsylvania 501(c)3 corporation.