Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Linda Fisk, CEO and Founder of LeadHERship Global, located in Dallas, TX, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
LeadHERship Global is the most impactful community of extraordinary women in the world, unleashing the full potential of high-performing and growth-oriented leaders in a confidential, supportive and private community. We harness the knowledge, influence, and trust of high-performing women all over the world to stimulate idea exchange, support creativity, provide resources and tools and accelerate personal and professional growth.
The purpose of LeadHERship Global is to create and support personal and professional breakthroughs and guide women to achieving greater leverage and freedom in their careers and businesses. Members have the opportunity to meet inspirational leaders, create lifelong friendships, and be surrounded by people that are invested in their success. As a member, you are inspired and motivated by other women leaders who will cheer, counsel, and support you to greater levels of success and impact.
Tell us about yourself
I believe it is more important than ever to be intentional about investing in and seeking out the right relationships to thrive personally and professionally. Being in a community of other leaders allows you to have an outlet to learn and improve in a confidential setting continuously and get exposure to new ways of approaching problems and issues, as well as new ways of leveraging opportunities.
Because women in executive leadership often face cultural and political hurdles that men typically do not, they benefit from an inner circle of close female contacts that can share private, confidential information and a wide, diverse circle of inspirational and influential leaders. Women face a greater challenge in networking to find professional opportunities and career advancement – and they, more than men, need to maintain both wide networks and informative inner circles in order to land the best position and secure the most advantageous opportunities.
No one grows as a leader without support from others. And the good news is that women can continue to find meaningful advancement options by taking a smart approach. LeadHERship Global was designed to be a community where you can meet inspirational leaders, create lifelong friendships, and be surrounded by people that are truly invested in your success.
As Zig Ziglar said, "You can get everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want." The only thing that feels better than accomplishing your goals is helping others reach their goals.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
As a business owner, my success is measured largely by the success of my members. I measure my success by the level of impact and transformation that my members report as a result of their membership in LeadHERship Global.
And our members are reporting measurable, quantifiable, and significant impact - thanks to their membership in LeadHERship Global! Their membership leads to exciting transformation and real professional and personal success acceleration! Here are just a couple of examples:
- Two members formed a partnership, leading to revenue growth of 237% over the prior year.
- One member created a new division of her company, based on learning from LeadHERship Global, now representing 37% of her overall revenue.
- Another member has grown her business 72% over the prior year, based on new clients found in LeadHERship Global.
- A member funded her nonprofit, with the assistance of members of LeadHERship Global, raising over $1.7MM.
- The media visibility created from LeadHERship Global platforms led to $160K in paid speaking opportunities, as reported by one member.
On average, our members have grown their businesses by 23% in just 12 months directly because of their membership in LeadHERship Global. And more than 85% of our members report that they have received valuable and exclusive opportunities only found through their membership in LeadHERship Global! And all of our members report that our weekly and monthly learning events have helped them with personal and professional breakthroughs!
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
Preparing for any kind of economic shift well in advance to protect your company. Most economic and financial experts are predicting an economic slowdown, or a recession, in the coming months. No question that the market has shifted, and now coming it's into clearer focus. A rapid but measured approach—simultaneously defensive and offensive—to tackling the challenges posed by a downturn will help you not only survive this economic downturn but it will help you take advantage of market shifts and seize the advantage in a downturn. But that is a very delicate balance, and while you need to invest in your business for growth and scale, it is also important to ensure that your business is not at risk if the market falters.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Make the Most of Your Current Customers
Make the most of your current customer relationships and keep them extremely happy! If you do nothing else but go over and above for current customers to keep them coming back, they’ll remember to refer you more business. This is the best kind of marketing – having your existing clients spread the good word about your amazing service level and loyalty. So while it is important to diversify clients, it is equally important to keep your core customers very happy. Make sure you do not increase your number of clients to the point where you can no longer keep them all extremely happy. - Build Service Contracts with Future Work
Structure your service contracts in a way that ensures you have future work already built into the pipeline. A great strategy for a sustainable business is to secure ongoing work, creating recurring revenue rather than project work. If you secure contracts for recurring revenue or retainer relationships, you’ll have a buffer if one-off work dries up. And, as mentioned above, you will be much more likely to secure long-term work if your current customers are extremely happy. - Look After Your Team
If you look after your team, your team will look after you. Right now, I have found that every company I work with has difficulty finding skilled workers. So what happens in an economic downturn? Layoffs. Layoffs happen in order to cut costs. But then you lose the skilled workers you worked so hard to find.
So how can you work together with your team to cut costs? Perhaps everyone agrees to take Fridays off unpaid instead of one person getting laid off. Get creative. Ask them what they are willing to do. If you are a great leader, they will often work with you in order to keep working for you. - Focus on Your Core Competencies
Go back to basics and focus on your core competencies in your business. It’s better to focus on one thing and do that one thing extremely well than to try to do many things at just an average level. In a difficult economic period, we promise more than we should to clients in order to ensure a positive cash flow and then end up either getting a job that’s not profitable or can’t complete it with the quality you wish you could. Keep doing what you are great at, and you will get more jobs as a result.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://leadhershipglobal.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/leadhershipglobal/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leadhershipglobal/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/leadhershipglob
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/leadhershipglobal/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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