This week we have spent 3 days in Champaign, IL for certification and re-certification of 20 business advisors from Illinois SBDC.
Illinois SBDC has been our partner since 2012 and were one of the first SBDC networks to go for state-wide implementation.
The course is part of the pre-conference program at the IESBGA Annual Conference that takes place in Champaign on May 17-19. We are sponsors of the conference and are looking forward to discuss this year's theme "Catalyst for Breakthroughs".
This week we spent two days in the beautiful city of Trondheim for certification of business advisors from the Norwegian Business Gardens (“Næringshagerne”) and SIVA incubators.
Since we started out in Norway a year ago more than 50 advisors have been certified, and we are looking forward to welcome more advisors this year. 3 more courses are already planned for this year in Norwegian cities Tromsø, Bergen and Lillehammer.
At the course we were happy to welcome advisors from:
- ÅKP
- Buskerud Næringshage
- Inkubator As
- Næringshagen i Hardanger
- Næringshagen Østfold
- Nasjonalparken Næringshage
- Suldal Vekst As
Today, we are happy to launch the new Business Profile where advisors can quickly write and print a good-looking PDF report with a description of the client's business.
This is a new approach to making a document that advisors and client companies can add to a lender information package. It's different and faster than a conventional business plan because the Business Profile is focused on facts and on the current situation.
This is how it works:
Below you can download a sample business profile to get an idea about what it could look like:
Of course the Business Profile is not all the lender wants to see. But when combined with a well-prepared and detailed budget in a spreadsheet it might be a sufficient alternative to the conventional business plan, which few clients like to write and few lenders like to read.
#1 Add Business Description
Here you can tell about the company's history, mission, vision for the future, needs and problems, scalability, and values. Top it up with a nice image.
#2 Add Product/Service
Describe each of the products or services of the company: Who are the typical buyer, how does it create value for the buyer, and what is the price range and revenue.
#3 Add Key Market/Customer Segment
What are the company's key markets and customer segments? List top 5 clients and market share.
#4 Print the Business Profile
Print the Business Profile as PDF and back it up with the company's financials. Top it up with a 30-60-90 Action Plan. Then you got everything a lender could wish for.
We are committed to making continuous and never-ending improvements of the software in collaboration with our users. Every month we release new features. Here you can see what is on top of the list:
Now, all visual analytics are available as PDF reports, so you can share them with your colleagues, managers, and stakeholders.
The analytics show big data that will help you see trends from a few or hundreds activities for a large client portfolio over a year.
Because the reports are in PDF you can easily email them, use them in a presentation, or upload them to any other CRM system you might be using.
If you are a manager you can also get reports with analytics of all clients and advisors in your organization or network.
Take a look at this 3 min. video with David showing the new features:
#1 Your Client Portfolio
What types of clients are you working with? Get a report of your client portfolio by life stage, company size, and engagement time and use it for reporting.
#2 All Decisions and Actions
How many actions and decisions have your clients completed? Get a report of all clients' decisions and actions.
#3 All Outcomes
How many results and achievements have your clients accomplished? Get a report of all your clients' outcomes and share it with your manager or stakeholders.
#4 Ambitions
What are your client's ambitions? Get a report of each client's ambitions and share it with your colleagues.
#5 Outcomes
What are your client's outcomes? Get a report of each client's results and achievements and upload it to your CRM system.
If you are a manager, you can see analytics of what the clients and advisors are working on, and get reports with aggregated data for the entire network or organization.
Get manager access
You and your clients can now add descriptions to ambitions and outcomes. This information will show on the page.
When you create a new result you can also add an amount.
We are committed to making continuous and never-ending improvements of the software in collaboration with our users. Every month we release new features. Here you can see what is on top of the list:
On March 1-2 we were back in Aalborg for certification of 10 business advisors from the Danish growthhouses and local business development centers. The course was organized in partnership with Væksthus Nordjylland.
We also had 6 already certified users, who got their free re-certification. We are happy to see how popular this option is getting. Now more than 1 out of 5 of our Danish users have been re-certified.
We are happy to welcome the 10 new GrowthWheel Certified Advisors from BusinessHorsens, Erhvervsrådet Herning & Ikast-Brande, Thy Erhvervsforum, Væksthus Midtjylland, Rebild Kommune, House of Exporters, Erhverv Væksthimmerland, and Væksthus Nordjylland to our community.
On February 27-28 we were back in Oslo for certification of 15 business advisors. We also had 3 already certified advisors in for free re-certification.
Since we started out in Norway a year ago more than 50 Norwegian business advisors have been certified. And we are expecting to double that number this year in partnership with SIVA and the Næringshagene (the business gardens in Norway).
At the course we were happy to welcome business advisors from the following organizations:
- Business Faxe Copenhagen
- Buskerud Næringshage AS
- Driv Inkubator
- Energy Consult Center AS
- Hallingdal Næringshage
- Landsbyen Næringshage AS
- My Back Office AS
- Næringshagen i Orkdalsregionen AS
- Næringshagen Rogaland Ressurssenter AS
- Nordkapp Næringshage AS
- Rørosregionen Næringshage
- Sør-Østerdal Næringshage
- Stryn Næringshage AS
- Suldal Vekst As
- Valdres Næringshage AS
Today, we are happy to announce that GrowthWheel Online is now a full CRM system, as we are releasing the new feature Mailbox on GrowthWheel Online.
A Customer Relations Management system is used to track not only information about clients, but also the correspondence you have with them. This way you have all the information in one system.
In your Mailbox , you can get an overview of all emails you send to clients from GrowthWheel Online or from your own email account.
Emails sent from GrowthWheel Online are saved automatically. If you would like to copy emails from your own email account all you need to do is add mailbox@growthwheel.net to the "bcc" field when you send an email to your client. The system will recognize your client's email address and copy the email to your client Mailbox.
In GrowthWheel, we aim to make your life easier by helping you work smarter. With the new Mailbox, you can keep all information about your clients in GrowthWheel Online. For some advisors, this means that you will no longer need to pay for an expensive CRM system. GrowthWheel Online may work as your primary CRM system –and it is all included in your license.
Select a client and go to that client's Mailbox under the menu "Interactions". Here you will find the emails you send to this client. You will have a Mailbox for each client.
All the emails you send to clients on GrowthWheel Online are from now on automatically saved in your client Mailbox. The only requirement is that the client must be in your client list on GrowthWheel Online.
If you would like to copy an email you are sending from your own email account you can add mailbox@growthwheel.net to the "bcc" field. Note that emails cannot be sent directly to your Mailbox. You must always add your client's email in the "to" or "cc" field.
You can now get a Customized Client Profile that fits the needs of your country or organization. We already did this for South Africa, and you can get it too. Just let us know which information you would like us to add.
In GrowthWheel, we are committed to making continuous and never-ending improvements of our software in collaboration with our users. We have hundreds of upcoming features in our backlog, and here you can see what is on top of the list:
On February 8-9 we were in Phoenix, AR for certification of 14 advisors. The course was organized in partnership with Maricopa SBDC. At the course was also Juan Saldana, who joined David for the first time as co-instructor.
At the course we were happy to welcome advisors from Arizona SBDC, Maricopa SBDC, Northland Pioneer College SBDC, Southern Colorado SBDC, and UMD Center for Economic Development.
We are particularly happy to welcome our first certified advisor from Minnesota. Now counting US 41 states!
We are looking forward to the Global Entrepreneurship Congress in Johannesburg on March 13-16.
Every year, the Global Entrepreneurship Congress gathers together thousands of entrepreneurs, investors, researchers, policymakers and other startup champions from more than 160 countries to identify new ways of helping founders start and scale new ventures around the world.
David Madié and Hilton Theunissen from GrowthWheel will participate in the conference.
As part of the post-conference program we will do a Certification Course at the Sandton Convention Centre on March 16-17.
Many have asked for a way to keep all information about your clients in one place. Today, we are happy to release the new Client Profile, a simple, nice-looking menu where you can keep track of all your client data.
In the Client Profile, you can add each of your client's contact info, business info, team members, legal info, and financials. And after you added information about your clients, go to Client Analytics where you can see your client portfolio by life stage, company size, and engagement time.
In the Client Profile, advisors can add their clients' contact info, business info, team members, legal info, and financials.
Advisors can also get a visual overview of all clients in Client Analytics where they can see their client portfolio by life stage, company size, and engagement time.
We have improved the Scoreboard menu with aggregated charts of your clients' outcomes by achievements and results, and by category.
We have improved the menu Shared Files so you can easily upload and share files and keep all files you and your client shared in one place.
In GrowthWheel we are committed to making continuous and never ending improvements of our software in collaboration with our users. We have hundreds of upcoming features in our road map, and here you can see what is on top of the list:
On January 24-25 we were back in Illinois for certification of 9 business advisors. This time the course was held in Chicago at Coleman Entrepreneurship Center, and was organized in partnership with YWCA Chicago. At the course 8 business advisors got re-certified as well.
At the course we were happy to welcome business advisors from the following organizations:
- Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
- Illinois SBDC at CLC
- Illinois SBDC at Sauk Valley Community College
- Illinois SBDC at UIC
- OU INC - Oakland University
- SBDC@Harper College
- IL SBDC at ITC At The College of Lake County
- The Chicago Urban League
- University of Illinois at Chicago
- YWCA Metropolitan Chicago
- Greater Englewood Community Development Corporation
- AgileFWD
On January 10-12 we were back in Canada. This time the course was held in Cambridge, ON in partnership with Waterloo Region Small Business Centre. 23 business advisors were certified and 5 participated for free re-certification.
At the course we were happy to welcome business advisors from the following organisations:
- Brampton Entrepreneur Centre
- Business Advisory Centre Durham
- Business Centre Guelph-Wellington
- Halton Region
- Knoxville Chamber
- London Small Business Enterprise Centre
- Stratford Perth Centre for Business
- Toronto Business Development Centre
- Town of Caledon
- Waterloo Region Small Business Centre
Our first Certification Course this year was on January 3-4 where we were back in Trondheim, Norway for certification of 12 business advisors and re-certification of 8 of our users. Most participants where from Næringshagene, the Norwegian business gardens.
At the course we were happy to welcome business advisors from the following organizations:
- A-Team
- Energy Consult Center AS
- Hallingdal Næringshage
- Næringshagen i Orkdalsregionen
- Næringshagen Rogaland Ressurssenter AS
- Nasjonalparken Næringshage
- Rørosregionen Næringshage
- Ryfylke Næringshage
- SIVA
- Trøndersk Kystkompetanse AS
On December 19-20 we were in Copenhagen, Denmark for the very last Certification Course this year.
We are happy to welcome the 10 new GrowthWheel Certified Advisors from Væksthus Hovedstadsregionen, UdviklingVejen, Væksthus Sjælland, Udvikling Assens, and Business Faxe Copenhagen to our community.
2016 has been a great year with a total of 27 Certification Courses. Most courses have been in United States, Denmark, and South Africa, but we have also visited Norway, Canada, Mexico, Lebanon, and Malaysia.
On Nov 28-29 we were in Pittsburgh, PA for certification of 8 business advisors from the following organizations:
- Mansmann Foundation
- Robert C Byrd Institute
- Shoals Entrepreneurial Center
- University of North Alabama
- Women Empowered for Entrepreneurial Excellence
We are happy to welcome the 8 advisors to our community!
