The 2020’s have proven to be anything but business as usual. In fact, “usual” seems to now be defined as VUCA – volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous. For business owners and leadership managing risks during VUCA environments takes intention, focus and an aligned team.

Watch the session now.

Despite the leaps and bounds towards gender equality society has made in the last few decades, working with women entrepreneurs remains an untapped market for transition planners. As a professional advisor, it is critical for you to understand the different approaches women typically take to owning a business so you can offer them the most impactful advice.

Julie Keyes, in a May 2022 EPI webinar, shares her experiences as a business owner and working with other women entrepreneurs so you get a feel for:

• What to expect

• How to use your knowledge strategically

• Common obstacles and how to address them

More than 40% of businesses in America are currently owned by women. This webinar will help position you to provide immediate value to women business owners, so you don’t miss out on quality clientele and they get the advice they deserve.

In June 2022 we heard from Felicia Johnson of the Gatson Group. Felicia covered myths and facts about diversity and inclusion with insights into how both are key when it comes to creating more successful, sustainable and innovative workplaces. To find out how employee differences can be a business’s greatest strength, watch this instalment of RFN Academy’s Innovative Insights.

This webinar was originally presented through the Exit Planning Institute in April 2022 by Ready for Next team members Sean Hutchinson and Rob Johannigman.

Remember the early days in your career when you went to job interviews and you were so keen on impressing the potential employer that you didn’t stop to think if they were right for you?

New client engagements can sometimes feel the same. You want to impress the owner and are so confident you can bring value to their business that you blow past yellow lights. You head straight to the solution without knowing what all the issues are.

Empowering conversations and good client relationships should be mutually beneficial. You both have a voice in determining if you should engage in working together.

It is important to remember the client is the only one who can decide they have a need for your services. You may be the exact person with the exact right solution at the exact right time, and if the client doesn’t think they have a problem requiring you and your solution, then it doesn’t matter.

This month we heard from Martin Low and Leah Eggers of On Plane Consulting. Martin and Leah offered insights into the current recruitment and retention of talent. The pandemic has impacted many parts of our lives, especially for business owners. The current labor market is one area where old approaches are proving to be ineffective. To find out what techniques are working in today’s talent environment, watch this installment of RFN Academy’s Innovative Insights.

This session:

• Highlights the importance of recognizing top talent

• Will help you understand your employment brand

• Will help you understand the post-pandemic recruiting environment

• Show you the best way to retain your top talent

In November 2021 we heard from Joe Slatter, instructor of Introduction to Decision Dynamics – powered by Better Practice™. Joe will offer insight into his methodology that teaches teams to figure out what matters together, make better decisions faster and act together with grace and accountability. Joe calls this metacollaboration. Joe has worked with thousands of business owners and individuals to help their organizations improve self-leadership and work more effectively together.

This session will:

- Highlight the importance of cross-functional collaboration

- Explore ways to improve communication

- Understand ways to expedite team focus

- Determine next steps to better collaborate

This month we hear from Julie Keyes, instructor of Jumpstart Your Exit Planning Practice – powered by KeyeStrategies. Julie will share her experiences in building her practice and working with clients on exit and transition planning.

This session will:

- Help you focus your value acceleration and transition planning practice

- Identify challenges

- Uncover areas for collaboration

- Determine next steps for building out your practice

This webinar was originally presented through the Exit Planning Institute in August 2021 by Sean Hutchinson.

There are many critical junctions for an owner on their business’s evolution. As a professional advisor, it is critical for you to understand where they are to be able to offer them the most impactful advice.

Sean Hutchinson will share the Ready for Next approach to understanding where a client is and how to quickly identify their needs, understand what you can offer and how to move them forward.

There is currently a bull market for exit planning. This webinar will help position you to provide immediate value to your business owner clients no matter where they are in their journey.

Sean Hutchinson, RFN Global Partner, and Robert Johannigman, RFN Advisory Group Senior Advisor will be discussing concepts like intentional growth, growth hacking and the next-right customer approach to gear up and accelerate out of the recession.

Learning Objectives:

1. Understand aspects of an intentional growth strategy

2. Discover the next-right-customer approach to growth

3. Learn how growth can decrease the value of your company

4. Uncover three crucial principles for a thriving growth culture

5. Understand the most common issues impacting profitability in periods of rapid growth

Branding may seem like something only multi-nationals can afford to invest in. However, it is one of the least costly ways to build your business’s profile and gain market recognition.

COVID-19 has offered opportunities for companies to build their brand and improve consumer perception. Join Guillermo Mazier, Kim Powell and guest speaker Whitney Siemens of ChangeMakers: an Argyle company, as they offer some branding best practices and how to use this crisis to improve or build your brand.

Learning Objectives:

1. Learn about the elements of a brand and why it matters to your business.

2. Discuss the value of a brand in times of crisis and some who have done well during COVID.

3. Learn how to impact the perception of your brand in the eyes of your customer.

4. Get a sense for what to avoid when managing and building your brand.

Our next session focuses on cost restructuring facilitated by Sean Hutchinson, RFN Global featuring speakers Cindy Reid-Shelton, RFN Global and Julie Keyes, Keyes Strategies will discuss how to analyze and improve cash flows and explore opportunities to strategically restructure costs in this rapidly changing environment.

Regardless of the industry, an organization’s culture and its employees can hinder cash management. It is important operational efficiencies, risk assessments and proper forecasting are evaluated as you accelerate out of this economic crisis.

Learning Objectives:

1. Explore operational efficiencies

2. Learn how financial forecasting can assist in taking control of cash flow

3. Discover the elusive balance of cutting costs and investing to take advantage of the crisis

4. Learn how to manage cash flows to become lean, mean and acceleration ready

In this session, RFN Global founders Sean Hutchinson and Cindy Reid-Shelton Alistair Stewart, have a discussion about the concepts, practices and tools you can put to use immediately to build a re(launch) pad that provides the foundation for achieving escape velocity when the economy begins to recover.

Learning objectives:

1. Explore the “virtuous cycle” of P-D-C-A as an accelerant

2. Discover the value of innovating in a downturn

3. Learn how to simultaneously uncover risks and opportunities

4. Understand how to leverage open networks to move rapidly from high friction orbits to escape

You have an employment brand. Do you know what it is and why it matters to you today? No matter what your employment brand, it can determine how you accelerate your business out of the recession.

In this session Martin Low and Leah Eggers, founders of On Plane Consulting will discuss why it is critical that you understand your employment brand, communication strategies and how to build your team now so you are ready to accelerate out of today’s recession. Facilitated by Sean Hutchinson, RFN Global and RFN Academy Contributor.

Learning objectives:

1. Learn what an employment brand is and why it matters to your business.

2. Discuss your current employment brand and how your actions today can shape it.

3. Learn how to communicate with your team during a crisis and support laid off workers

4. Learn how to assess your current team for business continuity

In these times of uncertainty, leadership matters more than ever. This session will help you identify relevant and useful practices to set a course for a more “agile” approach to leadership. It includes choosing an optimistic attitude others can share, inviting real, creative conversations and supporting accountability and collaboration, while supporting leadership at all levels.

Learning Objectives

1. Understand why leadership matters more than ever in times of uncertainty

2. Identify useful practices that promote performance and resilience

3. Learn what leadership competencies deliver more impact on business results

Ready for Next - Accelerating out of a Recession

Session 1: Embracing Uncertainty

Joe Slatter, John Lazar and Janyce Fadden introduced and discussed ways of seeing and understanding our current environment.

Learning Objectives

1. Introduce and discuss ways of seeing and understanding our environment that are particularly well suited to volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous times.

2. Explore ways to set goals and plan effectively in periods of uncertainty.

3. Learn from each other. What's working? What's not?