http://www.thehelpfulacademy.com/

The Helpful Academy, Wellington (2026)

14/09/2023

I keep seeing these tips for the best "morning routine" or this that and the other routine.

I think they have merit.
But, not if they make you feel like you're not enough.

Because you ARE enough!

For example - for a long time I listened to "the gurus" talking about "the perfect routine" and tried to "improve" my morning routine to match.
All that ended up happening was me feeling like sh*te about how I couldn't stick to "the perfect morning routine".
So I threw that out the window years ago and never looked back.

The reality is, I'm a sloth in the morning and no attempt at getting me up and moving earlier is going to change that.

Whereas I love a good afternoon or evening workout, and I can be super productive through all the rest of the day/night.

So, instead of trying to paddle up stream, I am a big believer in going with your best energy flow and paddling with the current.

Because as long as you're doing the tasks that will help you achieve your goals, who the hell cares what time of day you do them!

The main thing is that you've identified what those are, and have actually got them on your schedule...

If you need some help with that, come join me for my upcoming 90 day Planning Success Club call.

You'll find all the deets here:
https://tinyurl.com/planning-club

13/09/2023

Unfortunately, no amount of sales and marketing is going to fix an un-profitable (and therefore unsustainable) business model.

That's why it's really important to know your numbers, so you can be confident you're not trying to grow an unprofitable model.

(Reach out if you need help finding and analysing your numbers).

But, if the numbers come back not so good, what actions can you take to improve them?

The biggest thing is to look where the money is going.

1️⃣ Is too much much money tied up in buying or manufacturing the products or delivering the services? Then it's your margins and pricing you need to re-examine.

2️⃣ Are your fixed expenses really high? If so - where are the opportunities to cut costs here? A common one to look for are subscriptions you're paying for that you don't use, or paying for higher subscriptions than you need.

3️⃣ Sometimes these are both ok, but it comes down to how a business manages it's money...

Here it's important to consider how you are charging your customers (can you charge them up front, or at least the majority up front), and your process for following up slow payers.

If it's 1 or 2 you need help with I have templates and calculators to help with both of these.

The best value way to get help with with my Profit Formula Course. It comes with all my budget and pricing templates to help you save time and improve your numbers.

Everyone who purchases in September will save $100 AND get 4 bonus group coaching calls in October to support them in implementing it.

Find out more and save your seat here:
https://tinyurl.com/profit-formula

12/09/2023

There are lots of moving parts to business success, so it can feel overwhelming for people to work identify why they're not getting the results they want.

But, it usually boils down to 3 reasons:

1️⃣ Their numbers aren't profitable

2️⃣ Their ability to convert leads into sales (conversion rate %) is ineffective

3️⃣ They don't have enough traffic coming into their sales system.
This usually occurs if:

a) They're trying to sell a secret. (Not enough people know they exist)
b) People aren't connecting with their messaging (very common)
c) Their product/service isn't enticing enough for people to want it (what people often think is the case, but it's much much less common)

The biggest challenge is to work out which one of these problems your business has.

That takes getting to know your numbers, and is why many people get stuck - because they find numbers scary...

That's where I LOVE to help.

If you're ok to DIY it, my In-Flight Profit Detector Tool will walk you through the process inside 15-20 minutes and spit you out a personalised Profit Plan.

You can grab that here for only $37 NZD or $20 USD for the rest of September:
www.thehelpfulacademy.com/profit-detector

OR, if that feels overwhelming and you want some hand's on help to identify and analyse your numbers, I have just the thing...
Give me 2 hours of your time and I'll act as your own personal Profit Detector, helping you find and analyse your numbers, and share with you where I see the opportunities for rapid improvement.

Valued at over $1050, you can grab one of these sessions for the massive savings of $300 during September only.

Book yours at www.thehelpfulacademy.com/profit-detector-service

11/09/2023

According to SmallBizTrends only 40% of small businesses are profitable.
30% are losing money, and
30% are breaking even

And only 9% will still be going after 10 years.

Depressing isn't it...

But, what would you say if I told you that these scary statistics, still doing the rounds, are from back in 2013.
That's 10 years ago - and things might have changed dramatically!

So, what are the 2023 figures?

Well, do you know what - I started researching these and then realised - it actually doesn't matter!
Because the only profitability numbers that matter are YOUR numbers.

Who cares what percentage of businesses are turning a profit - the bigger question is, if you're not in the camp that IS turning a profit, what can you do today to change your situation?

One of the most effective ways to change your situation is with training.
Because with knowledge comes confidence, and
with confidence comes power!

My Profit Formula course can help you improve your profitability in 30 days, by following 5 easy steps.

STEP 1️⃣ - I provide you with a comprehensive Money Lingo Cheatsheet to help you upskill your confidence around what everything means.
(Because as we just talked about - knowledge is power).

STEP 2️⃣ - I provide you with a couple of simple to use templates, and training to create your business and personal budgets.
Because where your money is being spent matters. And this is a quick win!

STEP 3️⃣ - I help you manage your money effectively, so that you never have to scramble to pay yourself, your bills or tax again.

STEP 4️⃣ - I'll teach you how to review your pricing and ensure it's profitable, and give you the tools to quickly do this.

STEP 5️⃣ - The last step is to put all that together and use my Sales Goal Calculator to work out how many sales you need, how much traffic that will require, or how much ad spend that will take.

Armed with that knowledge it's a LOT easier to create a high-flying plan to actually achieve it!!!

But, that's not all...

Everyone who purchases my Profit Formula Course in September also gets $100 off, AND 4 bonus group calls in October, and access to a private members group, to get my help to implement the formula in their business.

Learn more and register here: https://tinyurl.com/profit-formula

10/09/2023

People have such mixed feelings about planning!

Some love it, some hate it.

Most of this comes down to our past success when it comes to planning, and the "stories" or "evidence" that our brains have created in response, about how "good" we are at planning...

Sometimes it just comes down to our habit of overcomplicating planning.

And sometimes it comes down to creating the "wrong" type of plan.

In my opinion the "right" type of plan is:

1️⃣ Focused on what destination you want to end up at (aka what does success look like to you).

2️⃣ Focuses on the ACTIONS you'll need to take to get you to that destination 🏝️

3️⃣ And in a format you can keep in front of your nose 👃🏻 to guide your actions every.single.day
(Because out of sight 👀 = out of mind 🧠)

Join me and a bunch of like-minded business owners on September 19th for my next 90-minute planning workshop, and create your next action-based 90-day plan!

It's awesome value at only $97 for your ticket to board

What's on the agenda:

- Re-cap your last 90 days so you can fuel up with more of what worked, leaving behind what didn't on the tarmac

- Plan your next 90 days of projects, promotions and events

- Get expert eyes across your plan, to ensure you're spending time on the tasks most likely to propel you forward

Secure your seat today here:

and let's elevate your success together with a high-flying 90-day plan!

https://tinyurl.com/planning-club

09/09/2023

Yesterday I shared details of my recent sewing adventures.

But, what I didn't share was that the second costume, this black jazz costume, was the most difficult thing I've done in life in a long time!

I did more unpicking on this costume than I’ve ever done on a project before.
By about TEN TIMES!

There were SO many lessons throughout the process for both me and my daughter:

LESSON 1: Good things can come with perseverance

I believe Abbie’s comment was “wow you are determined Mum! I would have given up ages ago”.
But my stubbornness would not let me give up because I knew I could do it in the end if I just kept trying.

—-

LESSON 2: trust your instincts, and if you want it badly enough - be prepared to put in the work.

At one stage I aborted this top, made a whole different top (because it would be “easier”),
got frustrated because the second top wasn’t what either of us really wanted,
then went back to the version which matched my sketch, and put in the work to make it match my vision.

Thank goodness it eventually turned out. But it would have worked out WAY sooner if I’d not have doubted myself and got distracted creating a second too which wasn’t what either of us really wanted…

—-

LESSON 3: Making costumes would not “profitable” from a business sense with my current processes and skill level.
If you don’t count my time, this costume will have cost under $30 in materials to make.

WAHOOO - for us as a family that’s a HUGE saving in what a bespoke, fully custom costume would cost to get commissioned (or any ready made costume for that matter!)

BUT

If you do count my time (not to mention my extra grey hairs) then the cost of this costume is much much MUCH greater.

So many businesses start as side hustles because they’re fun for the business owner and grow organically from a hobby (and that’s how my first online business started to).

When businesses grow this way, sometimes people forget to fully value their time, their machinery and the replacement costs of their materials.
(we used a lot of tools, scraps, trims and accessories that I had on hand. But those are of finite supply and would need to be replaced if I was a business.)

When something is a hobby, it’s totally fine to spend hours and hours of unpaid time on something for fun. Hobbies should be fun and restorative.

But when something has to turn a profit so it feeds your family and keeps a roof over your head, the numbers really really matter, and they need to be profitable for the long-haul.

——

Now I'm still working on part 2 of the process:
to finish hours and hours of gluing fiddly little rhinestones on.

That’s when you really start to question
Oh yeah that’s right - “it’ll be worth it in the end ” she said 🙄🤣

Enjoy the rest of your weekend
Xx

PS if you want help with your improving your profitability, check out my Free Profit Class or let's chat.

08/09/2023

One thing you might not know about me is that my first online business was a sewing business…

I didn’t set out for it to happen - it kind of happened accidentally.

I lived in Perth at the time with a newborn and a toddler, and my husband worked away.

It was super lonely and isolating living so far away from my family and friends, so I took to the internet while my kids slept.

I started a blog to amuse myself and next thing I knew it turned into a business.

At its peak my blog got around 35,000 hits per month and I was a bit “niche famous” in the learning to sew space.

And I was making money consulting to others how to make money blogging too. (That’s when I first learnt the importance of growing an email list)

I had absolutely NO idea what I was doing when it came to sewing!
I had no sewing training whatsoever and was fully teaching myself to sew from the internet and sharing my journey.

But, what people liked about my blog was that I could take complicated instructions and transform them into something simple to follow.

When we moved back to NZ in 2013 I wound down that business, because I was nowhere near passionate about sewing to stay doing it.

Even though the topic has changed, I essentially do the same thing today as I started doing back in 2010 - I take topics that confuse and overwhelm people, and teach them in an easy to digest and implement way.

My absolute favourite part of my job is hearing someone say “omg I GET IT NOW” or be able to achieve something they couldn’t before, as a result of my training….

I haven’t sewn in years because it stopped being fun for me anymore. But enough time must have passed for that to change, because over the past month I've had a lot of fun making these new costumes for my youngest daughter's new lyrical and jazz dances.

Now I’m a bit addicted again and all I want to do is keep making pretty things again. Oh dear.

My daughter and I learnt a lot of valuable life lessons making these costumes! Keep an eye out tomorrow and I'll share those as a separate post...

07/09/2023

Did you know that 88% of small businesses pay themselves less than they'd earn in a job working for someone else?

And, according to Fundera, 30.7% don't take any salary at all.

That's part of the reason I have become more determined to show up and serve my community better - because these statistics SUCK and make me 😭 at the unfairness of it all.

If you're in this 88% camp then the first step in changing your situation, to improve your personal income, is to draw a line in the sand and say "enough is enough".

Then, the next step is to learn how, or get some help to, change your situation.

I have several ways I can help:

1️⃣ For free with my Free Profit Class.
Save your seat at www.freeprofitclass.com to learn how to implement my 5 Step Profit Formula in your business to improve your results within the next 30 days.

2️⃣ With my affordable In-Flight Profit Detector® Tool.
Grab it on special for only $37 NZD or $20 USD during September to detect any profit leaks in your business. It will generate you a comprehensive personalised Profit Plan within 15 minutes!

3️⃣ Purchase my Profit Formula Course in September and get 4 Bonus Free Group Coaching calls in October.
Investment is $500 NZD and includes lifetime access to The Profit Formula course + the 4 group coaching calls for expert help to implement it in your business.
Contact me for more details.

06/09/2023

If you are frustrated with your business results, but you don’t know how to fix it, just like renovating a house, you can either roll up your sleeves and DIY it, or employ someone to help you get the job done.

Different options suit different people depending on whether they are shorter on time or money, and whether they actually like doing DIY or not!

That’s why I offer five different ways to help you to grow your business, from DIY to full-on done for you:

1. Free DIY… learn how to improve your business profitability and sales for free with one of my free classes, my blog or with one of the many free downloadable guides and checklists I have available.

2. Low cost DIY…
With over 30 affordable courses and templates for you to choose from, starting at as little as $9, you can mix and match, based on what you need to get results. Start with our affordable In-Flight Profit Detector® tool, to get your personalised In-Flight Profit Plan® and identify which of our resources will be most helpful to help you accelerate your results.

3. Medium cost DIY…
Say goodbye to having to wing it – our 6-step In-Flight Profit Framework Program is your ultimate flight plan, guiding you to higher profits without the turbulence of guesswork. It's also the best value way to gain comprehensive training and stay on course to reach your destination.

4. Done with you …
Join our exclusive Flight Club and get the wings you need to soar. Whether you choose 1:1 coaching or the power of our supportive community, a Flight Club membership provides our In-Flight Profit Framework® clients with the additional benefits of accountability, advice, and support to ensure their business takes off and reaches its full potential.
We also offer one-off 1:1 and group training sessions in a number of different profit, sales and marketing topics.

5. Done for you …
If you know what needs doing, but don’t have the time, the tech expertise, or the desire to do it yourself, my team take on a limited number of done for you services each month. These include things like setting up a number tracker, lead magnet and welcome sequence, setting up ads, creating launch assets, setting up membership sites, and creating content marketing.

Find information about all options at www.thehelpfulacademy.com

If you’re overwhelmed by choice, drop us an email, dm or book a free 15 minute chat. We’ll ask a few questions to get to know your needs, and recommend the product or service to suit you and your goals best.

06/09/2023

In case it's been a while since I've taxied on your timeline, or we're newly connect - I thought I'd reintroduce myself:

Hi, I'm Kat 👋🏻
Your friendly Profit Co-Pilot.

Everything around here at The Helpful Academy has a nerdy flight theme because we love to help you with the tools and training to help your business remain turbulence-free.

The two main things we help our clients achieve is for their profitability and sales "take flight" within the next 30 days (and stay "in flight" for the long haul!)

We do this with the help of:
⭐️ Our online In-Flight Profit Detector Tool
💻 Our library of online courses + templates
❤️ Our online training and coaching services

I live in Wellington NZ with my Husband, 2 teenage daughters, and our chihuahua Theo.

When I'm not helping businesses "take off" I moonlight as an unpaid driver, taxi-ing my kids to dance class.

My hobby is dreaming of the next exotic place I could go travel.
Or renovating.
Or crafting.
Or just simply blobbing with my family in front of Netflix...

I'd love to learn more about you and your business next...

Let me know in the comments - where would you drop everything to fly to tomorrow if you could?

Kat

05/09/2023

This year I have felt like a total hypocrite in my business because...

a) I teach marketing and
b) I don't actually do much if any, marketing communications

There are lots of different reasons why I haven't been marketing my business very well.
The main one I like to think it is possibly one you can relate to:

👉🏻 I am so busy helping other people solve their problems (and doing life) that I run out of time to work on my own business

But the other main reason is that what used to be my superpower has changed and I just don't enjoy sharing my life on social media anymore.
Even more so after my recent second Facebook hack (which is still not resolved by the way!)

I know lots of you can relate to that feeling of not wanting to "show up" on social media as well.

So, today I wanted to call myself out and publicly declare my intention to change.
I vow to get better at my marketing communications.

That means sharing more regularly and sharing more value.

Because I'm
a) sick of feeling like a hypocrite and
b) My business actually does need me to communicate to people that I'm here ready to help them, despite my desire to wish I was the only business on the planet immune from marketing itself.
c) As I tell my clients (but tend to forget myself)
- it's actually not about me - it's about the people I'm trying to serve, aka you. None of us can help people solve their problems unless they know we're actually there to help them.

So there you go, that's my little confession and declaration for the day.

I wonder - am I the only "builder with the worst house on the street" lol...
Or can you by chance relate?

The Helpful Academy

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