Faith Goenner Consulting
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Your Vision Possible Blog

Morning Network Fun!

11/10/2022

 
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Yesterday Goenner Consulting, LLC had the privilege to host the Princeton Chamber of Commerce morning network event at the PACC office in Princeton, Minnesota.

Over the past year we have been working with business leaders on TO DOs in 2022. We have had so much fun on the projects that business leaders gave us that were stuck on the bottom of their list.

Over the summer our consulting practice’s services expanded when Faith became an agent for Colonial Life. Faith learned a lot about the pressure of business leaders in recruiting and retaining quality employees as many items on the bottom of TO DO lists had to do with recruiting quality employees. The voluntary employee benefits and the education provided to employees from Colonial Life can be a no cost option for business owners to make their business competitive for high-demand employees.

Take some time to reflect on the following three questions from 2022. Find someone to share your answers with or feel free to send us an email at hello@goennerconsulting.com.
  1. What is something you did that was unexpected?
  2. What is still on the bottom of your TO DO list?
  3. What is something you did that changed the direction of your business?

In 2023, lets talk employee. We are going to discuss HOT TOPICS for workplaces and their employees. Faith Goenner will partner with business owners to retain and recruit quality employees.

HOT TOPICS OF THE EMPLOYEE IN 2023 BY GOENNER CONSULTING, LLC
  • The return of apprentice training (on-the-job training).
    • ​​​​We have heard a lot of job seekers asking what do they need to know before getting hired and what training will be offered for the position. Make sure to put time into determining your commitment to on-the-job-training to build confidence in quality employees who may be looking for a new career opportunity.
  • The reality of employees of what an illness and/or unexpected accident can do on hourly employment where the paycheck isn’t guaranteed.
    • ​The pandemic allowed all employees to know what it looks like when you aren't able to get to work due to illness or a potential of illness. For most of the labor force in the United States they are hourly workers and if they don't work they don't get paid. Do the math, if you are a $15/hr employee and are out unexpectedly for two weeks or longer and don't get paid, this will be a financial burden. Review your employee benefits to see how you are supporting your employees through the unexpected inability to work.
  • Flexible work locations (remote vs. in-person).
    • ​Most employees dream of working-from-home. As business leaders you can identify roles that could be done at home, but be cautious, not all employees are quality remote workers. Look for entrepreneurial, taking initiative and self-driven skills for remote workers. Also for any remote position, on-boarding should be done on-site whenever possible and you may consider remote is earned after successful probation. 
  • Mental health support of employees will be different and become important to ensure a safe and healthy workplace.
    • ​Mental health in the workplace looks different after a pandemic and the increase of violence in our society. As business leaders make sure you are addressing safety and health in your workplace. Some examples are having emergency plans developed; policies that address the importance of employee wellness and offer programs that support safety and wellness. Negotiate employee benefits to offer mental health services without cost.
  • Being creative about hiring skills and experience.
    • ​Resumes are a great first round to see an applicants education and work history but don't use this for the only way you engage applicants. Recruiting events are a great way for you to meet the person behind the resume. Through in-person or even phone conversations, you can see their personality and how they present themselves. What are the core values and skills you need? How can you develop employees within your business to engage and grow quality employees with potential?

Start now to think about how you will make 2023 the year of the employee!

We would love an opportunity to talk to you about your business and how we could help. Send us an email at hello@goennerconsulting.com.







What is the status of your 2022 TO DO LIST?

3/29/2022

 
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You aren't alone if your TO DO LIST seems to be getting longer than shorter. Recently I have been focused on the TO DOs that were stuck on the bottom of my list.  Our consulting services are focused on helping business owners and leaders check off and complete TO DOs.

​Here are some tips and tricks we recommend to help you check off a TO DO today.
  1. Are you starting the day with no plan? Start the day focused on what needs to get done today and what can wait. Yes, your favorite tasks may not be what you need to do today.
  2. Are you stuck due to barriers? Acknowledge barriers you are having to completing TO DOs. Is it information you need from someone else? Is it a supply or equipment that is needed? Are there skills you need to learn? Do you need a new staff person or even a temporary assistant?
  3. Are you being resistant to change? Change is hard, but it can also hinder TO DOs that will leverage your business towards innovation and/or a product/service relevance to your customer and/or vendor needs. Get ready to be open to taking some risk and try something new.
  4. ​Are you forgetting about follow up? Follow up will bottle-neck progress. Today is the day to follow up on the TO DOs that you are waiting for information to complete your TO DOs.
  5. ​Are your TO DOs in your head? We highly recommend you grab a notebook and dump your head to paper. The act of writing down your list will help you prioritize and strategize and most importantly help you sleep. You don't have to worry about forgetting anything. 
Have these tips and tricks been helpful to you? If yes or no, we want to hear from you at hello@goennerconsulting.com. #yourvisionpossible

ANNOUNCEMENT - We are ready to work for you!

6/15/2021

 
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With our entrepreneurial spirit and passion to see businesses and organizations successful, we are ready to work for you. For leadership positions you need to have back-filled, teams you need to get engaged, complex problems you need to solve and innovative solutions to be implemented, let’s get started. #yourvisionpossible
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Contact us today at faithgoenner@gmail.com or 612-819-7441

What if your home was filled with love from Minnesota?

2/26/2021

 
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We are inviting you to show your support for a one-of-a-kind virtual marketspace for Handmade in Minnesota with Love products and services.

Would you please register at this link to let vendors know you would like to meet them and purchase handmade Minnesota products and services on Saturday, March 20, 2021.

Please share this event and invite your favorite Minnesota entrepreneurs.

Five Questions You Should Answer Before You OPEN

5/13/2020

 
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As a former brick & mortar retail shop owner, I do know the importance of customers being able to shop for your products and services in the space you are paying rent to occupy. As an administrator of a large higher education department, I have spent the past few weeks preparing to have employees who are unable to work remotely return to a safe workplace. I did some reflection today about what would I do if I was still a retail shop owner. Here are the five questions that came to my thought process.

1. Why are you opening for the public?
This is a great question to make sure you believe your best option is to physically open to the public. Have you leveraged all electronic and/or curbside opportunities? I have heard fantastic ideas of business innovations from restaurants creating 'family meals' either pre-cooked or for you to cook at home to creating shopping via Facebook and/or a website. Last week I shopped a virtual vendor fair and actually bought a few items. This is your chance to be innovative and potentially increase your customer base.

2. Have you walked the customer experience to see how many ways they could possibly come in contact with shared surfaces?
The goal of the CDC guidelines are to ensure shared surfaces are clean and there are so many shared surfaces in a retail shopping experience. Your customers are going to want to have assurance that you are protecting them as they are shopping in your business. Pay close attention to how you will address door handles, carts, baskets, product racks, etc.. How will you maintain an inventory of disinfectant products?

3. Will you require masks?
This is an interesting opportunity to show your customers that you care about their safety. A mask is a simple way where people can protect the transmission and make other customers feel safe. We know some business are giving masks to their customers.

4.  How will you address non-compliant customers to the CDC guidelines?
Have you thought through the conversation of a customers who isn't demonstrating an awareness of following the CDC guidelines for ensuring safety in your business? Signage that conveys expectations and consequences for those who don't follow social distancing and/or masks and/or other behaviors.

5. How will you handle if an outbreak happens in your business?
Your employees should be the priority for ensuring safety. If they become ill, it will be devastating to your business. You are creating risk to them by making the decisions to open to the public. Prepare yourself by talking with your attorney to ensure you know what will happen to your business if an outbreak were to happen. There are HIPAA regulations around sharing of medical information which could impact your decisions and how you talk to your customers.

See my previous blog post titled "Having Vision during the Pandemic - You've Got This!" which conveys that I know the stress you are under however I encourage you to think through the five questions in this blog post to consider if it is worth opening because the safety of yourself, employees, and customers is a priority. 

We would like to be able to help you through this. I have recently established protocols for employees returning to work who are unable to work from home. Only employees that can't work form home should be working.

Please send us feedback to faithgoenner@gmail.com and how we could help you.
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The Top 5 Reasons to Invest in Professional Development

3/8/2020

 
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Faith (left) & Heather (right)
Meet Faith, Goenner Consulting, LLC and Heather, Envisioneering, LLC, who are professional development thought partners. Faith and Heather met when Faith gave up her ticket to a rural entrepreneurship conference. They connected and Faith became very interested in how Heather was impacting the success of her clients. Through Heather's work coaching Faith over the past year, here are the top 5 reasons Faith discovered why it was important for her to invest in her own professional development.

1. Discover what you are naturally good at doing.

Have you ever taken the time to find out exactly what job you are good at? Most of us just take a job and then we focus on our performance within this position. If we don't know our natural talents this could be frustrating if this job isn't a good fit for us. What if you could discover what you are good at and then go find the job that fits your natural talents?

2. Develop the skill to process feedback.

It takes bravery to take an assessment and then work on understanding the assessment results. All great innovation requires the skill to be able to process feedback. Investing in an assessment of who you are is a very easy way to process using feedback to make changes and/or improvements.

3. Identify your blind spots.

We all have blind spots. These are weaknesses that we don't see in ourselves, but they are clear to those around us. Without the opportunity to discover your blind spots, you could find yourself not performing well in your life, both personally and professionally. Being aware of your blind spots will give you an opportunity to mitigate risk and awareness to ensure successful performance.

4. Improve your supervising skill set.

When you invest in your own professional development, you increase your knowledge for leading and supervising your employees. It will give you new terminology and understanding for how you interact with your staff. This will create an opportunity for relationship improvements and successful outcomes.

5. If you don't invest in you, then who will?

Do you have an interest for promotion? Are you noticing that you may not be experiencing satisfaction in your career? Would you like to find the career that brings out the best in you? If you don't invest in your professional development, then who will?
 Now is your time to invest in your career and your success. If you are a supervisor, this is a great opportunity to invest in your top talent. Discover Your How, Your Why and Natural Talents with Envisioneering, LLC on Thursday, March 19, 2020 from 8:00 am - 10:30 am with light refreshments at the beautiful Raven Room at the Pizza Pub in Princeton, Minnesota. The investment is $195. Space is Limited. RESERVE YOUR TICKET.

What does Goenner Consulting, LLC do?

1/20/2020

 
We are starting to accept work-for-hire. Below are two questions and a referenced business article regarding how our consulting business may help you.

What is an area of your business you are struggling with? What ideas do you have to work on this area? This is where Goenner Consulting, LLC can help. We will roll-up our sleeves and start to work with you on these areas so you can focus on running the business.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/theyec/2017/11/07/four-reasons-your-business-is-still-struggling/#1d75ec8447dc  
If necessary, bring in outside assistance to help implement the changes while you concentrate on other areas of your business. What's most important is that you use your new insight to take consistent, focused action toward strengthening your weaker spots. Your business will thank you.  

Contact us
Email: faithgoenner@gmail.com  Phone: 612-819-7441

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Meet Katie, Real Estate Agent

1/18/2020

 
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Katie, Real Estate Agent, Princeton, Minnesota

From New Mom to Real Estate Agent

At Goenner Consulting, LLC we are passionate about people living their dreams. A few years ago, we met Katie as a new mom. We had the opportunity to come alongside her as owners of a local maternity shop & spa in Princeton, Minnesota. Today we are writing to once again support Katie as she launches her real estate business.

Katie is a good listener and will provide you information as you work through the process of home buying and selling.

If you are in Central Minnesota, please follow her on Facebook contact Katie at (612) 978-7833 or katiek@premierhomesearch.com to schedule a meeting to discuss real estate options.

Welcome to 2020! We are ready to work for you.

1/1/2020

 
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Faith, Founder, Goenner Consulting, LLC
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Amanda, Founder, YOMA - Your Online Marketing Assistant
Welcome to 2020! We are excited to launch consulting and marketing services to birth business owners. Over the past year, Amanda, Founder, YOMA and Faith, Founder, Goenner Consulting, LLC have been working to provide social media and website resources for expecting families of Minnesota with Pregnant in Minnesota and  the new launch of Pregnant in Wisconsin. 

Back in 2016, Faith and Amanda worked together to build Mama Gracie's Pregnancy Shop & Spa, a one-of-a-kind retail and service maternity establishment. After the sale and renaming of this business, Faith returned to her career in higher education leadership and Amanda obtained her BA degree in Business and Marketing. They met again in 2019 and have a common vision to see small businesses be successful. 

Combining Faith's business expertise and Amanda's marketing content development, we are now offering the following service packages to help build your business. 

FREE website listing on either or both Pregnant in Minnesota and Pregnant in Wisconsin.
Basic Monthly Birth Business Consulting /Marketing Services: $40/month
  • Develop and post once a week feature on the Pregnant in Minnesota or Wisconsin social media platforms.
  • Write and post one blog feature a month on Pregnant in Minnesota or Wisconsin website and to all social media platforms.
  • One hour of consultant time for your business.
Website content development: $30/month
  • Two hours of expertise with website content development and management.
Buy Services Now
​We are also interested to learn more about other problems or barriers we could help you solve in your business to make YOUR VISION POSSIBLE. Contact us today at faithgoenner@gmail.com.

The Day I met The Small Business Revolution

10/31/2019

 
I remember where I was sitting and I remember crying as I watched episode after episode of small business owners sharing their barriers, their passion and their goals in small town America. This was my story. I remember the day The Small Business Revolution Season 1 changed my life.

I was so excited to have finally wrote the business plan, won a start up business award, signed the lease and secured the vision for my dream to be a business owner.

Mama Gracie's Pregnancy shop Princeton, MN from Brooke Walsh on Vimeo.

I had attended Profit Mastery, I had worked with a SBA Consultant, I had joined the Chamber of Commerce, I attended Rotary, I had data of babies born in central Minnesota, we were writing blogs and posting to social media, we had met so many local people and still I wasn't financially doing well. This story ends with another entrepreneur buying the business, moving it to a larger community and re-branding it. Thankfully we didn't have to have a funeral.

The Small Business Revolution, which is a movement, has demonstrated that communities MUST be engaged and together for small town Main Streets to survive. Small businesses need support from city council, nonprofits, economic development leaders, residents and other businesses to thrive. Stories are coming in of communities being inspired by The Small Business Revolution show. They are being inspired to get together and choose to make decisions to allow their communities to survive.

TODAY I MET THE SMALL BUSINESS REVOLUTION

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Meeting Amanda Brinkman, Host, The Small Business Revolution has been a dream of mine because of the energy she brings inspires you to be more. Earlier this fall I wasn't able to attend her keynote at the 2019 Connecting Rural Entrepreneurs Conference and was so disappointed. I am so thankful for the community-based Village Bank who sponsored the event today at ModernWell and the co-presenters of Amanda Brinkman, Aleesha Webb and Erin Newkirk for their wisdom. This is the first event in a series of events to help small business owners. Check out Village Bank Facebook Page.

Nuggets from today:
  • What will the world be missing without your business?! 
  • TIME: Stay close to the thing you loved. 
  • Remember, I care about you. 
  • Do well by doing good. 
  • Know your numbers and celebrate your numbers.
  • Marketing = Convey a message and change lives.
Please let me know your story in the comments below or send me an email to faithgoenner@gmail.com. Happy Entrepreneuring!

    Author

    Written by Faith Goenner, Goenner Consulting, LLC

    Goenner Consulting, LLC makes your vision possible through Virtual Business Officer (VBO) services.

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Goenner Consulting, LLC
Every business owner and leader needs a Virtual Business Officer (VBO). A VBO is a highly-skilled contractor to work on behalf of the business owner or leader. With our entrepreneurial spirit and our passion to see businesses successful, we are ready to work for you. Call us at 612-819-7441.  #yourvisionpossible #virtualbusinessofficer

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Copyright © 2023, Goenner Consulting, LLC​​  - Hello​@goennerconsulting.com - 612-819-7441
PO Box 485 Princeton, minnesota 55371

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