Eleven determined minority business owners in Aurora showed up for three hours a week for ten weeks to improve their businesses.

According to the Women’s Business Development Center’s website, “ScaleHigher brings traditional business education, leadership skills building, and digital skills knowledge together into one cohort. Business owners will gain valuable insights from leadership coaches to build their business around their unique leadership style, and will work with storytelling experts to build a brand story and leverage it to drive sales. This cohort also includes a technology evaluation to inform decision-making. Peer-to-peer cohort learning connects a community of business owners and creates a supportive space to grow.”

After being a participant in three of their other cohorts: ScaleUp, GovCon-Airports, and Top Shelf Retail, I graduated to an advisor role and was tasked with three things: presenting on branding and marketing to the entire cohort, meeting 1:1 with each of the business owners over Zoom, and attending their in-person graduation in Aurora (at one of the small business participant’s business locations).

Each participating business who completed the program was awarded a $1,500 scholarship to put towards digital tools and resources to grow their businesses. Participants gave a short pitch introducing their businesses and highlighting their anticipated usage of the funds during the graduation celebration.

10 Key Branding Takeaways from 10 Participants

At the end of each of my 1:1 sessions with small business owners, I asked them to share one of their largest takeaways from our conversation. Here are their responses (and some additional context around the lessons we covered together):

1. Translate what you are already doing inside your business to your external brand. Your visual and outward-facing brand should be as professional and unique as the services you provide within your business offerings.

2. Always build identity from truth and be willing to embrace who you are so that the right people can connect with you. You do not need to be everything to everyone.

3. You already have what you need inside you to build your brand. The key is to extract the essence of who you are and why you are doing what you are doing and share it more with the world so it can resonate and attract others.

4. There is always an opportunity to get creative and develop new revenue streams that are in alignment with your values while continuing to serve your clients in a thoughtful way.

5. Defining your business’ core essence and key words helps you tie everything together in a more cohesive way. There is a lot of nuance that goes into branding outside of simply visual representations of your brand. Be thoughtful in all areas and applications.

6. Be thoughtful in your approach of communicating changes to clients. There is always an angle or spin that can be both on brand and center your clients’ benefit and needs. Don’t be afraid to proactively communicate and share more of yourself and your goals so they can feel included in your business journey.

7. There is often a common thread between different business owners and/or stakeholders in a company. While it can take time to land on what that common thread is, it will help drive a brand and marketing strategy that is aligned and cohesive so that everyone’s hard work is contributing to something larger.

8. Don’t overcomplicate social media. It is an opportunity for you to connect the dots on your story and your values and share who you are and what your business cares about in a new way. You can repurpose blog and website content as well as build a library of on-brand images to make managing your socials less daunting.

9. It is essential that you discern what is a good fit for your business and what isn’t. This could mean attending certain events and passing on others that don’t align with your vision, goals, and values. Focus your energy on things that allow your business to thrive and grow.

10. Brand collaborations can be leveraged to grow your brand but must be mutually beneficial. If you are looking for partners, what value are you providing to them to get them onboard? If potential partners are pitching to you, how are you evaluating if they are a good fit and worth the time and energy. Turn pitches into actual relationships by giving before you take (or ask for something).

Throughout the program, business owners receive one-on-one mentoring and lessons on a variety of topics to help them grow and evolve their businesses.

3 Reasons You Should Consider Applying for the WBDC’s ScaleHigher Program*:

1. You’re ready to grow and push yourself further in business.

2. You recognize that making more time to work ON your business is the key to reaching your next big goals.

3. You’d like to improve in areas of leadership, solving your customer’s problem, leveraging digital tools, and building your brand.

*Or another program through the Women’s Business Development Center.

“Having worked with the WBDC both as a participant and an advisor, I cannot say enough good things about the tremendous resources they provide for small business owners. They connect you to the information and resources that you need to grow. They cover the cost of experts, like myself, so that small business owners can get their questions answered and leave with direct support related to their largest problems in business.” - Chelsie Tamms

Don’t have the budget to pay for a 1:1 consulting session with Chelsie? Explore the Take Chelsie to Lunch program or get in touch with the WBDC to take advantage of their free-to-you business advising sessions.

A special thank you to Lindsay, Minerva, Francisco, Cheyenne, Regina, and all the other presenters and advisors who made this 2023 Aurora cohort such a success.

If you are interested in more information about ScaleHigher or any of the other available WBDC programs, reach out directly to the WBDC or explore their website.