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About
Susan
Susan
is a former Nashville-area public school teacher. During her 16 years in
the classroom, Susan taught music education to grade school
students.
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"Teaching
music is extremely rewarding," Susan explains.
"The payoff is seeing students gain confidence in themselves. When they connect
with music, they often gain confidence in other areas of school."
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Susan's
Venture
Susan
used her knowledge of the needs of fellow music teachers to launch her
business. "Music education is barely supported by the public
education system, which means that the families of students bare a
substantial load for the cost of instruments and field trips... Many
teachers help their students offset these costs by working with
fundraising companies."
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Susan,
herself, had worked with a number of fundraising companies and shared
similar complaints as her peers. "Those companies often did not deliver
products on time and they often did not tailor their service to the needs of
teachers."
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Therefore, when a colleague told Susan
about an owner of a
local fundraising company that was looking to sell his business, Susan saw
an opportunity. "I already knew
most of the music teachers in the area, and I knew what they wanted and
needed... I
saw going into this business as a new way to make a living while also making
a difference in the education field."
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Susan
Norwell
Musical
Cookies & Candies ..
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"Things were going well for the first couple
of years... However, despite my best efforts I was not seeing
the growth I expected."
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Susan
purchased the business and invested in a new logo, marketing
brochures, order forms, and even hired two part-time staff to help
with deliveries and administrative tasks. ..
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Susan
Learns about the Corps
"Things
were going well for the first couple of years," she admits. "I
relied heavily on my contacts and the business' previous clientele." However, despite her best efforts, Susan was not seeing
the growth she expected.
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"I
learned about USA Leadership Corps right when I was reading Law
of Attraction. It is a very inspirational book, but I was having a
hard time applying its concepts to my specific business... I hoped
that by working with USALC I could better connect the pieces." Susan had
learned about USALC from a LinkedIn colleague.
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Susan's
Success
"The
consultant I was matched with did a couple of things that I would
have never done for myself. First, he forced me to create a two-year
financial plan... I usually avoid dealing with numbers, but
my consultant helped me to focus on this important activity. It really
opened my eyes to how off-base I was in regards to my financial goals...
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"I would absolutely recommend USALC to any
business owner who is frustrated and in search of new ideas for moving
forward."
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"Next,
my consultant helped me to improve my approach for marketing -
especially during parent-teacher conferences... We created a new process
for how I would collect, qualify, and follow-up with new leads."
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Susan
and her USALC consultant still maintain an information relationship,
even after the formal three month project concluded. "He is
extremely comforting to be able to send a quick email to someone I trust
to get their feedback... I am very grateful for the experience I had
with USALC, and I would recommend it to any business owner who is frustrated and in search of new ideas
for moving forward."
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