We were lucky to catch up with Natasha E. Davis recently and have shared our conversation below.

Natasha E. , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea

When I first launched my business in February 2007 I had big vision, no experience and a lot of fear! During the first 4 years in business I made many mistakes financially and operationally but, my passion and belief in my vision kept me going.

I recall the moments during those first 4 years when I needed capital for marketing, so I borrowed money from the credit union, but the biggest mistake with that was I did not have a clear plan for that borrowed money. As you can imagine, I did not spend that money wisely and I imposed a debt on myself and the business. This was my first of many learning lessons in business.

Thereafter, I learned to make a plan for every dollar that came into the business and that went out of the business. This financial practice helped me stay away from emotional spending and unprofitable decisions. It also helped me to better understand the costs associated with growing my business and launching new ideas.

By the 6th or 7th year of business it occurred to me that I was not building a sustainable business, I just merely created a job for myself. This was eyeopening for me and was the turning point for me as a business owner and for my business.
I began studying and applying the principles of profitable marketing, lead generation, branding, strategic planning and implementation. With diligence, I applied these principles to my business and they worked perfectly.

I then developed the structured framework of end-to end strategic planning so that I could do the same for my clients. Once I launched my new structured service offerings, business took off and my clients were achieving their goals at record speed! I went from having a negative bank account to a positive and profitable bank account.

In 2011, I discovered a need to improve the process of qualifying prospects as a good client during the consultation stage. I searched for a tool that could help me with this but, I could not find one. So, I set out to develop a predictive model software that could do this for me. I found myself back at a point where I had big vision, no experience and a lot of fear; but this time, I had a formula to rely on!

I began the journey of developing this unique software for myself but quickly found out that this was needed across the consulting industry. I applied my structured end-to-end strategic planning framework again, so that I could mobilize this huge idea! The interesting point to note here is that I had zero experience with developing software, and I found myself stuck and frustrated from time to time during my journey.

Because I am a strategist and problem solver at my core, this led me to develop a specific process for converting ideas into profits. I applied the new process to my software idea and today, I have a predictive model software that the consulting industry uses just as I planned. Once I learned how to implement this conversion process for myself, I developed a framework for how to move from idea to execution, so that my clients could benefit from it.

The keys to moving beyond the idea phase of launching a business or a product is what I now call the “5 P’s to Convert an Idea into Profits” . Those 5 P’s that I live by and translate to my clients are to invest in Planning, without planning the risk of waste and delay is inevitable, have Patience and commitment to your goals, because it is not enough just to be interested in them, Be Persistence in your outreach and communications, if others don’t know your vision they can’t support it, Be Progressive in your actions, don’t allow procrastination and fear to be your default and Be Productive in your decisions, always choose clarity and purpose if you want to see your ideas come to fruition.

During my journey in business, I have sharpened my skill of business ownership so that I could transform from being an Entrepreneur into being a CEO. I invested in business coaches and immersed myself in environments where accelerated wisdom was readily available to me. I became a sponge of business excellence, which made me a repository of business excellence. By developing and applying both frameworks as I’ve shared, I have been able to convert any idea I have into profitable outcomes because of the streamlined method of execution.

Natasha E. , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Natasha E. Davis, referred to as “The Chief Visionary” has been in business for 16+ years and is the owner of Impact Branding Consulting, Inc where she works with private companies and government agencies to enhance their brand equity, brand loyalty and brand expansion. The first 4 years was pure hell because there was no real strategy to growing the business and Natasha kept getting stuck mentally and emotionally each time she decided to go to the next level. Her greatest stagnation came when she was working over 16 hours a day, six and half days a week and hit $300,000 annual revenue but could not break through that revenue ceiling, despite her efforts

After being sick and tired of being sick and tired, she made a commitment to shift and break the barrier to higher revenue and profits. Her first self-limiting revelation was realizing that she needed to shift her mindset from thinking like an Entrepreneur into thinking and acting like a CEO… GAME CHANGER!!!

Next, she hyper-focused on developing strong systems, processes and strategies that supported a streamlined and profitable day to day operations that were aligned with consistent annual growth goals. Today, she’s been awarded as one of the fastest growing small businesses of the year, Woman on Fire, and most recently “Outstanding Georgia Citizen” Recognition. Natasha has written and published four books, speaks on stages nationally and launched one of the only predictive model CRM tools for the consulting industry.

Natasha understands first-hand the struggles and challenges that come with breaking inconsistent revenue cycles, unproductive and unprofitable operations, and working with complete overwhelm.

Today, Natasha commits her expertise to helping CEO’s break the cycles of lack of progress by facilitating transformation with actionable strategies for Branding, Profits and Growth through solid action steps.

Impact Branding Consulting, is an end-to end strategic planning consulting firm specializing in helping companies and the leaders build sustainable and profitable brands that have a lasting impact. We normalize and simplify strategic planning. The services available are consulting, executive coaching and corporate training.

The key thing that sets me apart from others in the market is that I use an evidenced-based approach to develop customized strategies and solutions for my clients. My clients repeatedly state that I have a unique way of uncomplicating the most complex things. The main thing I want the marketplace to know about me and my company, is that when we show up, we show up 100%, all in and fully committed to your success.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I recall a time in my life where life took a drastic turn that shook my entire foundation. In December of 2013 the day after my birthday, my husband at the time, abruptly decided that after 12 years he no longer wanted to be married. This was completely unexpected and came at the worst time ever. I was fully focused on building my dream business, writing my 2nd book and getting my new software off the ground. When my marriage ended, I could not focus on any of this. I was riddled with emotional pain, disappointment and fear of the unknown. Financially I was destitute and emotionally I was exhausted. About one year after the separation and divorce, I came to a place where I could get up and move forward with my new life. I made a decision to release and reject all of the things that have disempowered me and I was determined to reclaim my power. From that moment, I made a commitment to myself that I would forever be unleashed to Live a life of greatness and abundance, make a positive Impact and Excel in life.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

Growing a company requires bringing on a team and in order to achieve those global initiatives the team has to be developed with intention and purpose. When I started growing my team, I first had to determine what skill sets do I lack but need. I then focused on hiring my weakness. After that I focused on duplicating myself so I hired people who had similar skills as me. Once I brought in the right team members I then had to work on keeping them happy. I made sure my team members understood that I respect them but that I also require results. Because of this, my team reciprocates with respect and results.

The best advice I could give to a company needing to grow a team, effectively manage a team and retain a good team is above all, be respectful, honest and communicative. I make it my business to know each team members birthday and special life events. I also extend compassion for unexpected life events. When the team member knows that you think of them as a person and not just a replaceable element in the company, the loyalty increases tremendously.

I don’t refer to any team member as an employee because I need them to know they are essential part of a team and II need them, the company needs them and our clients need them.

Empower each team member to learn their role, acclimate to their role, nurture their role and dominate their role. When the team member takes full ownership of their role and they understand how integral their work is to the whole vision, the environment shifts.

The other key to managing a team and maintaining high morale is to be honest and fair with the team member. Never put a team member in a position where they cannot shine or operate in their natural genius. If the team member is not good at their role, consider changing their role if possible instead of firing them or constantly reprimanding them. People enjoy doing good work, so if they can’t do their best because they lack the skill, that team member is more likely to leave the company or stay and be unproductive.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.ImpactBrandingConsulting.org
• Instagram: NatashaIBCEO and ImpactBrandingConsulting
• Facebook: NatashaDavisVisionary and ImpactBrandingConsulting
• Linkedin: NatashaDavisVisionary
• Twitter: NatashaIBCEO and ImpctBranding (No “a”)
• Youtube: ImpactBrandingVideos