Hi Ladies, phew, another month has gone past already – and I’ve already seen Xmas decorations up in some shops! Don’t you love this time of year though, spring and the warmer weather, summer is just around the corner and life just seems so much easier when the sun is out. I know living on a boat my ‘default’ setting is summer, I just love being out and about in the fresh air. Maybe I also enjoy summer as it’s a more sociable time of the year as well?

So what have I been up to since you heard from me?

Well, Venus, as you know is now a registered charity. Phew, that was a lot of work, and a big learning experience for me!
You’d never believe the amount of work that goes in to something like that – the ‘I dotting’ and ‘t crossing’ was unbelievable but well worthwhile long term.

Obviously, I’ve been working on #NZBW18 which has been another learning curve. As I type this on Labour Weekend we are less than a week out and I’m feeling really excited about the way it has all come together. Think I’m going to have to take some sleeping pills this week to make sure I get a good night’s sleep I’m so excited! There’s a lot more to running a conference than meets the eye, any of you out there that do it full time I have a new respect for! The detail and planning that goes in is mind-blowing and then there are things to consider such as insurance for the events, OSH policies etc. Apparently ‘don’t hurt yourself’ won’t suffice!

Other than that, I’ve also been working on the Venus Magazine, along with my super capable team. It’s just gone to print so we should have it back in around a fortnight’s time, that’s when I turn in to ‘courier Carolyn’ and get them out to you all!

Venus Training Academy

Our workshops have finished for 2018 with all the ones we’ve run this year being very well received and run successfully.
Each of the VRM’s and I are working on an Academy plan for each of the regions for 2019 so keep your ears and ears peeled.

All the detail about what is on where can be found via the Eventbrite tag on the website, it will show you what is going on where. You have two options for payment, either full payment up front or 50% deposit and then 50% seven days before the workshop.

Remember, the best investment you can make is in yourself!

Venus Networking

#NZBW18 seems to have been fulfilling one of the things I was hoping it would do as we’ve been getting a lot more interest and registrations on the website over the last couple of months. Additionally, announcing that we are a registered charity is definitely being seen as a positive.
Member Success and Power Hour, as well as Collaborative Teams, is also being run by the VRM’s and Academy coaches nationwide over October and November in most regions so keep your eyes on the ‘Eventbrite’ tag on the website, the reminders will be given in the Venus news at your meetings.
Zoom Power Hour and Member Success workshops are very popular – these have been set up specifically for our remote groups but are popular with all. It’s another way to learn and network, albeit with women from all over NZ. As such we are going to be running more using Zoom as a delivery mechanism during 2019.
Free Month
Please, please, please register your guests rather than inviting them along to the meeting. You don’t know who else is booked to turn up, the last thing we want is two people in the same category in the same meeting!

Think about the women you do business with. The power of the community is the community and as we grow and change our ability to work alongside, help and collaborate with one another increases as well. The more of us that there are, the more we can support, encourage and motivate one another, step up and run amazing businesses.

A reminder that for each person you refer to Venus you get a one-month free membership when they’ve joined and paid their membership fee. Get them to register online or put them in touch with your Regional Manager. They MUST mention you in their registration (which is why I would personally do it myself!)

Venus Magazine

As I said a little earlier the November issue will be with you in a matter of weeks. Our next magazine is due out next May so if you want to submit an article or advertise get in sooner rather than later to make sure you don’t miss out!

The magazine will be going to all our members, out to our database of 6000, additionally my plan for next year involves a lot more PR and shouting to the rooftops about Venus – with the magazine being used as our calling card!

If you do advertise in the magazine you can’t just advertise and expect the phone to start ringing, you need to make the most of it, send it to clients, feature it on your website and FB pages, visit groups and promote yourself. Much like your investment in networking you need to do the work to support the investment.

Inspiring Business Women

We are now also featuring these on our Instagram page as well as on our FB pages and website so don’t miss out on promoting yourself and your business. No point being a secret, that won’t bring clients to you! Fill in this link, and tell us all about yourself!

Venus is a Registered Charity!

Venus is now a registered charity! I received notification that Coco’s Class (the limited liability company that owns Venus Networking, Venus Training Academy and NZ Businesswomen) had our charitable status approved on Monday 8 October.
Nothing changes in the day-to-day running of Venus. We are still a limited liability company, i.e., we are still required to run as a normal business, pay our way, charge for our services and make a profit. The difference now is that profit MUST stay in the business and we get tax relief.

Membership fees are still membership fees, and part of the everyday running of the business. However, if you feel the burning desire to donate to the Venus Foundation, you can claim that back on your tax return!
The Venus Foundation will provide scholarships and interest free loans for women to grow and develop themselves and their businesses – that is our charitable purpose. Why? We want to be the one stop shop for businesswomen in NZ, the place they go for advice and support in setting up and running their businesses. We want to be the organisation that helps them with their personal and professional development. We want to make our services and our training and development affordable for the majority.

There are lots of government departments and private businesses doing similar things – our USP being no one person is going to be making money out of doing so, we are working for the good of the community.
Any profit will be reinvested into the Foundation. Venus will be moving forward to be working alongside those private businesses and government departments and coordinating those within our network as well as those outside the network around what our members need.

Last year when I bought Venus I took out a loan and gave ANZ bank a personal guarantee against that loan. Obviously, I have a vested interest in seeing Venus succeed and, because of that moving forward I will continue to run Venus as the CEO, but with a Board of Directors that will oversee everything to ensure we stay on track and meet our charitable purpose. They will work alongside me making all the major decisions – any of those decisions however now need to be approved by a majority of the board.

My main goal is to promote Venus, grow the community and deliver to our members from through Venus Networking, Venus Academy and NZBW.

How can you help? Whether you’ve been in Venus 5 minutes or 5 years you have something unique to contribute to this community – you. Your support of Venus is what we need to help us help whomever we can. The skillset, business and life experience each of us brings is what is important and what can helps the community as a whole.
Support us, refer us, train with us – tell everyone who will listen about our wonderful community, invite them to get involved. By doing that you’re not only helping Venus, you’re helping yourself. We have amazing member businesses, a community of amazing businesswomen who want to succeed and help others to succeed as well. The strength of the network is the network, by helping others we help ourselves, after all a rising tide lifts all boats!

Remember Venus is here for you if you need help with something ask.

Better go now, got to right a speech to deliver at Conference, yikes … how incredibly grown up am I going to have to be!

Until next month my gorgeous gals!

Carolyn x

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