The Entrepreneur's Roadmap

This episode is my origin story - the version of my journey I haven't fully told on air before. I'm walking through what finally pushed me to start my business in 2013, what the early days actually looked like, the decisions that shaped where I am now, and the mistakes I made along the way that I now help my clients avoid.

Here's what's in this episode:

• Why getting laid off in 2012 became the push I needed (and why I was ready for it)

• Growing up watching three generations of entrepreneurs - what I saw, what I absorbed, and what surprised me anyway

• The pricing mistakes I made early on: hourly rates, underpricing, and contracts with no annual increases

• The moment I seriously considered walking away, and what kept me going

• Why I planted my flag in business strategy, and what that transition really cost me

• What I'm building next - the Strategic Growth Lab and the GAP Diagnostic

If you've ever wondered who's behind this podcast, the GAP Framework, and what my entrepreneurial journey is, this one's for you.

 If this episode resonated, subscribe so you don't miss what's coming next, and if you know another service provider who's in the middle of their own major pivot, send this episode their way.

Links and Resources

• Free Guide -- Five Key Strategies to Scale Your Service-Based Business: www.cleardirectionadvisors.com/5keystrategiestoscale

• Work with Kendra -- Clear Direction Advisors: www.cleardirectionadvisors.com

• Book a discovery call: https://tidycal.com/cleardirections/discovery-session

Connect With Kendra

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kendravyse/

• Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/cleardirectionadvisors

• Substack: https://substack.com/@cleardirectionadvisors

Building a business isn't just about generating more revenue. It's about creating something that supports the life you actually want to live.

 In this episode of The Entrepreneur's Roadmap, I sit down with Michelle Kuzmick, a tech implementation specialist and entrepreneur with more than 25 years of business experience. Michelle shares her journey from corporate accounting to running a successful photography business and eventually transitioning into the online business space, where she now helps coaches and service providers bring their ideas online without getting overwhelmed by technology.

 We discuss why strategy should always come before technology, the dangers of shiny object syndrome, and why so many entrepreneurs struggle because they change direction before giving a strategy enough time to work. Michelle also shares her perspective on human connection in an AI-driven world and why relationships continue to be one of the most important factors in building a sustainable business.

 One of the themes that comes up throughout this conversation is that entrepreneurship isn't linear. There will be setbacks, pivots, challenges, and unexpected detours along the way. The key is staying focused, continuing to take action, and building a business that aligns with the life you want to create.

 In This Episode We Discuss:

• Michelle's journey from corporate accounting to entrepreneurship and building multiple businesses over 25+ years
• Why strategy matters more than the latest technology or platform
• The biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make when starting and growing a business
• how shiny object syndrome keeps business owners stuck and slows growth
• Why you need to stay focused long enough to give your strategy a chance to work
• Human connection versus AI and where technology fits into business growth
• Building a business around the lifestyle you want instead of building your life around your business
• The realities of entrepreneurship and why business growth is rarely a straight line
• What Michelle wishes she had known before starting her business journey
• Why the only real way to fail is to quit

Connect with Michelle Kuzmick

Website: www.michellekuzmick.com

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/michellekuzmick/

Connect with Kendra Vyse

Website: www.cleardirectionadvisors.com

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/kendravyse

Book a Discovery Call: https://tidycal.com/cleardirections/discovery-session

5 Key Strategies to Scale Guide: www.cleardirectionadvisors.com/5keystrategiestoscale

We're halfway through the year, and a lot of business owners are either pretending their January goals never existed or wondering why they're so far behind.

If that sounds familiar, this episode is for you.

The problem usually isn't the goal itself.

The problem is that most business owners set annual goals without creating a practical plan to execute them. A twelve-month goal can feel so far away that it becomes overwhelming, which often leads to scattered priorities, inconsistent action, and stalled progress.

In this episode, Kendra breaks down why 90-day planning works better than relying solely on annual goals. You'll learn how to turn big goals into actionable priorities, create momentum without overloading yourself, and build a planning process that actually supports sustainable business growth.

What We Cover

• Why annual goals often fail, even when the goal itself is realistic
• The difference between annual planning and 90-day planning
• How to break large business goals into manageable quarterly objectives
• Why your current reality matters before you build any plan
• Choosing 1-3 high-impact priorities for the next 90 days
• How to review, adjust, and maintain momentum when business realities change
• The "shiny squirrel" problem and how to stay focused

Resources & Links

• Free Guide: Five Key Strategies to Scale Your Service-Based Business: https://www.cleardirectionadvisors.com/5keystrategiestoscale
• Strategic Growth Lab Waitlist
  https://www.cleardirectionadvisors.com/group-program
• Work with Kendra: https://www.cleardirectionadvisors.com

• Book a Discovery Call: https://tidycal.com/cleardirections/discovery-session

Connect With Kendra

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kendravyse/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cleardirectionadvisors
• SubStack: https://substack.com/@cleardirectionadvisors

If you're tired of setting goals that never seem to turn into progress, it might be worth considering a different approach. The bigger question isn't what you want to accomplish by year-end. The bigger question is what needs to happen in the next 90 days to move your business forward.

Most service providers wait too long to hire - and then do it in a hurry. The result is rarely the support they were hoping for.

Hiring with intention, at the right time, with the right preparation, changes the outcome entirely.

What We Cover

• Why hiring as a rescue mission almost always creates more problems than it solves

• Three questions you need to be able to answer before hiring anyone - including a part-time contractor

• Five principles for hiring with intention rather than from overwhelm

• What separates a hire that accelerates your business from one that sets it back

Links and Resources

• Free Guide - Five Key Strategies to Scale YourService-Based Business: cleardirectionadvisors.com/5keystrategiestoscale

• Work with Kendra — Clear Direction Advisors:www.cleardirectionadvisors.com

• Book a discovery call:https://tidycal.com/cleardirections/discovery-session

Connect With Kendra

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kendravyse/

• Facebook Page:https://www.facebook.com/cleardirectionadvisors

• Substack: https://substack.com/@cleardirectionadvisors

If you want to think through whether a hire makes strategicsense for your business right now, book a discovery call. And sign up for the weekly newsletter at www. cleardirectionadvisors.com and get your copy of my Five Key Strategies to Scale Guide.

Most service providers look at their financial statements once a year - when their accountant prepare their tax return. That's not financial clarity. That's avoidance. And it's costing you.What We Cover

In this episode, we get into what your financial statements are actually for - and it's not just taxes. We cover:

● The difference between profit and cash flow (and why confusing them can shut your business down)

● What your P&L, balance sheet, and cash flow statement are each telling you - in plain language

● Why your bank balance is not your profitability

● How to set up a monthly money check-in that actually tells you something useful

● The metrics beyond the financial statements - capacity, productivity, client acquisition cost - and why they matter for growth decisions

Your numbers are not there to judge you. They're there to helpyou run your business.

Links and Resources

● Free Guide - Five Key Strategies to Scale YourService-Based Business: www.cleardirectionadvisors.com/5keystrategiestoscale

● Work with Kendra - Clear Direction Advisors: www.cleardirectionadvisors.com

● Book a discovery call: https://tidycal.com/cleardirections/discovery-session

Connect with Kendra

● LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kendravyse/

● Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/cleardirectionadvisors

● Substack: https://substack.com/@cleardirectionadvisors

A plateau doesn't always feel like a crisis. Sometimes it just looks like another month with the same revenue as the last one, and the one before that. If that pattern has been going on for a year, it isn't stability. It's a signal worth paying attention to.

What We Cover

In this episode, we get into the four real reasons service businesses stall and why most business owners are diagnosing the problem wrong.

We cover:

• What a plateau actually means - and why the definition matters before you try to fix anything
• Pricing gaps - including grandfathered clients and contracts with no annual increase built in
• Offer confusion - and why unclear messaging keeps ideal clients from finding their way to you
• Capacity ceilings - and the difference between growing your business and scaling it
• Missing systems - what they are costing you, even when you can't see the impact yet

If you've been wondering why your business feels stuck and why growth has stalled, this episode gives you a clear framework for figuring out which problem is actually yours.

Links and Resources

• EP04 | Is Your Offer Suite Designed for Profit or Did It Just Happen
• EP06 | Why Your Business Stalls: The Systems Problem Holding You Back
• Free Guide: Five Key Strategies to Scale Your Service-Based Business: www.cleardirectionadvisors.com/5keystrategiestoscale
• Work with Kendra -- Clear Direction Advisors: www.cleardirectionadvisors.com
• Book a discovery call: https://tidycal.com/cleardirections/discovery-session

Connect With Kendra

• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/kendravyse/
• Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/cleardirectionadvisors
• Substack: substack.com/@cleardirectionadvisors

If this episode resonated, follow The Entrepreneur's Roadmap so you don't miss what's coming next, and if you know another service provider who needs to hear this, share it with them.

Marshall Stern has been in business for over 35 years. He built a sign and graphics company for 29 years and decided to sell it. He ran coaching and mentoring alongside that company for 14 of those years. He is now coaching full-time, and the way he talks about business, people, and decisions is worth your full attention.

In this episode, Marshall shares the decisions that shaped his journey, including why he refused to lay off his team at the start of COVID when everyone told him he should, why he hired a new salesperson in August 2020 when business was still at 50%, and what he has learned about real leadership versus the kind that looks good on paper.

We also get into what actually gets in the way of business growth, why a bank balance is not the same thing as financial health, and why real experience in the trenches will always outrank a certification.

Marshall holds nothing back. This one is worth listening to more than once.

In this episode:

• The decisions that defined Marshall's entrepreneurial journey
• Why he refused to lay off his team during COVID - and what happened because of it
• Hiring counter-cyclically: taking the leap when nobody else was
• What actually blocks business growth more than anything else
• Why your bank balance is lying to you about your business health
• Why real experience in the trenches beats any certification

Links and Resources

• Free Guide: Five Key Strategies to Scale Your Service-Based Business: www.cleardirectionadvisors.com/5keystrategiestoscale
• Work with Kendra at Clear Direction Advisors:www.cleardirectionadvisors.com
• Book a discovery call:https://tidycal.com/cleardirections/discovery-session

Connect with Marshall:

• Website: ⁠www.marshallstern.net⁠
• LinkedIn: ⁠www.linkedin.com/in/marshallstern/⁠
• Instagram: ⁠www.instagram.com/marshallstern/⁠
• Facebook: ⁠www.facebook.com/groups/thebusinessinnercirclegroup⁠

Connect With Kendra

• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/kendravyse/
• Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/cleardirectionadvisors
• Substack: https://substack.com/@cleardirectionadvisors

If your business grinds to a halt the moment you step away, you don't have a capacity problem. You have a systems problem.

And that's actually good news, because systems are fixable.

In this episode of The Entrepreneur's Roadmap, we get intoone of the most common reasons service providers hit a ceiling - not because they lack clients or opportunities, but because the business is built entirely around their personal involvement in every single piece of the process.

Key takeaways from this episode:

• Why being the bottleneck in your own business is a growth ceiling, not a badge of honour
• The three things in your business that actually require your specific expertise (and why most owners dramatically overestimate this list)
• Five areas to look at when building systems: client onboarding, service delivery, financials, communication, and offboarding
• Why systems aren't about removing the human element - they're about protecting it
• What it actually looks like to walk into work on a Monday morning and trust that your business is running

If you're doing everything yourself and wondering why youcan't seem to get ahead, this one is for you.

Links and Resources

• Free Guide: Five Key Strategies to Scale Your Service-Based Business: www.cleardirectionadvisors.com/5keystrategiestoscale

• Work with Kendra at Clear Direction Advisors:www.cleardirectionadvisors.com

• Book a discovery call: https://tidycal.com/cleardirections/discovery-session

Connect With Kendra

• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/kendravyse/

• Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/cleardirectionadvisors

• Substack: https://substack.com/@cleardirectionadvisors

Follow and subscribe so you don't miss next week's episode on making your first (or next) hire a strategic decision rather than a rescue mission.

Most service business owners know they need a strategy. What they don't have is a practical framework for building one they'll actually use.

In this episode, Kendra Vyse walks through her five-part growth roadmap that turns strategic thinking into real decisions - covering what your plan needs to contain, why starting with goals is not actually the right first step, and how her GAP Framework (Growth Action Plan) works in practice with real service businesses.

If you've been making decisions in your business without a clear framework to run them through, this episode is your starting point.

What We Cover

• Why an honest assessment of your current position matters more than your goals, and why most business owners skip it
• The five components every strategic growth plan needs to be useful when decisions have to be made
• How the GAP Framework structures the roadmap-building process for service-based businesses
• What changes about how you operate when every decision has a filter to run through

Links and Resources

• Free Guide -- Five Key Strategies to Scale Your Service-Based Business: cleardirectionadvisors.com/5keystrategiestoscale
• Work with Kendra -- 1:1 Advisory: www.cleardirectionadvisors.com
• Strategic Growth Lab (September cohort): www.cleardirectionadvisors.com/group-program
• Book a Discovery Call: https://tidycal.com/cleardirections/discovery-session

Connect With Kendra

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kendravyse/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cleardirectionadvisors
• Substack: https://substack.com/@cleardirectionadvisors

Don't forget to follow The Entrepreneur's Roadmap so you never miss an episode.

If you're a service provider who stays busy but never quite hits the financial results you're working toward, your offer suite might be the problem, and most people never stop to look at it.

In this episode, Kendra breaks down the difference between an offer suite that was built with intention and one that simply accumulated over time. Because for most service providers, it's the second one, and it's quietly capping their revenue, their margins, and their ability to scale.

You'll walk away from this episode knowing how to evaluate what you're currently offering, which offers deserve your time and energy, and what to look for when your offer suite needs a serious rethink.

In this episode:

- The three questions to ask about every offer you currently have

- Four signs your offer suite is working against you

- Why your most popular offer and your most profitable offer are often not the same thing

- How a clear, intentional offer suite becomes one of the fastest levers for growth

This is the kind of strategic clarity that changes how you talk about your business, how you price your work, and how you scale without burning out.

Links and Resources

• Free Guide - Five Key Strategies to Scale Your Service-Based Business: cleardirectionadvisors.com/5keystrategiestoscale

• Work with Kendra and Clear Direction Advisors:www.cleardirectionadvisors.com

• Book a discovery call: https://tidycal.com/cleardirections/discovery-session

Connect With Kendra

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kendravyse/

• Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/cleardirectionadvisors

• Substack: https://substack.com/@cleardirectionadvisors