In Path 1, “Change Your Life,” we provide a proven, proprietary goal setting system designed to enable our clients to grow and become successful business owners. Our clients have made a big decision to change their lives by becoming business owners. This is a great first step. But we know that if they want to be able to enjoy the freedoms that come with entrepreneurship, they must be willing to change the way they think, and that is no small task. To meet this challenge, The Journey Map helps our business owners form new habits by setting goals, and taking action to move in the direction of those goals. The objective of the training in Path 1 is not only to have our clients begin moving in the right direction as business owners, but also to emphasize the critical importance of the goal setting process and to make this process a lifelong habit!

In Path 2, “Business University,” we provide comprehensive basic business training. This is the foundation training all business owners need to acquire a working knowledge of business fundamentals. Business University has been carefully designed by the Get Started Media expert Instructional Design team to mirror the state-of-the-art “e-Learning” format used by IBM, American Airlines, Hewlett Packard, and other companies recognized for delivering world-class distance learning. In Business University, Startup Essentials’ clients learn about all aspects of properly building and running a profitable business. This includes how to source products, advertising and marketing, finance and accounting, compliance with the law and IRS requirements, and much more. The curriculum has been written to make the information clear and straightforward throughout. The content is divided into short lesson segments for simplicity and to aid comprehension. Business University also offers important business tips, tools, and links to in-depth resources throughout to guide each client as he or she builds their business.

In Path 3, “Establish Your Business,” Startup Essentials provides a step-by-step course of action for establishing any type of business. Path 3, “Establish Your Business,” also provides all the necessary tools and resources to establish an e-commerce business with a professional, online retail storefront. This includes completing a business plan, setting up a financial tracking system, establishing the business entity, applying for the state sales tax permit, DBA certificate or EIN, choosing products to sell, setting up a Merchant Account to accept credit cards from customers, setting up the Virtual Terminal to process credit cards through the website, a free Professional Website Evaluation and initial Pay Per Click advertising campaign, marketing the business, and more.

In Path 4, “Manage and Grow Your Business,” Startup Essentials shows the client how to apply all the training and tools at their disposal to run their business efficiently and effectively. This path includes establishing a marketing budget and plan, generating website traffic, using meta tags, link building, considering a Blog or RSS feed for their site, e-mail campaigns that avoid spamming, use of testimonials and newsletters, Internet business success tips, and more.