‘To Listen and together find a way’
- Beverlee
Beverlee Rasmussen MA CEC PCC
The Road To Becoming A Small Business Coach
Entrepreneur by Necessity
When I quit my job to start my first business, I was a single mom, with no financial support, and I knew nothing about running a business.
With resolve to make a better life for myself and my son and a whole lot of determination, I started Somerville Travel Inc. in 1993.
Named after my great grandmother, I built a Canadian independent travel agency which was topping 3 million in sales annually after two short years.
It was profitable and I was free!
I learned powerful lessons building my company about the importance of systems and how all the elements of leadership, operations, money, team and marketing fit together to create a world class business that could run independent of me.
In 1997 the airlines changed the way travel agencies were paid and in one day we lost 70% of our revenue!
39% of all travel agencies globally, went out of business within three months.
Fortunately, and thanks to systems thinking, we quickly switched to fee for service based pay and we ended our year up 11% in revenue.
For months, I met with my competitors helping them survive this industry disaster. Maybe that is when I first became a business coach?
Two years later I sold my business, at a time you couldn’t give a travel agency away. The new owner bought mine because it was organized and profitable.
In 2004, I met Michael E. Gerber, Author of The E-Myth, Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What To Do About It.
I told Michael about my business and how his booked helped, and well, a long story short, he invited me to join his team.
As an E-Myth Program Advisor, I had the privilege of speaking with over 3000 small business owners globally.
Their stories broke my heart.
97% of the people I spoke with wanted coaching but couldn’t afford it. I made a promise to myself, that someday I would use my own business experience to create a program that was both super easy to apply and one that they could afford.
When I first started helping business owners I did a lot of telling or what I call “consulting” and I couldn’t figure out why no one was doing as they were told.
“The truth is none of us like being told what to do!”
I realized I needed more effective skills to empower my clients to take action.
I learned those skills at Royal Roads University in 2010 and received a Certificate in both Executive Coaching and Organizational Development.
I achieved my goal of becoming an accredited Professional Certified Coach by the International Coach Federation in 2011 and in 2014 won the ICF Vancouver Business Coach of the Year. In 2023 I earned a Master of Arts in Executive and Organizational Coaching. Message me for a copy of my research paper titled “The Democratization of Small Business Coaching”
Life as a small business owner was initially very difficult and became easier the more systems and structure I put in place. Thanks to the strategic work done to create systems I had my company running independent of me.
Soon after starting my business I met and married my soul mate Brent Rasmussen. I’m a proud mother to three boys Joseph, Josh, and Jeff and grandma to Terry, Melanie, Harrison and grand baby #4 Chloe Audrey born in November 2023. I am a peacemaker, entrepreneur, Scorpions Fan, Rotarian, and Aquarian!
With a two year client waiting list it was time to recruit other coaches to share this journey with me.
I have since replicated the exact system I have used for the past 15 years to coach small business owners.
You can use it to, will you join me?
Beverlee, International Small Business Coach Trainer
Ontario-born Beverlee Rasmussen, is a highly respected small business coach, author, and the founder of Systems Business Coach®. Her career transition from a business owner and consultant to a coach, led her to win the 2014 ICF Vancouver Business Coach of the Year. Motivated by a passion to decrease small business failure through coaching, Beverlee pursued and achieved a Master of Arts in Executive and Organizational Coaching from Royal Roads University. This accomplishment has marked her as one of the pioneering individuals in Canada to hold this degree. She’s also the author of two significant books – “The Small Business Field Guide” and “Small Business Big Opportunity: Systematize Your Small Business, Create Personal Freedom and Live the Entrepreneurial Dream,” both demonstrating her dedication to aiding entrepreneurs on their small business journey. Passionate about empowering entrepreneurs, strengthening communities, and promoting secure meaningful employment, Beverlee’s coaching approach is aimed at enhancing small business success both here in Canada and around the world. Leveraging over 15 years of experience coaching 400+ small business owners, she shares exactly what you need to know and do to successfully coach in this market. |
I’m Beverlee Rasmussen, the founder of Systems Business Coach®, and if you ever said to yourself:
- How can I use my coaching skills to make a bigger difference in the world?
- I need better tools to support my small business owner clients
- How can I bridge the gap between consulting and coaching?
- What do I need to do to become a business coach?
- How can I quit my day job so that I can coach full time?
- How am I supposed to make money in this economy?
- How can I coach small business owners if I have never owned one myself?
- How do you build a sold out coaching practice?
Or if you’ve ever just wanted to talk to someone about coaching entrepreneurs ....You’re in the RIGHT place!
Working alongside of some of the greatest coaches in the world, including Marshall Goldsmith, Beverlee helped organize “Coaches Care 2020” a 6 hour fundraiser to support coaches and their clients at the start of the 2020 Pandemic.
Together in one day we raised over 1 Million dollars to support those impacted by COVID-19.
In this video, meet two of Beverlee’s clients and hear why Small Business is a market to be served.
