Catholic Business Accelerator

 

The Catholic Business Accelerator (CBA) exists primarily to further the mission of the Church, which is the salvation of souls. It does not accomplish this directly. The CBA helps Catholic-owned businesses grow to the size the business owner wishes at an accelerated pace. The CBA also helps Catholics to start new businesses at an accelerated pace. Hence the name "accelerator."

The Catholic CEO team believes that each person is an instrument of salvation because we are lay people in the world, living the teachings of the true Church of Jesus Christ. We do not need to evangelize with our words, but with the actions of our business operations. How we interact with our customers, our employees, our suppliers, our community, and our family, will lead others to Christ and His Church through how we run our businesses.

What this means is that we need to be fully Catholic as business owners. We also need to be smart business owners. Just because we are Catholic does not mean that we are pushovers. It does not mean that we don't make a profit. The Catholic CEO firmly believes that, in the economy in which we live, profit is critical to a thriving business. Without it, we have no business. Without Catholic businesses, our Catholic influence lessens. The Catholic CEO team wants as many faithful Catholics to own successful businesses as possible.

The CBA is one means in which we accomplish this goal. A cohort of the Catholic Business Accelerator is launched a few times per year. Each business in the cohort has 1-on-1 meetings with Henry Kutarna, The Catholic CEO on all aspects of business.

The cost of the CBA is $2,500 (US). The CBA runs for approximately 6 months. This is a fixed term. No commitment or pressure to continue with The Catholic CEO in any way beyond the term of the cohort. We begin and end each cohort on significant liturgical dates. Each cohort has a maximum of 10 participants. We are not doing this to make lots of money. We are doing this to make strong Catholic businesses. The charge is to ensure we still are compensated for our time, but also to ensure we work with Catholics who are serious about their business.

A note about start-ups: If you don't have a business idea, the CBA is not the right starting point for you. You should take Groundwork, our beginning start-up course, as a discernment tool to see if you should start a business at all. It is also a practical guide for brainstorming business ideas. Once you have a business idea, you can join the CBA, if you wish, following the process below.

The process for each CBA cohort:

1. You will have a 20 minute exploratory call with Henry Kutarna, The Catholic CEO. Schedule your call here. Henry will talk to you about your plans. This is not a sales call. It's actually a discernment call where Henry and you will each determine if it is a good fit. We encourage you to pray and fast about this decision.

2. If you and Henry agree that you are a good fit, you will receive an invoice for $2,500.00. If you agree to our expectations in this document and are willing to pay the fee upfront, we will move on to step 3.

3. The CBA begins with an onboarding call of 90 minutes. You and Henry will meet to discuss your business (or future business). You then decide which modules you will focus 80% of your meeting time on. The rest of the modules will take 20% of the meeting time.

4. You will have 1 meeting per month with either Henry or Joey or both, depending on the module.

5. Between meetings, you will do the homework assigned. If there are questions or concerns, you can book as many 15 minute calls as you need with Henry between modules.

6. You will receive a mid-point assessment and a final assessment from Henry.

7. This process will help you start or grow your business with the guidance and wisdom of seasoned business experts. See Henry's bio here. 

There are 10 modules to the CBA. Most likely, after the onboarding call, you and our team will decide on 5 primary modules. The other 5 will be covered, but will take 20% of the time while the primary 5 modules will take 80% of the time. This is the reason for individual sessions in the cohort. Each business and business owner will have different strengths and weaknesses, so individual work is necessary.

Module 1: Readiness

  • Preparation – Physical, Mental, Emotional
  • Growth Strategy
  • Planning
  • Financial Plan
  • Team Plan
  • Product Road Map
  • Business Plan/Work Plan

Module 2: Time Management

  • Procrastination
  • Life and Work Balance
  • Time Management Tool Box
  • Slices of Life
  • Fitting It All In
  • Expectations

Module 3: Financial Aspects

  • Financial Analysis
  • Metrics
  • Dashboard Indicators
  • Forecast
  • Accounting and Reporting
  • Tax Considerations
  • Financial Planning
  • Performance Compensation
  • Insurance

Module 4: Capital

  • Debt
  • Equity
  • Building and Equipment
  • Scenario Building
  • Spreadsheet Simulations
  • Investment Readiness
  • Pitch Deck
  • Bank Financing
  • Non-Dilutive Capital Sources

Module 5: People

  • Leadership
  • Staffing Plan
  • Best Hiring Practices
  • Team Alignment
  • Plus-Delta Analysis
  • Standard Personality Types
  • Fractional, Part-Time, Full-Time, Contractor
  • Family Business Issues
  • Issue Resolution
  • Org Chart Design
  • Employee Retention
  • Conflict/Friction

Module 6: Governance

  • Boards – Governing and Advisory
  • Unanimous Shareholder Agreement (USA)
  • Management Hierarchy vs Governing Hierarchy
  • Operations Management
  • Team Development
  • Strategy Planning
  • Corporate Structure
  • Types of Business Organization

Module 7: Intellectual Property

  • Patents
  • Trademarks
  • Copyrights
  • IP Strategy
  • De-Risking
  • Protection Strategies
  • Industrial Processes
  • Trade Practices
  • Confidentiality
  • Non-Compete Agreements
  • Non-Disclosure Agreements
  • Security
  • AI

Module 8: Operations

  • Process Mapping
  • Project Management
  • Planning for Growth
  • Efficiency Gains
  • Testing and Error Reduction
  • Team Building
  • Performance Evaluation
  • Performance Enhancement
  • Productivity Improvements
  • Problem Solving
  • Error Reduction
  • De-Risking

Module 9: Leadership

  • Leadership Styles
  • “Death By Meeting”
  • Personality Testing
  • Fireside Chats
  • Microscopic Truth Conversations
  • Encouragement
  • Confidence
  • Decisiveness/Hesitation
  • Vision
  • Delegation
  • “Founderitis”
  • Catholic Business Principles
  • Succession Planning

Module 10: Customer Acquisition

  • Marketing
  • Sales
  • Sales Funnel
  • Sales Cycle
  • Market Segmentation
  • Customer Discovery
  • Stickiness
  • Retention
  • Promotions
  • Social Media