2024 in Review: The Newest Features on GrowthWheel Online

2024 was yet another year with monthly software updates — as always based on requests from the community of GrowthWheel Certified Business Advisors.

In 2024 we released new features and services in addition to various backend features in the software. Check them out below or see them in action on GrowthWheel Online.

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Release overview

New Growth Journeys: Digital Transformation & Profitability

We curated this package of Decision Sheets to help clients that are thinking about having a digital transformation on their business.

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Change the Primary Advisor for clients

From time to time, clients move from one advisor to another, and you want to keep track of this on GrowthWheel Online.

Now, you can change the Primary Advisor for each client with a click.

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Existing clients are recognized on Intake Forms

Avoiding duplicate clients in your CRM system has never been easier.

Clients often fill out multiple forms when requesting counseling or signing up for training sessions, leading to duplicate entries in the system.

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New Training Intake Form for SBA Advisors

If you are a WBC or a SBDC reporting to the SBA, with the new training intake forms, you can now effortlessly collect client information when they register for a training session without double entry for counseling clients too.

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New Service Menu with Programs Tracking + longer notes

Tracking time and client’s enrolled in a program is now available.

You can now easily track one or multiple programs that clients are enrolled in, plus track individual session time for each program on GrowthWheel CRM.

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5 New OnDemand Training for Entrepreneurs in SPANISH

We’re thrilled to announce that the first five GrowthWheel OnDemand workshops are now available in Spanish.

This is an ongoing project to get all our OnDemand trainings for Entrepreneurs translated into multiple languages, starting with Spanish.

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New Decision Sheets and Frameworks added to GrowthWheel Online

At GrowthWheel, we are constantly enhancing and expanding our training and tool offerings for our certified business advisors. This year, we’ve developed new workshops and tools to provide even greater support.

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That's all for 2024! We will continue in 2025 with more updates from our community to help you be the best business advisors you can be.

2023 in Review: The Newest Features on GrowthWheel Online

2023 was yet another year with monthly software updates — as always based on requests from the community of GrowthWheel Certified Business Advisors.

In 2023 we released 10 new features and services in addition to various backend features in the software. Check them out below or see them in action on GrowthWheel Online.

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Release overview

New CRM feature: Email with Meeting Minutes Generated Automatically!

We made it easier to send meeting minutes to clients after each meeting - automatically

You might have been asking yourself if there was an easy way to put items from the 30-60-90 Action Plan into an email with a summary of the meeting.

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Improved Design for Celebrating Client Outcomes!

We re-designed the Outcome feature so you – and your clients – have an even better experience when recording and celebrating small or big wins – or tracking economic impact.

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Easier Client Tags with Suggestions

With this update we improved the Client Tags feature so you now have suggestions and standardized tags.

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Create Outcomes directly from Ambitions

Now Ambitions can be converted to Outcomes with a click, making it faster than ever before to keep track of the client’s journey and celebrate achievements.

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Introducing GrowthWheel AI 30-60-90 Days Plan

With our new GrowthWheel AI, you can now generate 30-60-90 days Action Plans – automatically. It feels like magic!

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Introducing: Business Advisor Certificate (BAC)

We are launching a new GrowthWheel Professional Development Program for Business Advisors focused on interpersonal skills to become a trusted advisor!

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NEXUS Implementation on GrowthWheel Online for SBA reporting

For the past 6 months, we've been working closely with SBA's NEXUS team to ensure that GrowthWheel NG is compatible and meets the new requirements.

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Customize the Client invite email template to GrowthWheel Online

With our recent software update, you can now customize the email template for client invitations to GrowthWheel Online!

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New trainings on GrowthWheel Academy for Certified Users

We improved our GrowthWheel Certified OnDemand Academy. With these updates you can have an even better learning experience.

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New Growth Journeys: Help Clients Launch Products and Services!

As business advisors you want to help your clients the most in their growth journey.

There is a lot to take care of in a business but the real problem is not having the proper resources ready to use with clients.

So we created 8 different Growth Journeys where clients can expand their business and you can help them do so one tool at a time!

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That's all for 2023! 

We will continue in 2024 with more updates from our community to help you be the best business advisors you can be.

2022 in Review: The Biggest New Features on GrowthWheel Online

2022 was yet another year with monthly software updates — as always based on requests from the community of GrowthWheel Certified Business Advisors.

In 2022 we released 9 new features and services in addition to various backend features in the software. Check them out below or see them in action on GrowthWheel Online.

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Release overview

Continued Education Program for Certified Advisors at no additional cost!

The GrowthWheel Continued Education (CE) program offers Certified Advisors - at no cost - to continue their professional development every month as often as they wish, and get proof of a higher skill level.

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“5-packs” - The Decision Sheets packed with all 5 tools under each Focus Area.

With this update you can now send more tools faster, so when the clients would like to focus on “Marketing”, “Financing” or “Employees”, you just send them the whole stack to work on with one click.

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Email all clients at once!

With this update you can now select multiple or all clients from your client’s list and choose the option in the bulk action menu ‘Send Email’. You’ll get a template with all the clients’ emails for you to just add the message and click send!

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Share clients with any other advisor from other organizations in your network!

From the team member's page of a Client Company, you can now quickly search by email, name or center and find any GrowthWheel Certified advisor from other centers who are part of your network.

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Register SBA 888 trainings with aggregated or participants data.

Advisors with SBA-funded agencies in the US are now able to register training sessions on GrowthWheel Online with all the required fields and validations to get an error-free report to upload on EDMIS NG.

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Export SBA 641 & 888 Forms – Error-free reports to upload on EDMIS NG.

SBA-funded agencies (US) can now submit error-free reports to upload on SBA’s EDMIS NG! Thanks to our upfront data validation and conditional logic, business advisors will have all data entered correctly into GrowthWheel Online.

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Easily add Quarterly or Monthly budgets!

Decide to plan budgets by quarter or now – with most of our recent update – by month! The easiest way to get the big picture of future financials with the specification the client needs.

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OnDemand Recorded Training to your clients on a co-branded LMS platform

Now you can at no cost offer  7 OnDemand Training for clients delivered effortlessly. Direct from GrowthWheel’s Elizabeth Binning to your clients!

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Migration to GrowthWheel CRM from current CRM systems.

With this technology you are now able
to switch to GrowthWheel as your new CRM-system with a fast and easy data migration.

We have designed a 7-step process to customize the platform, import data,
and get your team onboarded to start using GrowthWheel as a new CRM & Client Collaboration platform

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That's all for 2022! 

We will continue in 2023 with more updates from our community to help you be the best business advisors you can be.

2021 in Review: New Releases on GrowthWheel Online

Also in 2021, we have updated and added new features on GrowthWheel Online — as always based on requests from the community of GrowthWheel Certified Business Advisors.

In 2021 we released 9 new features. Check them out below or see them in action on the GrowthWheel Online platform.

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Release overview

New feature: New Quick Access & Help menus with shortcuts

We started 2021 with this new feature to make it easier and faster to add new client information.

With our new “Quick Access” and “Help” menus on GrowthWheel Online, you now have shortcuts to create different records for your clients along with accessing our support center and much more.

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Update of the GrowthPlan: Updated 360º Screening Colors

We introduced a nice visual enhancement to the GrowthPlan menu on GrowthWheel Online.  

You can now see different color schemes while making 360° screenings for status, opportunities or skills.

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New update: Framework Videos

We know everyone loves videos! This update added videos to all the Frameworks in GrowthWheel Online.

If you like to use and share GrowthWheel Frameworks to give clients a visual inspiration for making decisions, you now have videos to go with them.

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New update: Google Address Lookup

With the addition of the Google Address Lookup you and your clients will have a faster and more accurate way to enter a business address. 

You can quickly make and select a google address search or add a custom address if needed.

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Update: Improved design for tracking “Interactions”

In this update we re-designed the interaction’s dialog so you now have an even better experience when you invite clients for a meeting or make meeting notes.

It is easier now to focus on the separate sections throughout the meeting with clients.

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New feature: Client Intake Forms Lets Your Clients Self-register

With this update you will love everything about the new way for your clients to self register through the Client's Intake Form.

Having clients sign up to your programs, register for training courses from your website, and immediately have their information in your CRM system has never been easier.

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New feature for SBDC’s: 641 Forms on GrowthWheel NG (beta)

Our biggest news of the year for SBA-funded agencies was to introduce GrowthWheel NG (next generation)as a beta version, and — yes — you can use it to report to SBA in the near future!

Clients fill out their own 641 form in GrowthWheel Online. When you review their information, you will see an indicator if the information is missing or has improper validation.

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New feature: SBA Counseling Sessions

As part of our new GrowthWheel NG features, we introduce the easiest way for SBA-funded agencies to track your Client’s Impact Records on each counseling session.

With the new SBA Counseling Record you will have a pop-up which makes gathering impact information from meetings with clients easy and simple.

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Update: New EDMIS Error Dashboard & 641 Intake Form for your website

We kept improving GrowthWheel NG (Next Generation) for SBA-funded agencies! This time with a new simple way to get an overview of errors on the 641 form — before you submit to EDMIS!

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 That's all for 2021! 

We will continue in 2022 with more updates to help you be the best business advisors you can be.

Update of the GrowthPlan: Updated 360º Screening Colors

We continue to improve our user interface and experience with every release we make to our software. This month, we are happy to introduce a nice enhancement to the GrowthPlan menu on GrowthWheel Online.  

You can now see different color schemes while scoring the different types of screening wheels. 

For the Status Assessment wheel, we added a color scheme that matches our main focus area colors. 

Following with the Opportunity Assessment Wheel we choose a warm scheme to make allusion to a heat map, a graphical representation of data, very useful to identify new opportunities. 

And lastly, for the Skill Assessment, we chose a light-to-dark grey scheme, a neutral color grading, which represents the strengthening of the skills you are about to assess. 

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Updated 360º Screening Wheels colors also visible
— On the downloadable PDF file.

As always, you can download your Screenings. But now with a new and updated color scheme, as separate visual PDF files - or as part of the GrowthPlan report.

New feature: New Quick Access & Help menus with shortcuts

Create records with fewer clicks! With our new “Quick Access” and “Help” menus on GrowthWheel Online, you now have shortcuts to create different records for your clients along with accessing our support center and much more. 

You can now create a client company and add a decision or action to an existing client from our new "Quick Access" menu without navigating through all menus on the platform.

On this menu, you have an overview of all the main features on GrowthWheel Online, which helps you quickly add records for what’s next for your client.

In the new Quick Access Menu, you first select from the dropdown the client you work with. Then you simply click to create a new company, add a team member, add a file, a link, or a note.

You can also add decisions, actions, ambitions, and outcomes with one click or start a 360° Screening directly from the new menu.

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Access Support and Service, Training and Updates
— on the new quick and accessible “Help” menu!

On the new “Help” menu you will find shortcuts to different support options we have for you (previously they were in the footer menu on the page)

You can choose to contact support by email, schedule a coaching call, send your suggestion on how to improve GrowthWheel online or check our monthly release updates or future roadmap directly from here. 

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Manage your licenses, languages, and purchases in the new “Store” menu

You can now access a link to our GrowthWheel Store, request a quote, and manage your language licenses directly from the new “Shop” menu, in addition to request the transfer, or termination of a license.

2020 in Review: New Releases on GrowthWheel Online

Over the course of 2020, we have improved and added new features on GrowthWheel Online thanks to our users' valuable feedback!

We are committed to making continuous and never-ending improvements to the software in collaboration with our users. We release new features every month, and we have hundreds of upcoming features on our road map.

In 2020 we released 10 new features. Check them out below or see them in action on the GrowthWheel Online platform.

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Release overview

January: Update to Financial Overview: Financial Ratios added

We started 2020 with a bang and with a major improvement over the existing Financial Overview menu on GrowthWheel Online.

We added the Ratios feature where you - or your clients - can see all the standard financial ratios automatically calculated as soon as basic financial information is entered on other pages, like the Balance Sheet page or Revenue page.

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February: Geomaps: All your clients. On a map

With this February update to the GrowthWheel Online platform, you now had the ability to get a visual overview of your clients’ locations and easy access to information about them.

On the newly added Geomap, you can see where your clients are located. You can also zoom in on the map or search for cities and postal codes in order to find exactly the area you are interested in.

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March: Update of the GrowthPlan: Improved Mapping of Ambitions

COVID-19 took the world by storm, and the main focus of our March update was to help businesses navigate the challenges that came with the pandemic and rethink their long-term strategies.

We released new features to our Ambitions page, which will support the ongoing process of defining and tracking ambitions, milestones, goals, or visions for the future.

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May: Budgeting Investments

The world was going through turmoil, but our commitment to helping businesses rethink their approach and push through these unprecedented times remained ever so strong.

With this in mind, we released the new investment feature thus aiding businesses in planning and keeping track of current and future investments.

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June: Revenue Budgets. Specified by Products and Markets

We continued developing and improving the GrowthWheel Online platform to help you and your clients cope with the crisis that has affected so many businesses worldwide.

This time, we expanded on our previous update and included the revenue budgets for products and markets feature, thus providing you with an effortless way to budget the revenue per quarter and year.

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July: Improved Budget Feature: Complete Profit and Loss Budget on GrowthWheel Online

For our last update, we released Revenue Budgets broken down by products and markets. We now took this to the finish line and launched a complete budgeting feature to be used by advisors and clients on GrowthWheel Online - the simplest and fastest way to make a budget.

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August: Add Tags and Filter Your Client List

For our August release, we introduced you to the new tagging feature, which will be used to quickly filter and find your client companies by categories that you define yourself.

A very simple feature where you just select your client, type any word you want, click enter, and the tag will be added to that particular client.

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October: Chat with your clients and colleagues

A major feature has been added to the GrowthWheel Online platform - Chat in Real-time.

With this new feature, you can quickly get in touch with a client while simultaneously working on their business.

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November: Advisors’ Personal Notes + Zoom links for meetings

With our November update, we released a brand new Personal Advisors’ Notes feature, where you can now add unlimited notes on all your clients on GrowthWheel Online. 

You can now also add all your custom Video Conference links and choose the one you want to use for each meeting.

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December: Upgraded “Contact View” & new Pre-Clients list

Our December release enabled you to manage your clients more easily via the new and improved menus for all your clients and the new “Pre-Clients” submenu where you can manage potential clients.

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That's all for 2020! Be safe, be well, and stay close by since we will constantly be rolling out new features for the GrowthWheel Online platform and make it better and more productive for you and your clients.

7 Ways to Be the Best Business Advisor You Can Be

After having trained and certified more than 3,500+ business advisors in 49 US states and 60+ countries, this is our take on how to be the best business advisor you can be.

Being a first rank business advisor requires you to become a trusted advisor to your clients. An advisor who understands all aspects of the business focuses on the most important decisions and leaves the client with clear actionable steps after every meeting.

#1 Take a 360° View on the Business

From a glance, it is difficult to know the root cause of a client’s problems or which key decisions will take them to the next level.

The best business advisors take a holistic view of a business before they give advice.

In practical terms, this can be done by using different kinds of assessments, like the GrowthWheel 360° Screening, or other tools like Business Model Canvas, SWOT analysis, and similar.

#2 Focus on Key Decisions

At any given time every business has 100 decisions it could be working on, but some of these decisions are better left for another day.

The best business advisors define the scope of work and focus on a few key decisions at a time.

The way to do this can be to make a list of decisions that are on the agenda and indicate the timing for when a decision should be made. The GrowthWheel 30-60-90 Day Plan can be used for this.

#3 Give Each Client a Custom Experience

All businesses in all industries in all life-stages and of all sizes have the same basic challenges. The solutions, however, are not the same.

The best business advisors assemble a custom toolbox for each client.

The business advisor’s toolstack will consist of anything from presentations, PDF-files, documents, spreadsheets as well as links to online resources. Ideal platforms to keep the tools are cloud-based platforms like Dropbox, Google Drive, or our own GrowthWheel Online.

#4 Create a Process with High Productivity

Many business advisors interact with 50 to 100 client companies a year. Each of them requires special attention.

The best business advisors constantly seek ways to increase their productivity to produce more outcome or to produce the same outcome with less effort.

When working with productivity it may be useful to look at the framework “6 Steps in the Business Advisors Workflow” which is also used in the GrowthWheel Certification Course.

#5   Always Conclude with Action Steps

Entrepreneurs have little patience for conversations that do not produce actions to immediately move them forward.

The best business advisors are action-oriented and always conclude each one-to-one session with a list of next steps.

Many tools can be used to keep track and follow-up on agreed actions. When using the GrowthWheel 30-60-90 Day Plan advisors make sure to check that actions are planned for all decisions.

#6 Track Client Progress

Business owners can easily be distracted from focusing on the most important decisions and action steps.

The best business advisors know they might be the only person to hold clients accountable, and they help keep clients on track.

This can be done by creating and maintaining a list of Ambitions at the beginning of each quarter and end each quarter with a list of outcomes. This the key element in the GrowthPlan on GrowthWheel Online.

#7 Build Consistency and Quality Throughout the Organization

Client companies build trust in an advisor when they experience quality and consistency throughout the organization.

The best business advisors take part in building a quality brand around themselves and their team.

Teams who are committed to using the same platform and the same tools have already taken the first step. If GrowthWheel is that tool it even comes with a world-class training program that allows advisor teams to share the same approach while being able to customize their work to both their own style and the clients’ needs.

New feature: Upgraded “Contact View” & new Pre-Clients list

Manage your clients more easily with our re-designed menus for all your clients and the new “Pre-Clients” submenu. Also, keep in contact with them with our new “Contact View” for easy and fast communication.

With our new release, you now have “Contact View” where you can see the total days of engagement when your next client interaction is scheduled and the days since the last contact. Also, you can now manage potential clients with the new Pre-Client submenu. You can create “Pre-Clients” and fill out their information without inviting them to the platform and without including them in your analytics.

You can quickly convert pre-clients to current clients, so or decide to archive them if you are no longer working with them.

This release will help you:

• Easier contact your clients by phone or email

• Check your upcoming interactions and days since the last interaction

• Work with Pre-Clients, Current Clients, and Archived Clients

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In this quick video, David Madié will show you how it works:

View on VidGrid

Manage your Pre-Clients and Current clients
— Click the bulk action button to change their state

You can now change your client state from the bulk action button. Take into consideration that you will only be able to invite users when they are a current client. Active team members will still have access to the platform after they are moved from Current to Pre-Client or Archived. 

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