Today we’d like to introduce you to Kara Laws.
Hi Kara, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I have loved business ever since I was in sixth grade, selling homemade rice krispies at our annual “market day.” But, as I started my first business as barely an adult I didn’t know a lot about business. I naively believed that being good at my craft (photography) was all that it would take.
For six years I ran my photography studio and was always in one of two camps. One, I had no money. I couldn’t pay the bills, I had no idea where the money went, and I was stressed out. Camp Two was a frantic camp. I was drowning in work, I don’t know if I was really making money, but I was working so much that I was missing out on all of life. I was extremely stressed.
It took me years to learn what caused this frantic famine cycle and a few more years to implement the solution. I had to invest very deeply into my business and my business education to patch the problems. Years later I was recruited by a company in Utah to be a business educator. I taught their small business all the things that I had learned and how to get out of this frantic famine cycle.
From there I started teaching for the SBA, Small business development centers, and the Women’s Business Center of Utah. During my time at the WBC, I learned that my frantic or famine cycle was not rare, it was the norm. Most business owners that I came in contact with were going through the same problems. Most were far enough in the business that corrections also required deep investments.
So, I created my current business, Launched. Launched teaches business owners all the steps, in the right order, to build their business right from the beginning. This helps them avoid the expensive mistakes that many of us make and can eliminate that frantic or famine cycle altogether.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Oh geez. Definitely not a smooth road.
In the early spring of 2020, my business was going pretty great. I was being paid to travel and teach business education. I was meeting incredible people. And I was running a very successful business.
In two weeks I went from a smooth sailing year, with gigs lined up for months and money coming in from all sorts of places to every opportunity canceled – indefinitely. There was no money coming in. Everything was canceled.
COVID-19 also bankrupted some of my best clients. They went bankrupt, and I was left with ten of thousands in unpaid invoices. Invoices that my family was depending on.
I had very little time to pivot my entire business and move to an online business model.
As you know, we’re big fans of Launched Academy. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Launched Academy specializes in step-by-step business education for new business owners.
If new business owners have all the right steps, in the right order, at the very beginning they can increase their profits, avoid expensive mistakes, and reach their goals fast. Launched Academy teaches the essential business foundation to achieve all of these things.
Launched Academy offers a six-month business education course to women all over the US. We have clients in 31 states and 14 countries that learning how to set their businesses up to succeed.
What sets Launched Academy apart from other companies is the way that we teach. Business education doesn’t have to be boring. We have incorporated doodling, beautiful spreadsheet, sarcasm, hilarious stories, and great graphics into all of our education.
We are also the only online education course (that I know of) that offers 1:1 weekly feedback for our students, at our incredibly affordable price point.
What’s next?
Future plans include expanding to all fifty states and launching my book, “Don’t Suck at Business” this fall.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://launchedacademy.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/launchedacademy
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/launchedacademy
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kara-laws-402a1635/
- Other: https://tiktok.com/@launchedacademy
Image Credits
Photoumbra Studios
