{"id":92406,"date":"2025-02-18T16:13:53","date_gmt":"2025-02-18T21:13:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rbcroyalbank.com\/en-ca\/?post_type=rbc_my_money_matter&p=92406"},"modified":"2025-02-24T13:24:45","modified_gmt":"2025-02-24T18:24:45","slug":"coaching-community-content-and-capital-how-the-road-to-seven-helps-women-entrepreneurs-scale-up","status":"publish","type":"rbc_my_money_matter","link":"https:\/\/www.rbcroyalbank.com\/en-ca\/my-money-matters\/business\/get-inspired\/business-success-stories\/coaching-community-content-and-capital-how-the-road-to-seven-helps-women-entrepreneurs-scale-up\/","title":{"rendered":"Coaching, Community, Content and Capital: How The Road to Seven Helps Women Entrepreneurs Scale Up"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Shelagh Cummins, founder of The Road to Seven\u2122, believes in the power, strength, brilliance and resilience of women entrepreneurs. Recognizing that only 12 per cent of women bring their companies to over six figures \u2014 and a mere 2 per cent to over seven figures \u2014 she knows that their potential to succeed requires some support. This is where The Road to Seven comes in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Time flexibility and financial freedom: The forces that drive the entrepreneurial journey<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As the story goes with many entrepreneurs, Cummins\u2019s business was born out of a need. A teacher for 13 years, she experienced a lightbulb moment when pregnant with her daughter. The realization was this: No matter how much better she might get at teaching, she was not going to grow her salary in any material way. \u201cI was teaching at a girls\u2019 school, and it dawned on me that I wouldn\u2019t necessarily be able to afford to put my daughter into one of the chairs at that school,\u201d she shares.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cummins needed to contribute to her family in a more meaningful way while also being the primary caregiver for her children. After trying a few different paths \u2014 from tutoring to writing a parenting blog \u2014 an emcee gig at a women\u2019s entrepreneur event proved to be the catalyst she needed. A business owner in the audience, impressed with Cummins\u2019 insights, wanted to hire her to increase her sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eighteen years later, Cummins has built The Road to Seven into a multi-platform company that helps women grow and scale their businesses<\/a> \u2014 which often originated from a similar starting point as hers.  \u201cThe women I work with are very happy to work hard because they love what they do, but they\u2019d like to have flexibility about when<\/em> they work. Time flexibility and financial freedom are the two main drivers of their entrepreneurial journeys, followed by a very close third, which is impact,\u201d says Cummins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nurturing the drivers of success to overcome barriers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

While these factors are strong motivators to start a business, Cummins reveals the characteristics that help turn inspiration into action \u2014 and ultimately into success. \u201cAbove and beyond anything else, it\u2019s vision and need,\u201d says Cummins. What I mean by that is that a successful entrepreneur will have a really clear vision of the impact they want to make, the problems they want to solve and the solutions they will provide. That\u2019s number one.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Number two, she reveals, is the willingness to take the risk, followed by grit and resilience. \u201cThe journey is not going to be smooth, because you\u2019re out there every day searching for your next paycheque \u2014 you\u2019re operating without the safety net of a company that\u2019s going to pay you every two weeks and cover your benefits. That\u2019s a lot of pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The women who work with Cummins possess this spirit \u2013 along with extraordinary work ethic, commitment and talent. Yet they also face common challenges that hold them back on their the path to growing six- or seven-figure businesses. The Road to Seven programming addresses these challenges through Cummins\u2019 proprietary curriculum, called the Scale Roadmap\u2122.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u2018C\u2019s of scaling a business<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Content <\/strong>offered by Cummins delivers actionable insights that may have a tangible impact on an entrepreneur\u2019s current and future success. \u201cWe only know what we know,\u201d says Cummins, who emphasizes the importance of an ongoing commitment to learning. \u201cSometimes the content we provide enables a business owner to look at something differently, or it helps them put the pieces of a puzzle together they couldn\u2019t before.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Community<\/strong> is another benefit women entrepreneurs may benefit from. \u201cOne of the ways our programming has the most impact is through the community,\u201d explains Cummins. \u201cBeing surrounded by other women who are experiencing similar challenges, frustrations and successes leads to confidence and comfort.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a recent podcast, Cummins identified 10 \u2018C\u2019s that can help women entrepreneurs successfully scale in 2025. While Content and Community are pivotal, she says perhaps the most influential of all the \u2018C\u2019s is Capital<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re scaling, there is going to come a point where time and energy alone are not going to cut it,\u201d says Cummins. \u201cYou have to make a financial investment that will allow the company to be more efficient.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, access to capital has historically been one of the greatest barriers faced by women entrepreneurs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA lot of women have been bootstrapping the growth of their business and putting anything extra back into the company. While that\u2019s needed, it means they don\u2019t look great on paper as an investment.\u201d Other societal factors may influence women entrepreneurs accessing capital. Cummins says that many women look at debt as a negative, while men may be quicker to leverage.<\/strong> \u201cWomen say they can\u2019t take on debt<\/em>, while men are happy to leverage<\/em> collateral to make something happen.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, in addition to coaching, training and community, The Road to Seven offers support and funding opportunities for entrepreneurs facing time and financial constraints, as well as advice on how to access capital through traditional lending sources, helping them make strategic investments to grow their companies.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen I rise, the women I work with rise as well\u201d<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When it comes growing and scaling<\/a> her business, Cummins follows her own advice. \u201cI\u2019m always learning too \u2014 I\u2019m growing and evolving every single day,\u201d she says, explaining she has her own coaches and training programs designed for women at her level. \u201cThis allows me to be a stronger leader \u2013 one of the visions I have is that when I rise, the women I work with will rise as well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Women’s business ownership is growing \u2014 the latest data shows that 18.4% of all businesses are majority-owned by women<\/a> in Canada. Shelagh Cummins wants to see not only more women-owned businesses, but more women owned businesses that land above the seven-figure threshold  – enabling them to run businesses that provide them with the time, money and freedom they desire.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Shelagh Cummins, founder of The Road to Seven\u2122, believes in the power, strength, brilliance and resilience of women entrepreneurs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":80,"featured_media":92576,"parent":57335,"menu_order":0,"template":"wp-custom-template-optimizely-mmm","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","footnotes":""},"tags":[573,189],"rbc_content_type":[31],"rbc_audience":[110],"rbc_lob_group":[35],"rbc_difficulty_level":[33],"rbc_mmm_category":[305,323,388,391,325,382,326],"class_list":["post-92406","rbc_my_money_matter","type-rbc_my_money_matter","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-commercial-client-success-stories","tag-women-led-businesses","rbc_content_type-article","rbc_audience-business-owners","rbc_lob_group-business","rbc_difficulty_level-beginner","rbc_mmm_category-business","rbc_mmm_category-business-stages","rbc_mmm_category-business-success-stories","rbc_mmm_category-commercial","rbc_mmm_category-get-inspired","rbc_mmm_category-grow-your-business","rbc_mmm_category-right-sized-business-advice"],"acf":{"contently_publication_id":"","custom_author":"Diane Amato","rbc_video_header":"","rbc_media_duration":"","rbc_video_keywords":"","rbc_video_description":"","rbc_video_upload_date":"","rbc_toc_for_mmm_tag":"h2","rbc_toc_for_mmm_limit":6,"rbc_toc_for_mmm":null,"rbc_toc_for_mmm_action":""},"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\t\n