Learn. | Implement. | Innovate. | Accelerate. | Grow.
The Loading Dock brings you our newest resource, providing a streamlined mini-MBA curriculum; Acorn Academy.Learn, understand, and apply the best practices of people management and business finances to immediately improve your business.
Learn, understand, and apply the best practices of people management and business finances to immediately improve your business.
Acorn Academy is an interactive 10-week fully digital 'mini-MBA' for both the current & future leaders of small businesses to continue to grow in their careers and improve their businesses.
What's Included
Explore Acorn Academy
What makes this program different than any other?
The real key, is a blended learning experience -- pairing self-paced eLearning with live facilitated session to learn with you peers and from the experts themselves in real-time.
facilitations
Expert-Led Live Coaching Sessions
Beyond the eLearning we come together with a cohort of your peers for bi-weekly facilitations allowing you to be coached in real-time by masters of the craft.
learning
Interactive Self-
Paced eLearning
The program is designed to provide you with impactful knowledge & resources that will guide you, step-by-step to put into practice immediately.
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Networking
A Cohort of Fellow Business Leaders
Connect with both the current and future leaders of industry to learn & share together in a peer-to-peer learning experience, building your support system!
Just say no to ineffective training.
No travel costs | No missing work | No wasting time | No travel costs | No missing work | No wasting time
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Optimized for the busy professional working full-time. This eLearning course is completely virtual, the most efficient way to learn, providing an easy with anywhere, anytime accessible learning experience.
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Save These Dates!
PROGRAM ONBOARDING AND KICK-OFF
March 30
VISION GOALS & PLANNING PROCESS
April 13
THE RIGHT TEAM & CUSTOMER
April 27
AN EMPOWERED SYSTEM OF MANAGEMENT
May 11
DEMYSTIFYING THE FINANCIALS
May 25
APPLYING THE FINANCIALS
June 8
Program Testimonials
Acorn Academy is a hybrid learning experience designed to provide world-class business training to everyone looking to continue their professional development while also keeping their focus on business improvements.
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Meet Your Instructors
John Cioffi
Content Creator
John Cioffi, the Chief Content Officer at GoalMakers, has spent the last 30-years, coaching hundreds of clients to success. He previously ran a subsidiary of Amoco Oil, a Fortune 100 company, and held executive positions at several other companies in a wide variety of industries. John received his MBA from The Wharton School and holds a Master’s from Dartmouth.
Jeremy Wall
Lead Facilitator
Jeremy is GoalMakers lead facilitator, and has worked with hundreds of learners, helping them not just learn but implement during our live sessions. Jeremy has founded, grown, and exited businesses before and will work with you and your team as you look to do the same.
Join the spring program, sign up today!
PRICING
Want to learn more?
Use the calendar link below to find a time to book a time for a 15-minute discovery call where you can ask any questions you have before signing up.
Acorn Academy Begins on March 30th!
THE GOALMAKERS GUARANTEE
We believe in our material, so much that we offer a money-back guarantee if you don't find value after the first two weeks.
Acorn Academy Certification
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By the end of this course you will have the knowledge, skills, and resources you need to be more successful so let the world know it!
Up upon completion of this program you will receive the Acorn Academy certification as a badge you can add to your LinkedIn. -
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is the Program for?
This program was built for everyone from the CEO to the sweeper, the more of your team that understands these fundamentals, the better off your business will be. However, if you want to start slow, we suggest that owners, managers, future leaders, and high-potential employees go through this program together as a unit for the most impactful outcomes.
How many people from my team should participate?
Beyond being a great learning program this is an organizational alignment tool meaning that the more people who participate together, the better the impact you'll see when looking to implement these learnings.
What if I miss the live sessions?
While you will get the most out of joining them and participating in the conversation with both your peers and industry experts, if you can't make one do not worry! All sessions are recorded and uploaded into the eLearning to review later.
How long will I have access to the program?
Great question, while the program runs in a synchronous timing with your peers after the 10-weeks you will retain access to the eLearning for a full calendar year after we wrap up.
How long will it take me?
Weekly you should expect about 2.5 hours per week, but self-paced learning is all up to your availability!
Then bi-weekly we have 60-minute long live sessions with your peers and industry experts.
Overall, you should expect anywhere from 20-40 hours over the 10-weeks. (Some learners spend much longer than this and some a little less, but it depends on where you are at in your professional journey)!
Then bi-weekly we have 60-minute long live sessions with your peers and industry experts.
Overall, you should expect anywhere from 20-40 hours over the 10-weeks. (Some learners spend much longer than this and some a little less, but it depends on where you are at in your professional journey)!
Fundamentals of Acorn Academy
Here are the key takeaways of each section in the program:
Set Goals All The Time
- Set a company-wide vision.
- Learn how to create good goals.
- Create goals for the company, departments & each employee.
Focus On The Process
Not a Plan
Not a Plan
- Measure current company state.
- Replace the business plan.
- Create strategies for a constant planning process.
Coach The Right People
- How to build the right team.
- Learn to identify natural abilities.
- Create position descriptions for yourself and every employee.
Serve The Right Customer
- Identify your good customers.
- Define your generic strategy.
- Create a sales process & refine your operations processes.
Empower Your Entire Team
- Learn the life-cycle of a manager.
- Build an empowerment culture.
- Create an organization of 'Wide Boulevards, High Curbs'.
Do The Right Things Right
- Learn the six tools to measure & manage goal achievement.
- Create a system of management for your team.
Set Goals all the Time
We begin by crafting a vision for the company, our long-term goal 3-5-years from now. This will be the North Star for our entire team. Then we learn what makes a 'good goal' and create company-wide, department-level, & individual goals that align with our vision.
Focus On the Process Not A Plan
We’ll get a baseline of our company's current status by collecting valuable information. Using that as a baseline we will adopt a planning process so our company can adapt to today’s ever-changing conditions.
Coach the Right People
We’ll clearly define positions at our business, and create position descriptions for ourselves and key roles within the organization. Then we identify the right natural abilities needed for these roles, and if we have our people in the best place for success currently.
Serve the Right Customers
We begin by identifying our right customers, then determine how we find more of these right customers, building a sales process to serve them, streamlining our operations processes around them, and finally fostering a culture & strategies necessary to serve the right customer.
Empower Your Entire Team
Learn how managers empower their team members by establishing clear goals and allowing people to achieve those goals in their own way, through our system of “wide boulevards, high curbs”.
We determine if our team members meet the criteria required to work in an environment of empowerment.
Do the Right Things Right
We will use six tools to monitor and manage our company’s performance and build our own System of Managing—a clear and effective means of providing clarity and purpose to team members while steering everyone to accomplish their individual goals, as well as the company’s goals.
Demystifying the Financials
Using a case study, we will understand how to read and use financial statements. With the case study as real-world context, we will also learn about projections, inventory, accounts receivable, and cash flow and how to use this information to build stronger businesses.
Using the Financials
With a new understanding of the basics, we will focus on specific elements that grow the bottom line. We start by calculating our own financial ratios, and how to set realistic goals for your business with them. From there we learn how to easily use break-even analysis to inform everyday decisions.
Not ready to register, but want to stay connected?
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