Sara Phelan

Sara Phelan
Evalu8- Evolve Business Coaching English
With 25+ years of experience in business leadership, coaching, and strategic consulting, Sara Phelan helps small business owners, professional service providers, and non-profits leverage AI, systems, and structured frameworks to drive growth, efficiency, and scalability. An ICF-certified Executive and Business Coach, former business broker, and corporate trainer, Sara combines real-world business ownership with expertise in business diagnostics, AI-enabled strategic planning, and operational efficiency. She specializes in helping leaders streamline processes, optimize decision-making, and harness AI to improve automation, data insights, and business forecasting. She also brings deep expertise in non-profit governance and leadership, serving in executive and board roles for over 18 years. Industries Served: Professional Services: Dental, Legal, Medical Technology & Innovation: Digital Health, SaaS, AI, Telecommunications Manufacturing & Distribution Renewable Energy & Sustainability Retail, Tourism & Non-Profits Specialties & Expertise: AI-Driven Business Diagnostics & Strategic Planning Growth Strategies: Commercialization, Export Development, Innovation & AI Adoption AI in Operations: Workflow Automation & Decision Support Succession & Exit Planning Governance & Non-Profit Leadership Sara is the creator of the Evalu8 Framework, a proven model that helps business leaders integrate AI, streamline operations, and make data-driven decisions. Through coaching, training, and consulting, she equips organizations with the clarity, systems, and strategic focus needed to scale and future-proof their businesses.

Expertise

  • Entrepreneurship
  • Leadership
  • Human Resources
  • Financial Management
  • Marketing
  • Sales
  • Operations Management
  • Governance
  • Strategic Planning
  • Trade / Export
  • Commercialization / Innovation
  • Supply Chain
  • Productivity Improvement
  • Skills Development

Workshops

For more information visit ProfitLearn or Training for the Non-Profit Sector

The Business Check-Up: Diagnostics and Planning

When you're deep in the day-to-day, it's hard to see how your business is really doing. This workshop will help you step back, assess your operations objectively, and identify the right next steps.

You’ll learn to:

  • Use the Evalu8 Framework and a self-assessment checklist to evaluate your business health
  • Identify risks, gaps, and opportunities across all areas of your business
  • Prioritize key actions that will move your business forward
  • Build a simple strategic plan to guide your focus and measure your success
  • Repeat the process regularly to stay aligned, focused, and growing


Perfect for entrepreneurs and business owners ready to see the big picture and build a smarter path to their goals.

Effective Non-Profit Governance and Compliance for Directors

This workshop is for Non-profit, Charity and Board of Trade Directors in Canada

This workshop will cover:

Understanding Governance, Roles, and Responsibilities: Learn the essentials of non-profit governance, focusing on the roles and responsibilities of volunteer board members. Participants will gain a clear understanding of their duties, including compliance requirements, to ensure effective oversight and accountability.

Building a Knowledge Base for Risk Management and Strategic Planning: Board members will learn to manage organizational risk, strategically plan activities, and implement workflows that promote accountability and transparency. Get practical templates to help structure and streamline board operations.

Evaluating and Supporting the Executive Director: Learn the board's role in evaluating and supporting the Executive Director. It will cover leadership in operations and team management, equipping board members with the tools to foster strong leadership and effective organizational management.

Improve Pricing, Fix Bottlenecks, and Maximize Margins

Do you know how much profit each sale brings in? Is it time to raise your prices?

This workshop helps business owners evaluate their revenue streams, fine-tune their offerings, and identify what’s truly working. You’ll dig into your delivery process, spot inefficiencies, and get clear on the numbers that drive profitability and growth.

You’ll learn to:

  • Assess product/​service performance
  • Identify risks, gaps, or bottlenecks
  • Understand key financial metrics for smarter decision-making
HR & Team Alignment: Strategies for Business Success

Build and Optimize Your Dream Team

This workshop helps business owners assess, structure, and elevate their teams for long-term growth and productivity.

You’ll learn to:

  • Evaluate your current team and identify key roles
  • Set clear expectations and define non-negotiables
  • Strengthen recruitment, onboarding, and retention
  •  Use a 150-point checklist to boost team performance
  • Align culture, communication, and strategy for sustainable success
Evaluating your Customer Journey (CX) to Grow
What do your customers really think — and how can you use that to grow? This workshop helps business owners learn how to gather, analyze, and act on customer feedback to improve Customer eXperience (CX) and build loyalty.

You’ll learn to:
  • Identify key customer insights and pain points
  • Use feedback tools and methods that work
  • Turn insights into action plans for growth
  • Build a customer-focused culture in your business
Transform Your Sales Game

This workshop provides an in-depth exploration of strategic sales, focusing on the essential components that drive success in today’s competitive marketplace. Participants will engage with practical strategies and tools to enhance their sales processes, optimize customer relationships, and effectively close deals.

Participants will learn to:

  • Leverage Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems to boost engagement and streamline sales with automation and AI
  • Apply proven techniques for closing, upselling, and cross-selling to increase revenue
  • Evaluate and improve your existing sales tools, strategies, and assets to drive better results
Financial Forecasting: Know your Numbers and Plan for Growth

This hands-on workshop is for small business owners ready to level up their financial decision-making. You’ll dive into your past three years of income statements, learn to spot trends, build smart financial assumptions, and create a solid 3-year forecast to guide your growth.

You’ll learn to:

  • Analyze your income statements line by line
  • Create realistic assumptions for cash flow and sales projections
  • Build a 3-year pro forma forecast to support strategic planning
Profit Clarity: Smarter Financials With A Touch Of AI

This workshop is built for real-world small business owners who want to make better money decisions—without the jargon or overwhelm. We break down the numbers that matter, show you how to use AI tools to support your thinking, and walk away with a plan you can use tomorrow. 

What You'll Learn:

  • How to understand and use your Income Statement, Balance Sheet, and Cash Flow Report
  • How to use AI to build a 3-year forecast 
  • How to spot margin gaps and adjust pricing strategically
  • How to run break-even and cash flow scenarios in minutes
  • Plus: Prompt templates and a fill-in-the-blank workbook to use again and again

You will need access to your AI of choice.

Strategic AI For Business Resilience

In today’s economic climate, guessing is costly. This hands-on workshop is designed for small business owners ready to move from reactive to strategic. You’ll learn to combine proven decision-making tools with the power of AI—using it not as a gimmick, but as a thinking partner.

Through the Evalu8 Framework and practical exercises, you'll uncover blind spots, clarify your priorities, and make smarter decisions, faster.

You’ll learn to:

  • Use AI to support financial, customer, and operational decisions
  • Cut through the noise and find the right next move
  • Build a customized prompt library tailored to your business
  • Pressure-test ideas, prioritize actions, and plan with confidence
The AI-Ready CEO: Guardrails, Governance, and Team Rules

The AI-Ready CEO is a practical workshop for business owners, founders, and leadership teams who are already using AI in pockets and now need clearer structure.

This session helps participants understand why AI adoption is a leadership responsibility, not just a technology decision.
Participants will learn how to set simple AI usage rules, decide what information should never be entered into AI tools, clarify what work should stay human-led, and create better team expectations before AI use spreads further.

The workshop is non-technical and business-focused. It helps leaders reduce confusion, protect sensitive information, and create a stronger starting point for safer, more consistent AI use.

AI for Business Owners: Where to Start and What to Skip

AI for Business Owners is a clear starting point for small business owners who know AI matters but do not want to waste time chasing tools.

This workshop helps participants understand where AI can create practical value, where it may create risk, and how to choose the right starting point based on business priorities. Instead of focusing on trends or software, the session helps owners identify 2 to 3 realistic AI use cases connected to daily operations, communication, marketing, customer experience, planning, or admin work.

Participants will leave with a better understanding of how to use AI as a business support tool, not a shortcut for strategy, judgment, or leadership.

Evalu8 Your Business: Use AI as a Lens for Better Decisions

Evalu8 Your Business is a practical workshop that helps small business owners use AI as a strategic thinking partner to assess their business through an investor lens.

Using the Evalu8 Framework, participants look across key areas of the business, including leadership, revenue, operations, team, customer experience, marketing, financials, and strategy. The goal is to help business owners step back, ask better questions, identify gaps, and make clearer decisions about where to focus next.

This workshop is not about chasing AI tools. It is about using AI to support better business thinking, reduce guesswork, and make decisions with more clarity and less risk.

Participants will leave with a clearer view of their business priorities, potential risks, missed opportunities, and practical next steps.