In the almost two years since I have started my own business I have learned a lot in that short amount of time. Most of it has been what not to do to have a successful business, but what can I say? I am a slow learner. But I think the one piece of advice I would give to someone who was starting a business would be to get into community with other like-minded people.
I know this to be true because at first I did not take this approach. I thought I could figure it out on my own and why would I want to connect with other people in my field? Aren’t they my competition? Of course this did not work and I netted zero dollars that first year. This year, though, I decided that I was going to make a concerted effort to interact with as many peers as I could. I started to connect with other financial coaches, as well as other people on the Internet who were doing some great things, by commenting on their blog posts, interacting with them via email, or even chatting with them for 30 minutes or so to pick their brain on a topic. As I did that I realized that these people I had developed community with were not my enemies, rather they were my friends. This has led me to receive more exposure by writing guest posts, interacting with people on social media, and appearing on podcasts.
It is important to have a community and network of people who are like-minded, where you can bounce ideas off each other as well as give and receive advice on what you are doing. This has led me to believe that the term sole-entrepreneur is a total oxymoron. You cannot do it alone! Granted it will take some time and effort in the beginning and you will not make a connection with everyone, but put yourself out there and build around yourself a community where you will encourage each other to greater and bigger things.
How has community been important to you either in business or in your financial journey?
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Great guest blog post Jon.
I’m still scared or rather fearful of reaching out to others in the financial community. Not because they are my competition but because I don’t want to come across as being a failure. However, I can definitely tell you that reaching out and surrounding yourself with like-minded people can be fun and very enlightening.
Jackie
Jackie, I know what you mean, I thought the same way for a while. It can be scary at first to reach out to others, but once you start to meet other like-minded people that quickly become your friends you will wish you had done it sooner. It is always good to get a different opinion or pick someone else’s brain on something you are thinking of doing. I know just by reaching out to others I have built good online friendships with you and Matt and when people ask to talk to me for 30 minutes or so I am more than willing to talk to them and tell them what I know.
Jon, well said. I too tried to do business alone when I gave my first half-hearted attempt at starting a business. Big surprise – it didn’t work. Even though I’m still new at business, I’m experiencing the incredible ideas and encouragement that come from connecting with like-minded people. When you start giving of yourself expecting nothing in return, that’s when you begin to see the greatest success.
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You’re so right Chris. It’s amazing how things change for your business when you adopt a mindset of serving others, with no other reason than just to serve.
Thanks for sharing Chris. Another thing I had to learn was that it is helpful to connect with other people who are not in your niche. In the past year it has really benefited me by connecting with non-financial coaches, including yourself, who are trying to build a business and get ideas on what is working or not working for them.
I definitely understand the feeling of wanting to make it on your own without other people’s help.
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