The right one can help you and your business thrive.
Those of us who are entrepreneurial don’t fit the mold. It can be downright miserable to stay put in the corporate world or somewhere else we don’t fit. Despite the risk, we’re compelled to strike out and pursue our passion. Although it’s rewarding to run your own business and be your own boss, it’s lonely at the top. Even if you’ve moved on from doing everything in your business, you still oversee it all and the buck stops with you. Your team members, friends and family can’t understand how the financial and legal responsibilities weigh on you if they haven’t sat in your chair. Business owners can suffer physical, mental and relational costs simply surviving in this space.
It’s not necessary and it’s not worth it. I’m not telling you to give up on your passion. I’m telling you there’s a solution.
The Value of Community
People are wired for belonging. We crave community—people who reflect our values and can relate to our struggles. Without that community, you’re just surviving. That’s not sustainable as an individual or a business owner. Eventually, something has to change. You can either go back to working for someone else or find a way to thrive in your role as the business owner.
A small business community provides a safe place where you can:
- Admit you might not know something and feel comfortable thinking through things with others. You won’t get the best outcomes going at this process by yourself. We need others to contribute and add new perspectives.
- Be brave. You can put yourself and your ideas out there knowing these people are in your corner, cheering you on and supporting you, even when that means telling you a hard truth or pointing out your blind spots.
- Improve accountability. It may be going down the same road together to learn something, so everyone agrees to read and discuss the same book. It may be a place where you commit to a certain task or goal for the month and you know others will be checking in to make sure you do it. We feel a different kind of responsibility and pressure to get things done when we’re accountable to more than ourselves.
A community of other small business owners offers opportunities for connection, collaboration and strategic alliances. It’s a built-in group of trusted advisors and mentors. Although they are likely in the same stage of business as you, they’ve had different experiences. You can tap into their knowledge instead of having to learn every single lesson by yourself. Learning and growing with the people in your community is priceless.
Inflection Point Hub
Imagine being in a community where the people around you understand their return on energy (ROE) and value it. As opposed to working in their business, they approach the way they structure and staff it so they can do the things they’re best at. Then they build a culture in their company where everybody is expected to be in the space where they're energized the majority of the time.
Jeff Heyer-Jones, president of SparkEvolve, and I are building that community. The Inflection Point Hub is a group of small, but mighty, businesses that intend to get bigger. What has gotten us to this point in our business will not get us to where we need to go. Growth is not only the systems and processes we need to put in place to scale our business. It’s also a mindset. It’s self-awareness and overcoming blind spots. Jeff and I are building a peer advisory community of business owners who are growth-minded and want to be in that space with other businesses so they can grow together.
Nearly a third of business owners surveyed by The Alternative Board rated fellow business owners as their single-most trusted advisor. Combined, over half of the respondents rated business coaches and fellow business owners as their first or second-most trusted advisor. The Inflection Point Hub is a unique opportunity to have both in the same space. Learn more about what you'll get with your membership and secure your spot today.
