Being an entrepreneur and running your own business can feel pretty lonely sometimes. A lot of the time you may feel you’re having to figure out every step before you take it.
But it doesn’t have to be that way!
Everything you are doing has been done by someone before you, and you can learn from them to make your own way forward easier.
Today I’m sharing some of the things I have learned during my time in business about getting support, what that can look like at different levels or stages of your business, and how finding the right support can honestly 10X your business.
You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know
One of the first programs I participated in to get support for my business was the NEIS program here in Australia. I was also in one called the ‘Women In Business Program’, which was a government subsidised business and entrepreneurship program, especially for women starting out in business.
They were the first ones that I participated in and it was really great. It was in my price range (which wasn’t very much at the time) and it got me starting to think about what business could look like for me going forward.
Even though some of the mentors in there were from different fields and they didn’t quite get what it was like to be a practitioner. It started me thinking about business, how we do business, how we have value exchange, how money works in our businesses, and things like that. Things that I just didn’t get support with when I was learning to be a practitioner.
After that, I started getting business support online.
What online business coaching or mentoring looks like are things like programs or courses. You can even do it through listening to free podcasts and other things. Having a program allows you to create accountability, follow-through, and showing up and (I’ve talked about this before) wolf pack mentality.
At the moment I’m in a mastermind. A mastermind is a similar kind of scenario in that there’s a small group of people all sitting at one big table (virtual or in-person).
The idea actually comes from the book by Napoleon Hill, Think and Grow Rich. In the book, he talks about many minds being better than one, and how each individual is not quite as extraordinary as the whole. But when many minds join together, it creates a mastermind and a vibe and a wavelength and creativity and other things that come out of it can’t be created when you’re just sitting there by yourself, not knowing what you don’t even know.
So I’m currently doing this mastermind with my mentor and I was thinking about all of the processes that have led me to liking this kind of model. I love masterminds! I love being in small groups rather than really large groups. I’ve been in large groups before as well – I’ve done lots of courses, in-person ones and online courses – but being in a mastermind really floats my boat because you can have the interaction with one-on-one as well as having a connection to a wolf pack.
Again, I’ve talked about the wolf pack mentality before, but what I realised being in this small group is that the wolf pack isn’t a thing for everybody. There are a lot of entrepreneurs who have gone to make on six or seven figures who have done it all by themselves. When they’ve been in these dark moments or these challenging times, they haven’t had the kind of support that I’ve created in the Hub or in the Natupreneur Club.
Where To Find Support For Your Business
So as I mentioned, I did the ‘Women In Business’ program which is government subsidised here in Australia. You might want to check if your business enterprise centres or your local councils have any programs. It’s a really good starting place if you don’t have a lot of money but you want to be surrounded by people having the same conversation around business.
Just like when we talk to our clients about getting support from their partners when they are trying to change their eating habits. Trying to change when their partner is eating McDonald’s and drinking Coca-Cola all the time is really hard. It’s almost a self-sabotage kind of thing – it’s just too easy for us to fall back into old habits when we’re surrounded by people who are sabotaging us.
The same thing happens in your business. Surrounding yourself with people who are thinking about marketing, about how you can help other people, and how you can change your money mindset is really one of the best things for you.
You can also check out your local business enterprise centre, then check out online courses.
Of course, there’s my stuff online, there are also podcasts available for business and mindset too. Lewis Howes is a great one, Jonathan Fields, which is who I’m actually seeing this week, there’s Marie Forleo – there are a whole bunch of them.
Accessing that information is really important, but you don’t get the kind of connection you do with groups of people, so the next step is going and doing an in-person program.
Being held accountable to keep going with your business rather than constantly putting things off really helps you get traction. You can do courses and then you move up and do a mastermind, which is what I’m here doing this week with a small group.
Instead of a course with huge amounts of people in it, a mastermind is a small group where everybody puts in all of their ideas and it becomes like a creative vortex of yumminess and connection that you don’t generally get with other types of program.
I’m sure you can tell that this floats my boat, but it really depends on what your particular way of learning is, what works best for you. For many of us, especially if you have just come out of college, we’re so used to being taught that a course is an obvious next step.
How To Find A Business Coach That’s Right For You
The next level after that is one-on-one coaching or mentorship. In my second year of business, I got my first business coach.
In your business, you should be teaching your clients how to choose a good naturopath or nutritionist – how to choose somebody who’s right for them because we’re not right for everybody, right?
It’s the same with business coaches. You have to choose based on a couple of different things.
Results
My number one suggestion is choosing someone who has results that you have seen.
Word-of-mouth is really important – if you know somebody who has gotten a certain result with a business coach, then start there. Talk to that coach and see if you click.
Alignment
The second thing is finding a business coach or a business mentor that is two steps ahead of you and is living the life that you would like to live (I learnt this one the hard way).
For instance, Gary Vaynerchuk is a massive example for me. Gary V is not living a life that I want to live. He is full of amazing wisdom, he has written amazing books and is a prolific social media entrepreneur. But he is also adrenal fatigue incarnate! He is on ALL the time and it is not the type of life that I aspire to.
Whereas, my first business coach is actually coming out with a new book called Chillpreneur. I love that – the “chill” aspect. I love balance. When I picked another business coach (two or three in), I chose a coach who didn’t have any kids. I’ve got kids. It’s not a game, it’s not a deal breaker. But she wasn’t living the life that I could relate to. Choose somebody who’s living a life that you can relate to and who is shining the light on possible pitfalls along the way to where you want to be.
Can you see how they got there?
Is it a style or way of living that you would like?
Is it a type of business model that you would like to create?
If it’s the type of lifestyle you’d like to create for yourself, then it’s probably a good fit. That’s what you’ll often hear from coaches – things like, “Is it a good fit?”
A good fit is like a good pair of jeans. Some people really like straight leg jeans, some people like skinny, tight jeans, and some people like comfy boyfriend fit. What is a good fit for you and what do you want your life to look and feel like? Is the coach you’re considering in alignment with that?
Connection
The third one is that they have a way of connecting with you that works for you. For instance, my second business coach that I ever had in business was over in San Francisco. I still follow her – she’s an amazing human being.
Back in the day when I was employing business coaches and mentors, right at the beginning, I had to get up at 2:00 a.m. for my coaching calls (the Internet was different back then). Two a.m.! And I have kids! But I was so committed that I did the stuff I needed to do to get my business to where I wanted it to be. But getting up at 2:00 a.m. for my coaching calls was rough. I don’t know how much I actually absorbed. Fortunately, she also recorded the calls so that worked for me because I got to talk to the person that I felt an alignment with and could also get the recording.
Nowadays, you don’t have to do any of that stuff. If you want to go away on trips, it’s very likely that your business coach or mentor does retreats or some type of immersion, and you can go along for one of the ones that works for you, if you’re a person who can go away and you’ve got slightly older kids or you want to take an adventure or a holiday. If you work online, if you’re in a remote or rural area, you might be able to access them online and so that might be a better fit for you. Or maybe you really love in-person networking. A lot of business coaches do series of small intensives throughout the year where you can sign up for a whole year and do the intensives and you all join together.
So the third thing is find a connection model that fits for your life.
Is it a regular phone call?
Do you need to be held accountable one-on-one every week to keep you going?
Or is it being in a group?
Don’t Be Afraid to Experiment
When I started, I didn’t know what worked for me. Now I know that masterminds work for me (at the moment) amazingly well, but I didn’t realise that so I had to experiment with it.
The last thing I would suggest is experimenting. Whenever you have the opportunity to have a small taste of whoever that person is, having a taste of what they do by either consuming their content, watching their videos, or connecting with them in person on a small scale like at a seminar or an online workshop or webinar, then have a go at that and see what’s available and whether it actually fits for you.
Find Business Support
These are my top tips on finding some business support. I would HIGHLY highly suggest you find a business mentor, coach or support group or a wolf pack of your own.
There is nothing more invaluable that I have ever done in my business. Except for that one weird one I told you about, that one coach that just wasn’t in alignment and didn’t fit, every other time I’ve had a business coach or mentor I have 3X my business – that means it’s three times as big by the time I finished working with that person!
That’s what you want to be in alignment with – what work do you need to do to get the results you want.
Experiment with it, see what you can do and how you can try on different things in your business based on being in alignment with these people who are a couple of steps ahead of you and can shine a light on the good gold, shine a light on the path, but also shine a light on the pitfalls and things that might be in your way.
I hope this has been beneficial for you. If it has, please share this.
Now go and explore! Semi-stalk people! Go and find out if they’re in alignment with you. Have a look at what they do and don’t just go for the first thing because somebody told you to get a business coach. Try to find somebody who’s actually doing what you want to do and try a little taste by consuming some of their content.
Hugs
Tammy x
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