How Can a Small Business Mastermind Help You Grow Your Business?

Let’s set the scene. You are a solopreneur or micropreneur and you want to grow your business. Maybe you want more clients or higher profits. Maybe you want a steady, predictable income you can count on. Or, maybe you are launching a new product or service line and you are unsure how to do that. Or you are facing some other type of opportunity or challenge and are not sure how to proceed.

When you’re basically by yourself on your entrepreneurial journey, your self-doubt can grow quickly, and it’s often unfounded. You’re human; of course you have doubts. But, those doubts should not be the reason you choose to give up your dream.

You’re stuck. You want to grow your business and you don’t know how. What do you do?

One reliable, trusted solution is to join a small business mastermind group.

When you are in the right mastermind group, members push each other to reach their highest potential and all members are able to grow their businesses, together. Members present their challenges and opportunities to the group and receive direct, honest feedback and fresh perspectives on possible solutions. They hold each other accountable, and motivate, inspire and challenge each other. Your group acts as your ad hoc advisory board.

First let’s cover what masterminds are, and then detail some of the reasons a well-facilitated mastermind can unlock and accelerate your success.

What Are Masterminds?

Masterminds are peer-to-peer mentoring groups with a defined purpose. That’s it!

Masterminds are centuries old. More recently, Benjamin Franklin founded the Junto Club, a mastermind, with tradesmen and artisans, in 1727. In the 1920s and 1930s, they were popularized by Napoleon Hill, author of Think and Grow Rich.

At Startup to Growth, our masterminds have the defined purpose of small business growth and success. Our mastermind groups meet twice a month at set times, and are facilitated by a small business expert. A key feature is what I call the Golden Opportunity Seat, where members on a regular, pre-scheduled basis give presentations, asking for group feedback about opportunities, challenges, or doubts they are facing. Afterwards, the group may offer ideas or solutions similar to that file boi report in maryland.

Why Do Masterminds Work?

DESIGN AND PURPOSE:

Members are selected to be in our masterminds because they are choosing to focus on growing their businesses and to devote the time and resources, including mental power, to make that happen. They are making powerful choices, not excuses.

STRUCTURE

We start out with identifying members’ strengths and weaknesses, and they complete a needs assessment. This forms the foundation of and direction for our mastermind work together. Members use this information to set goals they commit to achieving while a member of our mastermind group.

PROBLEM SOLVING AND SUPPORT

Called Golden Opportunity Seats, members present to the group about challenges and opportunities they are facing and ask for unbiased, productive feedback in a safe, supportive environment.

They are asking questions like: “How do you think I should approach this situation?” “What would you do in this situation?” “What am I missing here?” “Am I thinking about this in the right way?”

Here is how your fellow members help you:

• Members share experiences and insights based upon their business and personal experiences. The entire group learns together. When a member shares, you often think to yourself, “Oh, I need to do that, too!”
• You gain fresh, diverse perspectives from members in different industries and located across the country. This goes way beyond your usual network connections.
• You receive honest and direct feedback. This is not a “Yes, sir” or “Yes, ma’am” type of group. Others see what you cannot see! You are in effect saying, “Lend me your eyes! I need your perspective on this!”
• Brainstorming. You are able to tap into the collective creativity of your mastermind group through brainstorming solutions. After the meeting, you sift through the ideas and select your best course, your next steps of acton. The group is there at future meetings to help you stay on track and adjust your course as needed.
• Members act as your mirror, reflecting back and reminding you of your strengths and accomplishments. We tend to be overly critical of ourselves, and that robs us of our confidence. Not in your mastermind.
• Engaging in a mastermind builds your confidence. Your supportive mastermind group boosts your confidence, helps you feel more empowered to take qualified risks and pursue your ambitious goals!

The quality feedback you receive and the level of honest interaction you have in a well-facilitated mastermind is invaluable to you and to your business growth. You can’t put a price on it.

ACCOUNTABILITY

Members meet together twice a month. If you commit to an action, you are more likely to do it so you don’t let your group down. The group will hold you accountable for your actions and your progress.

Why is this important? Ideas are a dime a dozen. Executing your ideas brings in the revenue. Execution happens because of accountability and follow-through, which lead to results.

MOTIVATION AND INSPIRATION

Close cousins to accountability, motivation and inspiration come from holding fellow members accountable and seeing them achieve their goals. If they can, you can, too! You are motivated to keep moving forward. You are inspired by your fellow members. You are no longer alone.

CHALLENGE EACH OTHER

Members push each other to work to their highest potential. Your fellow members have your back, and you have theirs. You challenge each other. Is that goal big enough? What else can you do to make sure that happens?

SHARED RESOURCES AND EDUCATION

Members share resources with each other, from articles, books, and trusted products/services to introductions from their network, and everything in between. As trust within your group builds, so does the sharing. Members also identify topics they want to know more about, and your facilitator invites speakers or identifies educational resources on those topics. Learning happens here!

COMMUNICATION BETWEEN MEETINGS

We use a private community platform so members can communicate easily between meetings. Members can post questions and answers, share successes and congratulations, and share those resources and links. This keeps the momentum going between meetings, and is a source of inspiration and support.

Conclusion

Alone, you only have so much experience.

Alone, your inner monsters and self-doubts can grow into formidable giants, untethered to reality.

Alone, you can be totally unaware of major small business and industry trends you need to know about.

Drawing on the knowledge, experience, research and skills of the other members in your group, you all grow together. Masterminds are collaboration on steroids.

Structured masterminds, designed around a common purpose, can help you unlock the success already within you and help you grow your business. Members provide honest and objective feedback on your challenges with fresh, diverse perspectives, hold you accountable for your actions and progress, and provide support, inspiration, education, and shared resources.

Choose the right mastermind aligned with your goals and values.

If you have any questions about small business growth masterminds for solopreneurs and micropreneurs, or would like to join the waiting list for our next mastermind group, please reach out to me at info@startuptogrowth.com. I am happy to schedule a 1-1 Zoom chat.

Robin Suomi, Founder of Startup to Growth and MEG Community, where small businesses come to grow, has assisted thousands of solopreneurs and micropreneurs from launch to mid-six figures in sales, through masterminds, seminars, and 1-1 coaching. Her work centers on the technical aspects of business planning, development and growth, with a strong overlay of life/mindset coaching. Robin’s services support a blend of both personal and professional growth. More about Robin Suomi.

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