Startup Mastermind Groups
New Startup Mastermind Groups Forming Now
Live, Online Groups
For details, please email: info@StartupToGrowth.com
Who Should Join a Startup Mastermind Group?
These groups as specifically designed for small business owners who are brand-spanking-new to business as well as owners who launched their businesses a while ago but have not been really serious about growth; are typically billing in the zero to low-5-figure range; and who want to grow into a solid the mid-5-figure plus companies.
Ask yourself:
- Am I ready to grow my company into a solid business with sales in the mid-5-figure range?
- Am I choosing to get help and stop “spinning my wheels” for the next year stumbling along on my own? (After all, that hasn’t worked for me so far, right?!!)
- Am I choosing to dedicate 4 months to get my business up and running.
- Am I serious about creating a solid business foundation for future sustainability, profitability, and success – beyond mid-5-figures, if that is the direction I decide to take?
- Do I like to work in a well-facilitated, collaborative team environment, where I am helping others and they are helping me?
- Do I need a safe place to brainstorm?
- Am I ready to crush fear and step into accountability?
- Do I want to work with an experienced small business coach who has helped thousand of other clients like me?
- Do I want to move forward with confidence, having my mastermind group serve as my ad hoc advisory board?
- Can I listen to constructive feedback from others and not be offended?
- Will I dedicate 1.5 hours three times a month for the next four months to my online, live mastermind group?
- Will I also dedicate time each week to work on my business, not just in it, so I can finally realize my dream?
If you answered yes to those questions, you are ready to work toward positive change. Congratulations! Now, the details
What is a Mastermind Group?
A mastermind group, at its simplest, is a meeting of two or more people who share a common purpose, where each person is committed to helping others in the group reach that common purpose through brainstorming, accountability, support, education, and sharing of knowledge and resources. In our growth groups, our “common purpose” is growth.
The term Mastermind was initially coined by Napoleon Hill in his book, Think and Grow Rich. He describes the mastermind concept as, “The coordination of knowledge and effort of two or more people, who work toward a definite purpose, in the spirit of harmony.”
If you update Hill’s language, the core idea remains the same – many minds are better than one when you share a common goal. In our case, this common goal is to start or relaunch your business to hit mid-5-figure sales as quickly as possible. Every member is dedicating the next four months to building a strong foundation and framework to make that happen.
The Startup Mastermind Process
Our groups will have up to 12 members, and we meet duirng online, live video meetings three times a month for four months. Each meeting is 1.5 hours. Because we meet virtually, all your times goes into growing your busienss, not travel. You will begin to know and trust each other. Each member focuses on what they need to do to establish a firm business foundation and successfully launch their company, with an eye always on their 5-year horizon.
Within the group, you will set goals, prioritize them, and create your Action Plan for the next six months. Later you will create your Action Plan for the next five years. The group challenges the goals you set when they think it is helpful, making sure you are “playing big enough.” They also hold you accountable to achieve your goals, by giving you feedback, brainstorming possible solutions, highlighting resoures you might not have thought of, pathways you have not considered. In addition to support and encouragement, they also give you push back and ask some hard questions you just might have been avoiding for a while. In other words, your mastermind group functions as your ad hoc advisory board that has your back and your best interests – your success – at heart. And you have theirs. Your facilitator keeps things running smoothly throughout the process, and brings in additional resources and information. The group decides together if they want to invite guest speakers to present and possible topics. That’s it in a nutshell.
Each member is in the “Hot Seat” throughout your time together. The Hot Seat rotates on a regular basis throughout the group membership. When you’re in the Hot Seat, you present the challenge you are facing, whatever it is, that you think is keeping you from growing your business. Your group listens, ask qustions, gives feedback and brainstorms solutions with you. They will challenge your perspective, and often make you question yourself, make you look deeper into the issue. And that’s a good thing! Then you have time to think over and implement your new plan of action before you are in the Hot Seat again. In each session, members will set their goals for the next session. Those goals become their Action Plan to keep them on track.
Not your turn in the Hot Seat? No problem! Every member also reports in at each session, telling the group about their wins and losses since the last meeting, giving updates, asking for advice, and staying on track. These “weigh in” sessions are shorter than Hot Seat sessions.
In our Startup Mastermind Groups, we have three overall key objectives for group members as we work together to help you build a solid, sustainable and profitable business:
- Conducting a Business Assessment to identify your gaps
- Setting short-term and long-term goals and objectives for you and your business, creating your five-year plan
- Accountability on your short-term goals. Goals are goals. Goals must be executed to make a difference.
Once you join, you will receive a Small Business Assessment Checklist to help you identify what areas of your business you need to focus on in our initial four months together.
Some of the areas we typically focus on are:
- Your business name
- Refining your business idea and testing it in the marketplace
- Business entity selection and structure
- Registering and licensing your business
- Brand identity – logo, tagline, website, print and digital materials
- Products and Services
- Identifying your target and how to reach them
- Marketing across all platforms, including social media, blogging, ebooks, and even print!
- As you might guess, once the foundation is in place, we spend a lot of time here!
- Sales (marketing is different than sales)
- Yes, we spend a lot of time here, too! Sales can be fun (really!!)
- Small business operations, hiring, management, establishing policies and procedures
- Financial projections – yes, you must do this!
- Business plan – hint, everything listed here is part of your business plan
- So many other areas!!
How are our Startup Mastermind Groups Different?
Experienced facilitator. My name is Robin Suomi, and I am an experienced small business coach and consultant. When I facilitate our Mastermind groups, I bring my 10+ years of experience helping thousands of others before you launch and/or grow their small businesses to the table, and magic happens. I have a strong technical small business background, having taught business courses as an adjunct professor. Because I am also trained as a coach, I listen to you and discover what you want (or help you discover that over our 4-month journey!). I don’t simply push the “latest and greatest idea” at you. That does not serve you.
Focus. Often in group discussion, we start going down the dreaded Rabbit Hole. A Rabbit Hole in our groups means we are getting into a discussion that is non-productive and is likely to be long and drawn-out, wasting time. A Rabbit Hole discussion does not best serve the group or you. The members may choose to schedule a side discussion, or maybe the group needs to research the topic and get a better handle on what the Rabbit Hold Topic actually means before we choose to spend precious time discussing it in the group.
Many Rabbit Holes exist because of misinformation in the marketplace; this is where an experienced small business coach or consultant can really help. The topics the group brings up are most often topics I have dealt with numerous times in the past, and my experience guides me here. I let the group know it’s likely a Rabbit Hole, and the group decides whether to go down it or not!! Regardless, we stay focused in our sessions!
Input After Discussion. Another difference in our groups is that I rely on my years of experience to make a list of comments and feedback on topics we discuss in each session. I share those with the group before we close if they are not addressed in group discussion.
Office Hours. One final difference is that you will have access to Office Hours, where you can ask questions of your facilitator and gain feedback between group meetings.
Our Startup Mastermind Groups are a powerful way to accelerate your small business launch with guidance from your group of like-minded business owners with a common purpose and an experienced small business coach and consultant.
What do you get?
Each current, paid mastermind group membrer receives:
- 4.5 hours monthly mastermind time
- access to office hours (scheduled throughout the month)
- access to Startup to Growth small business training and educational videos and resources
Your Next Steps
First, we need to meet virtually. Please contact us at info@startuptogrowth.com, and we’ll set up a Zoom meeting, discussing you, your business, and what you want to accomplish over the next four months. If we both decide that we are a good fit to work together, and that you will benefit from our Mastermind Groups, we will ask you to fill out and submit our application. We will then decide which group you will join and you’re on your way! We require a 4-month commitment for our Startup Mastermind Groups. Prepayment is also required, and we have different payment options.
Note: A prerequisite for our Startup Mastermind is that you have completed your business planning, either through our Small Business Blueprint class or by some other means.
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Robin Suomi, MBA, is an experienced small business expert and founder of Startup to Growth, LLC. She has assisted thousands of small business owners to start and/or grow their businesses for over 14 years. Working with clients remotely through video meeting platforms, she helps clients answer their technical business planning questions. She also encourages them to dig deeper, dream bigger, and works with them to create their Success Steps! Check out the website for ongoing Small Business Blueprint classes, Mastermind and Powerup Your Practice groups, as well as 1-1 small business coaching and group coaching. We love your questions. Reach out to us at info@startuptogrowth.com and let’s set up a free consulation.
Custom Groups: Are you interested in a custom group? If you have 4 members in your group, we will set an agenda and a schedule that works best for you and your group. Contact us for details at robin@startuptogrowth.com.