The entrepreneur life can be a challenging one sometimes. While there are many benefits of owning your own business, it’s also a lot of hard work and long hours to get established and keep it going. It can also be difficult to face the common hurdles of business ownership by yourself if you’re a solopreneur.
Three years ago, I invited some women business owners over to chat about ways we could support each other on our business journeys. From that initial meeting, the beginnings of a mastermind group took shape. As we celebrate three years of that group, let’s talk about the value of a mastermind.
The basics of a mastermind group
A mastermind is simply a group of individuals who meet together regularly for discussion and support. They’re more common in business settings, but they can be for personal development as well.
Some organizations have a formal structure for paid mastermind groups. Ours is more loosely structured. We meet with a specific topic of discussion each month and step away from our offices for a few days twice a year for a business retreat. Our retreats include a mix of focused individual work on our businesses, group discussions, and some rest and relaxation, which is imperative in the life of a small business owner!
Accountability toward achieving goals
As small business owners, accountability is key to achieving goals. But if you’re just starting out or only have a small team, you may need to look a little broader for accountability. A mastermind is great for this!
In our group, we regularly share our goals and our challenges and help each other work through them. We check in via Slack between meetings for added accountability.
Support during the challenging times
Running a business during a global pandemic certainly presents some challenges, but there are plenty of other things that can create challenging times for a small business owner: shifting priorities, personal matters, marketplace changes, and so much more. When things get tough, it’s great to have that small group of people you can depend on to listen to you vent and help you get through it.
Shared celebrations of success
Whether small wins or big wins, we cheer each other along every step of the way. As a mastermind group who knows each other and our businesses well, we also know that sometimes even the small wins require big effort. We see the work that happens behind the scenes, and sometimes celebrating those small wins is the push needed to get to the big win.
Being part of a business mastermind group can help you grow not only professionally, but also personally. If you’re feeling a little stuck in your business, consider finding a core group of people who can help hold you accountable, offer support, and cheer you on.