Posts Tagged ‘mastermind groups’

The beginning of a new year is a great time to join or form a mastermind group. Most people are enthusiastic about the chance for a new beginning, whether for their personal lives or for their businesses, and are open to new ways of doing things.

If you are a solopreneur, here are 4 easy steps to determine if you should join a Mastermind Group:

1) Low profitability: Your bottom line is not where you want it to be. Every business expects to make a profit; you wouldn’t be in business if you didn’t. But, some business owners find their bottom lines just don’t add up to the effort they put in.

Get out of your rut by joining a mastermind group.

2.) Your business is stagnant: You can and should be doing better. As with most things in life, we may find that no matter what we do, we tend to fall into a rut: we do the same things day after day, without change or improvement.  (Didn’t someone once call that the definition of insanity?) Major corporations have Research and Development divisions that search for new ways to improve or alter existing products.  As solo entrepreneurs, we have no such luxury and our businesses can become stagnant.

If you’ve been offering the same services and/or the same products for a while, it’s probably time to make some changes.  Your peer group will help you to keep the business “fresh” in the public’s eye.

3.) You spend most of your time fighting fires: If you find yourself dealing with one problem after another, one crisis after another, something is wrong.

4.) You know what you need to do, but you just don’t do it.  Has your motivation and discipline fallen by the wayside?  Sometimes, we’re our own worst enemies. Do you procrastinate when you should act? Do you put off important decision-making? Do you find it difficult to hold yourself accountable to do what you know needs to be done? 

If you identify with any of the above, consider joining a mastermind group, of forming one of your own.

Joining a Mastermind Group will change your life and business in ways that you can’t even imagine, and once you get into the flow of the group, you’ll wonder how you ever ran your business without belonging to a Mastermind Group.

Here are just a few of the benefits of joining a mastermind or peer group:

1. Get a new perspective: The other business owners in your group will help you get a new perspective.  If you have mono-vision about a problem you’re facing in the business, you can count on your peers to view your situation dispassionately and offer objective input. Group members will give you insights that will help you take your business to the next level.  

2. Find novel solutions: Working on your own can make it harder to deal with problems that have been holding you back. A Mastermind Group will help you to get a bird’s eye view of your situation, and to think out of the box when it comes to business challenges. 

Consider joining a mastermind group.

3.Get practical advice: Members of your group will provide practical advice about things you may not be good at. We all have our weak points and participating in a Mastermind Group can help us overcome them. This guidance can make the difference between failure and success. 

4.Set goals and be held accountable for reaching them: You’ll share your goals with other members of the group, and will be held accountable for reaching them. Group members will ask you about your progress in reaching your goals. They’ll offer encouragement and advice if you fall behind in meeting the targets you’ve set for yourself.

5.Have a support system: Being part of a peer group will boost your energy and confidence. It will help you to overcome the isolation factor.  Apart from getting help and advice, you’ll also be able to make good use of your own expertise and experience to help group members. This can be a great experience for you especially if you work solo and are fully focused on your own problems.

A survey was conducted with a group of solo entrepreneurs who had participated in Peer Advisory Groups. Over 75% of the respondents said that their participation in a Mastermind Group was either highly beneficial and they’d do it again, no questions asked, or very beneficial and they got a great return on everything they put into it.

One of the questions was:  What benefits did you derive from your participation in a Mastermind Group?

Here are the responses:

100% of respondents said:

1. Peer brainstorming
2. To be held accountable to do what they said they would do.

75% of respondents said:

1. A source of energy and motivation
2. Help to overcome the isolation factor
3. Peer advice

50% of respondents said:

1. Increased my bottom line
2. Got the “cliff notes version” of something from a group member who had already done what I was about to do.
3. Got objective input when I had my blinders on.