If you’re a business owner you’ve already figured out that you can’t do it all alone. Even after outsourcing tasks, when it comes to overall growth, we all need guidance and support. This can come in many ways – and what’s right for one person may not be for the next. Before you spend money on some kind of support system, it’s important to know what you WANT, and what you’re GETTING.
One-to-One Coaching.
A coach, consultant or strategist will be working individually and privately with you. that’s great, because you have their undivided attention. 
However, that’s also what’s not so great because the time they dedicate to working with them privately comes with a steep price tag. What’s also missing is the depth of experiences of other business owners.
Group Coaching.
This group membership setting is another avenue in which to receive valuable guidance. The price tag will be within reason but now you’re sharing the coach’s attention. It’s one coach providing advice to several people at once and it’s possible to get lost in the sauce. Not everyone will get the opportunity to be heard because that’s not an integral part of the structure. Typically, the dynamics of a group coaching membership is “I talk, you listen, and there will be set time for Q&A”. This is valuable yet limiting.
Casual Peer Support.
Sometimes groups of peers will set up what they call a mastermind or a peer support group. It’s typically free because it’s co-run by the group of friends. You gain the perspectives of all the members, but there’s no professional facilitator or coach organizing and leading the group, activities, and discussions. No one is holding you to task. People show up or they don’t. There’s time for discussions but it may feel lacking in direction.
A Professional Mastermind / Peer Advisory Board.
Here’s where you want to consider joining a professionally-run Mastermind Group. Organized and led by a trained professional, a mastermind (sometimes referred to as a peer advisory board) will give you:
- Admission into a small community of small business owners that are in the same or similar place in your business journey. There are some who specialize in beginning businesses and some that are for seasoned business owners.
- Pre-arranged and consistent meeting dates and times for a set membership period, with set and organized agendas and activities.
- A safe space where confidentiality is key and none of your competitors are in the room so you can feel free to speak openly.
- Formats that include discussion topics, learning opportunities, and “hot seats”.
- You can expect that each member will have equal opportunity to present a challenge, offer a project for feedback, and be held accountable for courses of action.
- The coach or strategist will make sure every voice is valued and heard and that everyone is rowing the boat in the same direction.
- The leader will not allow one person to “take over”; and won’t allow anyone to hide, either.
- When you’ve invested in a mastermind, even though the facilitator organizes and leads, everyone has the opportunity to share their challenges, wins, stories, and best practices.
- You achieve a closeness with a small community and get into the habit of goal setting and experience sharing.
Participating in a mastermind/peer advisory board guarantees you are scheduling consistent time to work ON your business, not just endless busy work in your business.
I have been both a member and a facilitator of mastermind groups and know they provide a dynamic setting for powerful business growth.
If you’ve been a member of a mastermind before and haven’t liked it, reach out to me so I can learn what happened and help you make a better decision.
If you’ve never participated in a mastermind, let’s chat and see if it makes sense for where you are in your business today.
Schedule time to chat here: https://calendly.com/susana-f/phone-consult