Home Based Small Business Best Advice: A Support Team

It can be a lonely endeavor, running a home based small business Best advice:

Build a support team from the start.

Naturally support should include an accountant, a banker, possibly a lawyer. But far more important is peer support.

I started offering a monthly sharing circle to my clients as part of their coaching. We met once a month for two hours in groups of 6-8.

After seeing the great impact that had on my clients, I started a similar circle with peers of mine for home based small business best results.

The goal is to support each other, to have a sounding board and to share any useful ideas.

The format is always similar:

Sharing vision or elevator speech

I found that repeatedly sharing your own vision gives it weight. It also helps to refine it, until it reflects you fully.

Writing a vision down is great, but speaking it in front of others often puts it into a new light.

And you can never train the elevator speech enough. So we alternately started with either.

Listening to the Challenges

Next we share with each other what current challenges each one is facing.

The purpose is to reach awareness of where we are stuck.

Sometimes some other things might come up that influence the home business’ success. It is amazing to see how similar the challenges are and how good it is to realize: I am not alone.

In this process, listening is most important.

If someone has a brilliant solution it is of course shared. But this is not an advice session. While listening, each person reflects on how this might apply to their own challenges and what actions they could take to overcome them.

Celebrating Wins and Successes

In a second round, we share wins and successes. Positive energy has a great impact on attracting the things we want. By sharing successes and wins, we are putting focus and attention on them, not just our own, but the whole group’s.

We really celebrate the person sharing for their success. It is a reflection of what is possible for all of us.

Specific Topic

Every session, we select a topic for the next session. It might be marketing, tax, bookkeeping, vision, internet, etc. Anything that is of interest to all of us for home based small business best results. One will prepare a short presentation about it.

Sharing Our Awareness

We go through the circle one last time and share:

• What we have become aware of today?
• What actions we want to take from what we have learnt?
• What we are excited about?

That way, we end on a positive note and have something real to go away with an put into action.

Building Commitment

We have also developed some rules that govern our conduct. This is summarized in this statement:

"The purpose of our meeting is for us to support each other in the growth towards success.

• I am willing to keep everything confidential.
• I am willing to listen to others and support them.
• I am willing to share your own stories and be supported.
• I am willing to take responsibility for yourself and your own outcomes.
• I am willing to have fun."

Conclusion

My home based small business best advice is to get support from peers. If not in such a formal way as these sharing circles, just meet with one other person and share. The value of sharing is incalculable.