New Year's Advice to Entrepreneurs

Business people often ask me for advice. Sometimes it’s about a change in strategy or marketing tactics; sometimes it’s about a new market or a new role they want to create. It can also concern a personal or family issue. Some might call me a professional listener, a mentor, a connector. I’ve called myself a consultant and director of relationships, but lately, I’m gravitating towards the word ‘facilitator’ − a facilitator of ideas, strategies and connections.

I’ve been lucky enough to hang around business founders, owners, presidents and entrepreneurs for most of my business life. The irony is that most of my business career has been spent at large global accounting and consulting organizations. No matter the role, however, I have always gravitated towards owner-managers and those with an entrepreneurial spirit. And now as the official chair and facilitator of our Vaughan GroYourBiz™ group, I am taking on the role of facilitator with vigor.

Business leaders face a multitude of challenges every minute of every day. However, about 80% of the issues business owners want to discuss, relate to managing people. And the largest issue for a business leader these days is that the higher up you go, the fewer people there are to talk to. To coin the old “it’s lonely at the top” adage, there is often a sense of isolation and a sense that you’re alone in feeling and dealing with your concerns. Moreover, everyone in your own business seems to have his or her own objectives and agendas; and everyone needs something from you. This is a huge emotional drain.

With GroYourBiz™ and other similar groups that act as a board for you and your company, we help fill up that drain. Business owners meet with fellow business owners who have no hidden agendas in an environment that is safe and trusting. Others’ opinions are based on collective experiences and decades of tacit knowledge. It’s that intuitive information about people, business processes and informal procedures that is so valuable these days. You can’t imagine the relief our members have in being able to talk about their businesses and be vulnerable in a place of peers, who offer only concern and assistance and never judgment. And yes, we work on your business and your business growth too.

My new year’s advice to entrepreneurs, and frankly any business owners, is to join a peer group and continue to learn. You don’t know what you don’t know. You also don’t know who you don’t know. To be a great leader, it’s important to be as open and transparent as possible and to recognize your own weaknesses. Surround yourself with different people from different industries and backgrounds, with different perspectives. Don’t be threatened by alternative viewpoints. And if my experience holds true, you’ll also build friendships and relationships that will catapult your business in directions you would have never have imagined.

Cheers to peer groups!