How Community Builds Better Entrepreneurs
Making it on your own as a wellness or healing practitioner is an empowering and exciting experience.
But just like we discussed in our article on why solopreneurship shouldn’t mean riding solo, it can be challenging.
We talked about how to reach out to your community when you start to experience the common pitfalls of solopreneurship.
Now, it's time to go deeper into the many benefits that being part of a community can offer.
And it’s a great time to do it: next month we will finally host the long-awaited opening of our Symmetry Collective location in Wheat Ridge.
This is the realization of years of being part of similar communities, and wanting to offer something to lift up wellness and healing practitioners to grow their businesses and spread their messages throughout their network.
Here’s how being part of a community builds better entrepreneurs.
Community Helps Keep You Accountable
Accountability comes first on this list, because it can often be the factor that starts yor entrepreneurship journey.
Taking the first step is difficult. We discuss this in our article about managing the fear of failure, specifically how the fear of getting started manifests itself in many ways, like waiting for the “perfect opportunity” or trying to account for any possible speed bumps along the way.
Oftentimes, all that we really need is a second opinion. It helps to have someone else to say, “you are ready, go for it” or “don’t be afraid.”
And if this person is another entrepreneur, you can bet that they will say something like:
“I didn’t feel ready when I started, but I took a leap of faith.”
Community will help keep you accountable through the toughest stages in the process, like getting started, or running into your first set of major hurdles.
Community is there when things get tough
When unexpected challenges happen in your business, it can be very difficult to stay level headed.
There will be plenty to get emotional about. You may be facing a shortage of cash, the loss of a valued client, or something even more unexpected. But there is one thing you can count on.
Someone in your community has been there before.
Someone will know which direction to guide you, or they will have their own “war stories” about times when they thought the sky was falling.
And suddenly, it won’t be you versus the world.
This goes a long way to helping you to relax, think clearly, and come up with a plan.
You Can Learn New Skills Easier
It’s never been easier to pick up new skills for free on the internet.
But half of the work is finding the right place to learn. There are many ways to learn skills specific to entrepreneurship: like marketing your business, doing your taxes, and managing your time.
But what about skills specific to working as a wellness practitioner? This is where finding a community of like-minded entrepreneurs in the same industry really pays off.
Aside from learning through building relationships and having conversations with your fellow entrepreneurs, formal communities like coworking spaces and networking groups offer skills development in a way that is very effective.
Instead of taking an online course alone, you can learn with your peers personally, and form valuable connections along the way.
You Will Be Around People Who Understand
When you take the first steps to running your own business, you can count on a wide range of reactions.
Sure, you will have plenty of friends and family who want you to succeed. Others may vocalize their doubts, or even criticize you for walking away from stable, traditional employment where you don’t have to find your own clients or worry about breaking even.
However, it doesn’t matter whether someone is your biggest cheerleader or not, chances are they don’t fully understand your journey.
They don’t understand your “why”, the deeper things that push you to go out on your own.
And that’s okay, because you kind of have to be doing it (entrepreneurship) to get it.
But being around other entrepreneurs is different. It may be the only way to find like-minded people who truly understand your struggles, learnings, and accomplishments.
A community of entrepreneurs can help you realize that you aren’t alone, and give you the courage to take on any challenges you encounter.
You Will Have Access to Talent
Eventually, you may have to expand your operation beyond yourself. When this time comes, being part of a community of like-minded entrepreneurs becomes a useful first step to finding talented people in your area.
This can take several forms. If you are looking for other wellness and healing practitioners to work for you, you can ask around in your community to find the right person for the job.
If you are looking for specialists to help grow your business, you can find professionals who have proven that they are effective at working in your niche. This could include accountants, web developers, social media specialists, video producers, photographers, branding specialists, and many similar professions.
This gives you a much better chance at success than seeing who ends up on the first page of Google in your area.
And you will find that these people become part of your community too.
Access to Inspiration and Information
In a healthy community of entrepreneurs, people share their success stories .
This means talking about HOW they reached their accomplishments, and how others can follow the same path to bring success to their business too.
This can happen in many forms. Posting on LinkedIn or your website is a good way to keep your accomplishments easily-accessible.
Lunch-and-learns are great ways to engage your community face-to-face, and also to promote discussion among members.
You Can Be a Part of A Growing Community
Being part of a community of entrepreneurs can do wonders for your business.
You can grow your client base, learn new skills, and build a business that allows you to focus on the things that are important in your life.
The other fun thing? You can watch your community grow too.
It is an opportunity to make connections that can last a lifetime, and eventually you can share your knowledge and expertise with other entrepreneurs who are getting started.
At Symmetry Collective, we are looking for wellness and healing practitioners to get in on the ground floor.
Interested in becoming part of the Collective? Learn more about what we have to offer.
