If you want to be an effective entrepreneur, You should have at least 10 good friends who are already successful entrepreneurs. If that sounds like a lot to you, something is very wrong with your mindset.
Few entrepreneurs succeed in isolation. Business is a social game.
Much of the money made in business (and in life overall) actually came from other businesses. The other half would be directly from consumers.
You would need a lot of individual customers to match what one good business deal can do. How many individual customers would do more than $1 million worth of business with a company, even in a lifetime? not many.
Can you go it alone? You could do that. But the odds of success as a strict solopreneur who only deals with individuals are stacked against you.
Doing Business With Friends
Where do you find good business deals? Through networking. A better term is friendship.
Business deals happen through friendship. At least that’s how it plays out with me. You meet another entrepreneur. You get to talking and realize you have compatible business models, attitudes, and values. You realize that in some particular area, your businesses could mutually support each other. You discuss possibilities and settle on a deal that seems win-win-win: They win. You win. The customers win.
You do the deal. Value flows. Money flows.
If the deal works and everyone does their part honestly and honorably, and if the deal adds value and generates positive results, it strengthens the friendship too. Try doing a million dollars’ worth of business with someone, and see how friendly you become. More business will likely result.
Why Coaches Are Often Broke
Many life coaches are broke. Why? They aren’t getting enough paid clients. Why not? Because they don’t have time to do quality coaching AND effective marketing simultaneously.
There are coaches who have endless streams of new clients. Why? They partner with other friends in business who have lots of people who’d love coaching, if they could only get a referral to a qualified coach. That’s an easy win-win-win situation.
This is an overgeneralization to be sure, but it’s not too much of a stretch to say that the broke coaches try to do everything themselves, whereas the prosperous coaches invite and allow other partners to help them succeed.
Social Support in Business
It’s good to have friends you can turn to for help — not just for advice, but for doing some actual income-generating business together.
The term “social support” doesn’t just mean Facebook friends that verbally encourage you. That kind of support isn’t particularly valuable unless you’re suffering from low self-esteem and need constant validation.
We are talking about having friends with whom you can do mutually beneficial exchanges that generate real income. If someone is supporting your business, it means they’re helping you generate business.
How many of your friends have sent real business your way? How many of your friends are your paying customers?
Doing Business Sideways
Do you have people regularly calling and emailing you with proposals that could generate extra income for you? If not then why not? Maybe it’s time to stop hiding behind your laptop, and start making some actual friends in your field.
You hit a major turning point in your business when you finally realize that being socially isolated is hurting you. At first you probably can’t bring myself to accept that this is a problem, but put yourself out there anyway. Get involved in a trade association in your field. It may be a lot of work for no direct pay, but you will make dozens of new friends in the industry. That makes life so much easier.
Within a matter of months, your income could increase dramatically. The friends you make will be extremely helpful resources for you.
If you have a lot of friends, sometimes they’ll help you in business purely out of friendship too, especially if it’s easy for them. But if no one knows who you are, good luck with that.
Work Together
Don’t mistakenly assume that you have to figure out every piece of your business puzzle on your own. That’s a newbie mistake. You’re not going to be great at everything. But where you’re weak, someone else is strong. Work together. This benefits everyone.
If you’re really good at coaching, for instance, but you’re weak at marketing, then you may seriously benefit by partnering with a business that has lots of potential clients for you but no coaching services to offer. You get referrals from them and split the money.
The best deals have a limited downside (low risk) and a very high potential upside. If they don’t work out, it’s not a huge loss for anyone. If there are few sales, well… at least you tried. Maybe you didn’t make money, but at least you didn’t lose much money to test your idea. However, when a deal really works, it could be a home run for all involved — the perfect match. And it could lead to many more similar deals.
You may go into new deals not knowing what will happen. Some of them are disappointing duds. Some will be delightful hits. Some between. Enjoy the discovery process of finding out. You never know if a new deal will only earn enough to pay for a coffeee… or if it will earn enough to buy a house. It’s a fun game to play when the downside is minimal, but the upside is potentially huge.
Another advantage of doing deals with other entrepreneurs is that these are often smart, fun, and interesting people to work with. While individual customers are the lifeblood of many businesses, dealing with normal customers and clients day in and day out can be a grind for anyone. A lively new deal with a creative entrepreneur can add some spice to the mix.
Make friends in your field. Propose some win-win-win deals. Do business with other entrepreneurs. This can spell the difference between dismal scarcity and delightful prosperity. And it can make business a lot more fun.