Most. Businesses. Fail.

There are any number of articles which discuss how small businesses must strategically use the services of other companies. These typically relate to the impossibility of anyone having both the aptitude and time to fulfill every necessary task adequately.

But there are other, more human aspects to business – not least that we need various forms of community.

Of course, for those who truly interact with their social media connections, there is a community of sort. But is it the type that spurs you to ideas you could not have reached alone?

You know those conversations we all have. You say something clever or witty. The other person comes back with something you wouldn’t have thought of. You then come up with the killer line that either has you both considering a whole new line of thought or both in stitches of laughter.

As smart as you are, it took somebody else to unlock the thought. You had the knowledge. Or you had 99% of the knowledge. But it took someone else to bring it out of you.

I hear you saying that you have your people who you can do this with. And no doubt you do! But are these people in the same line of work as you? Do they exist wholly or mostly in your sphere?

We unwittingly close ourselves off from many sources of inspiration. But there are solutions.

Asking Questions To Burst Bubbles

I have previously written about Silos, Echo Chambers and Bubbles. Who hasn’t!

And there was this LinkedIn only post:

I have also discussed one of my true passions – the value of questions, encouraging people to question questions. (If the question is wrong, the best answer to it is worthless!)

In this article, I expand on the concept of question circles. These are based on the IT methodology, JAD sessions (Joint Application Design), in which one of the primary actors is someone with little to no prior knowledge of the subject matter being discussed. I like this a lot, but feel that it misses an excellent opportunity to inject fresh ideas into a discussion.

To my mind, if all participants in a group have prior knowledge of the discussion points, the group’s findings are limited by the boundaries that knowledge imposes. If you tell me ‘everything’ about a subject, I am only an expert with regard to the known knowledge. If I know ‘everything’, I am unlikely to ask many questions!

Overall, the common thread each of these articles put forth was that we are bound by the limit of our experiences and relationships. If we only talk to those with similar experiences or who think the way that we do, we limit how much we can learn and grow. Within business, that can be catastrophic.

Well, you won’t find any current question circles to sign up for. So, what’s the easiest way to broaden your business circle, gain much-needed inspiration and give your business a boost?

The answer is Mastermind Groups.

What Are Mastermind Groups?

This 2013 article from Forbes – 7 Reasons To Join A Mastermind Group – gives a great explanation. To summarize:

1. They are exclusive. Not everyone can join them. Everyone in them is there to both learn and teach
2. The other members of the group need you as much as you need them
3. You could find a business partner in a MM group
4. Your network grows to include the networks of your fellow group members
5. Each participant brings something unique into the group, so you will learn!
6. Cross-promotion: You promote your group peers and they promote you
7. You’ll be in a group with some stellar minds, so it will enrich your business knowledge

This article from Entrepreneur Magazine waxes highly enthusiastically about Mastermind Groups and names their top 10 groups as of September 2017.

It calls masterminds:

A safe haven for those that are looking to learn and expand their skill set, while networking with some of the most influential marketing minds in the world.

It is almost breathless in its praise for masterminds. They are peer-to-peer groups, led by successful coaches, in which you are exposed to the collective knowledge of successful business people.

In Closing

As I alluded to above, such groups will exceed the sum of the parts. To put that in a human sense, you already know more than you think you know. You have experienced plenty of instances where you surprised yourself with what you have learned and intuited when a conversation has touched some recessed knowledge.

Imagine being a weekly session with some really smart people, and being paired with someone to work on weekly tasks? Surely that must help you?

The Entrepreneur article opened with these sobering stats:

• 80% of new businesses don’t last 18 months
• 96% don’t make it through 10 years

That means we at Curatti should be proud to have been around for 5 ½ years! But it isn’t easy! And just like you, we need cooperation with our peers. So we’re going to sign up with a great mastermind group that has helped propel thousands of people over 12 years, to new levels.

Would you be interested in joining us? The early bird special for the group has ended, but we can get you that rate if you contact us. Just put “Mastermind Group” in the subject line.

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Andy Capaloff

Andy Capaloff is the COO of Curatti. Prior to moving into the world of Content Marketing, Social Media Management and the day-to-day running of a Digital Marketing company, Andy spent over 3 decades in various aspects of IT. It is here that he honed his writing and technical skills, and his ability to ask uncommon questions.

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