What Is A Mastermind Group And How Can It Help Small Businesses?
A mastermind group, also known as a peer advisory board, is essentially a group of peers who meet, interact, and help each other with advice and support.
These groups allow you to brainstorm ideas, educate one another, sharpen business skills – all while being a part of a team.
Not only do you receive help, you also provide insight and advice to your peers.
The benefits of a mastermind group, as one would expect, are endless; they can help business owners solve problems they didn’t even know they had.
There are myriad ways they can help you, here are just a few.
1. Networking
One feature that stands out the most in mastermind groups is the ability to meet and interact with new, often likeminded people.
A quality mastermind group will allow you to take advantage of the varying ideas and types of people that are around you – surrounding yourself with people who are goal-oriented and driven will help energise and motivate you to perform better.
They also will help you grow your network, build rapport with other and eventually, recommend your business if and when the time comes.
2. Develop skills
Anyone can join a mastermind group.
An individual thinking of starting a business, someone who has been in the game for a while, and even someone with barely a year’s worth of experience.
What they bring to the table is what matters most – for them and for you.
The most valuable factor is that these groups and its diverse members all come equipped with skills and experiences of their own. With time and multiple discussions, you can learn new skills, develop existing skills and even help someone out with theirs.
3. Support system
Running a business can often be lonely.
Having to make every decision, not being able to discuss pros and cons, and not having anyone to discuss future prospects can make you feel alone and often demotivate you along the way.
Mastermind groups act as the support system you never had, but always needed.
Since this is a two-way process, not only are you able to provide the best advice from your perspective, you’ll also receive advice and solutions from people in your group. From not having anyone to discuss business with, you’ll now have different perspectives, ones that you may not have even considered previously.
4. Collaboration
One of the best ways of boosting business is by introducing new products or services to your audience.
Mastermind groups allow you to interact with different business owners, some of which would be the perfect for your business in terms of a collaboration. This is, after all, what a mastermind group is all about – working together to achieve greater things together.
Joining a mastermind group – or peer advisory board – will help you step back, take stock and gain clarity.
The Alternative Board offers peer advisory boards and mastermind groups as well as business coaching, find your local board today.