Connecting With Fellow Entrepreneurs
Entrepreneurship can be lonely. So many hats to wear, opportunities to seize, problems to solve.
Don’t get me wrong—as an introvert, I LOVE working from home and avoiding watercooler small talk. But over the past 3+ years of running a business, I’ve been surprised to find that one of my favorite parts of entrepreneurship is meeting other business owners. From hearing their journeys and visions to commiserating about shared mindset blocks and projects-gone-wrong horror stories.
In the past, I’ve had a lot of success connecting with people in free online communities, mostly Slack groups. Sometimes it’s just a one-off validating conversation and sometimes it’s a relationship that lasts for years. All from a DM to an internet stranger.
My goal is to double down on things I love in my business, like organic relationship building. I figure, if it’s enjoyable, why shouldn’t it also be profitable, either because of direct referrals or just getting unstuck from my own blocks?
This year, I want to explore concrete referral/affiliate agreements. I want to explore joint venture workshops. And I want to explore offering complementary packages with other online service providers.
Leveraging Paid Communities
One thing I’ve been considering for a while is joining a paid community. Like I said, I’ve met some really amazing founders in free communities, but I do think financial buy-in brings a certain level of commitment to a group. In the past, I’ve had my eye on quite a few, but never made the leap. For example, I’ve considered:
So, I’d love to know: What do you do to find a sense of community as an entrepreneur? Have you had any good or bad experiences with the above communities (or any other paid groups)? What do you look for before buying a membership? Give me all the insight, please!
Toward purpose and progress,
Ashlee
This is an excerpt from Toward Purpose & Progress, my newsletter where I share business tips, good news, shoutouts to Founder Friends, and other juicy snippets. Subscribe here for more rants, reflections, and resources.