Entrepreneurs are a different breed. We feel like we constantly need to be “on,” we’re always striving to do better, and, probably more than anything, our loved ones don’t understand us at all.

And all of this feels pretty lonely sometimes. Because we’re often misunderstood, we start to hold back when talking to our family and friends about business. But we need the release of being able to celebrate with others, get feedback on our latest ideas, and commiserate about the stress (and joys) of entrepreneurship.

It’s easy to stay locked up in our own world, shutting the door to our home office so we can put our heads down and work. But what we really need is connection.

This week on the podcast, I’m sharing some keys to finding the right people to connect with so you can overcome entrepreneurial loneliness.

And if you’re looking for connection, join us in my insiders group! It’s the perfect blend of like-minded entrepreneurs who will help push you to meet your goals.

Links and Resources:

• Insiders Group

Transcript

Tracy Jepson 0:10
Whether you’re looking to grow or ready to scale and so navigating the challenges you face as a business owner are hard, and knowing which steps to take next can be overwhelming. Each week on Beyond the bank account, I will walk you through overcoming the overwhelm and confusion around your business. From the bottom line and beyond. I’ve worked behind the scenes and in the weeds of small businesses, including several my own for over 20 years, and I have a personal mission of guiding owners to have profitable sellable businesses while living the life that you’ve always dreamed.

Hey, welcome back to beyond the bank account. This is Tracy Jepsen, and I’m super excited to chat with you today. And talk about one of the things that comes up probably the most often amongst entrepreneurs and my clients that I speak with on a daily basis. And it’s that entrepreneurship is lonely. It’s hard. There’s good days, and there’s amazing days, there are days where you want to throw in the towel, there’s days where you’re glad that you just responded to a single email, because honestly, it’s just all that you could manage. Finding people to talk about that hard with can also be difficult. And in fact, it can be really challenging, because in a lot of cases, even your spouse doesn’t understand what you’re going through. And most likely your friends don’t either, unless they happen to be in the business of being in business. All they see is that flexibility that you’ve built for yourself, but don’t really understand why you can’t fill in the extra minutes in your day with all the items on their honey do list or why you can’t just skip away for that golf weekend with your buddies at a moment’s notice. They can likely turn their minds off from their job when the clock strikes five, but you it never turns off, you drive yourself to be better, you drive your team to be better, and you want your clients to be better. And that never turns off. And there’s nothing wrong with that. And there’s nothing wrong with them not being able to do that, and not being able to understand you. There’s nothing wrong with either side. But finding that balance in space, and the people that you can lean on when the heart is really hard is so important. celebrating your wins, but the ones who get it and the ones that don’t, is equally as important.

So today, I want to talk about how do you find those people? How do you create that tribe? That just gets it? How is it that a business owner is supposed to just go on developing relationships, when you don’t even know where to start? For me, I love starting with the counterparts in my industry, I am connected to so many CPAs accountants, bookkeepers, coaches, business advisors, those are my tribe, those people and I speak the exact same language. Now. I can also connect with entrepreneurs and other industries, specifically with my clients, I obviously understand how they’re feeling, I also can see into their financials, which gives us a little bit of a different perspective on things. But in general, I like to start with connecting with the people in my own industry. Look, this isn’t about competition, this is about connection, I 100% do not believe that there is not enough to go around. So connecting with somebody in your industry isn’t like trying to get an insider scoop on them. And it’s not trying to take business away from them or be in competition. It’s to be in collaboration, it’s to be in a space where you guys can freely speak with one another about the challenges that you guys are having, maybe it’s in your industry, maybe it’s just in general. But looking at those people that are right inside of your own industry is a really great place to start places that I like to find them. I connect us so many times on LinkedIn, with different business owners.

Like I said, I’m not only out there looking for prospects, because obviously it’s a networking platform, and you want to be able to connect, but I’m also looking at people who I aspire to be and I want to be able to ask questions to people who I respect people who I can see what they’re doing in their business, I want to be surrounded by those people and making those genuine connections by asking really great questions by listening to the things that they have to say, and just genuinely approaching them in a manner of, hey, I’m not here to compete with you, or you know, take anything from you. I’m simply just trying to connect that way we can learn from one another. And oftentimes, those industry conversations lead to a much deeper, more meaningful conversation as well and can lead to true genuine friendships and that person that you can really lean on, when the hard gets really, really hard. I also like to attend conferences. So I will attend my industry conferences. I will attend conferences for those that are that I’m prospecting. So I will go to realtor conventions. I will go to financial advisor conventions. I like to go where my clients are.

So I can not only learn the language that they’re, you know that they’re hearing that they’re using, so that way I can use it, of course in my marketing and that kind of thing. But I like to genuinely go to connect with those individuals because I understand their industry. I understand their financial challenges. I see the back end of that. So if you’re a marketer, And you understand a specific industry, or again, you’re an accountant or a CPA or anyone, whoever your client is, go learn about them learn about the challenges that they talk about, look at those tracks that they have inside of those conferences. Obviously, those are things that are coming up within that industry. And the more that you can learn and understand about it, not only can you connect genuinely with those individuals, but it’s also going to help you build those relationships that those people may want to come work with you in the future. I also think a really great place to meet connections is through your local chamber of commerce, they are there to support small business owners, they are there to help you find resources. Not all chambers are built the same. So making sure that you’re connecting with the other small business owners who are participating in some of their boards or their panels, that kind of thing, really making sure that you’re attending those networking events for the right reasons.

And let’s be honest, it’s a networking event, people are probably drinking or winding down for the day, let’s not bring a sales pitch in with us, let’s just genuinely connect with other business owners, it’s gonna get you a lot further than being kind of the used car salesman. No offense if you actually are used car salesman. But let’s not be the used car salesman in the room where everything that you’re doing is trying to get people to come to your office or schedule an appointment with you. genuine true connection is where you’re going to help create your tribe where you’re going to meet your people. And otherwise, people aren’t going to want to connect with you if all you’re doing is pitching all day long. Asking good questions when you’re at these events, so whether you’re at a conference, or you’re connecting with somebody on LinkedIn, asking really good questions, skipping the small talk, small talk has its place in life, I’m sure it drives me absolutely crazy. I want to know the details. I want to know what people are really thinking and the behind the scenes stories, hey, that was a really great post, what inspired you to write it? What’s happening in your life, that you’re talking about these types of scenarios on LinkedIn. And I don’t know what those are.

So you know, find a post, ask the author, if they are somebody that you want to connect with, and that you liked the things that they post and you follow them, you appreciate the people who are commenting on their posts, send them a message, it doesn’t have to be creepy, it doesn’t have to be weird, doesn’t have to be a sales pitch, genuine connection, start in the comments moved to the inbox, I have had so many relationships that have been built through LinkedIn. So it may have started out as you know, a few comments and then all of a sudden, we are on a zoom call. And now we’re on phone calls or text messages supporting one another. There’s a really great individuals that are out there that are just trying as hard as you are, and that they just want to be successful. This is specifically the reason that I created my insider group. I want business owners to not only, of course, learn the material that we’re trying to teach them and understand their cash flow and profitability. But it’s about connection. I want a space that business owners know that they can come air their grievances, and get the support that they’re looking for. Like I said, it may not be at home for you. But it very well may be with a group of strangers that you can just be open and honest with.

At the end of the day. If you are looking for a tribe, it is going to come down to the effort that you put in, it’s going to come down to the questions that you ask and the vulnerability that you’re going to allow yourself to have without these things, and without that true connection, it’s going to be very difficult for you to escape that entrepreneurial loneliness. I’ll be talking much more about entrepreneurial loneliness, the mindset around what it takes to break out of that lonely hard feeling on future episodes. But in the meantime, I would love to connect with you on my insiders group. Or if you have questions about this, shoot me a message on my website and I will answer it either in an email or on air and I look forward to seeing you guys next week.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai