No entrepreneur is an island

Entrepreneurship has been put on a pedestal these days. It’s cool to be an entrepreneur, but people forget that it’s actually hard. These days many young adults easily put ‘Entrepreneur’ in their social media profiles without really understanding what that word really means.

An Entrepreneur alone, is an entrepreneur at risk. I’ve shared with you here before that because entrepreneurship is hard, many are very much prone to anxiety, depression or even mental health related concerns. Also, as I have tried the ‘Solo-preneur’ route before, I can say that it’s really difficult to go at it alone.

The days where lone business founders who did everything and were revered are long gone. Even the most experienced of entrepreneurs are dependent on the encouragement and inspiration they find in the company of others.

When you start your business, you’re full of ideas and ambitions about what you want to do with your company. But if you’re a first-time entrepreneur, you may be short on real world experience when it comes to running a business.

Business owners forget to use one of the most important tools available at their fingertips. One of the most important tools that you can use is community. Given how many pitfalls there are in the business world, it can be a lifesaver to have a mentor or at the very least, a community that listens to your concerns, ideas and get guidance.

Listening to other people’s wisdom and experience, can potentially avoid costly mistakes. It can be tempting to try and go it alone. And it may be hard to ask for help, even when we desperately need it.

Why joining a community makes sense

One of the main advantage of of joining a free or paid community-organization is the ability to network with like-minded individuals who can be your potential partners, suppliers, or customers in the future!

Now, being in a company of established and veteran businessmen and women, of course, does not guarantee success, but the wisdom one may get from such interactions can be priceless. So, while it’s valuable to have as much sound advice as possible, always remember that the final decisions you make with regards to your business—ultimately rest on you.

The community basically encourages value-exchange. It’s never too early or late to join an entrepreneur organization or community. The young ones can gain wisdom from the old, while the old can also gain new insights and benefit a lot from the innovativeness of the youth.

Here are more specific benefits:

• Learning from each others’ mistakes - Entrepreneurship is synonymous with failure.

• Knowledge transfer - communities gather knowledge and experience from its members. Also, find mentors or become a mentor yourself. And learn new business skills as well.

• Building connections - Otherwise known as networking, is a necessary skill that you will always need in business.

• Opportunities - to do many things, get referrals, collaborations, knowledge sharing, exchange-deals, joint research and so on and so forth.

A tip in choosing your desired community is that you can actually profile and find out whether the group will add value to you and your business.

'When we are dreaming alone it is only a dream. When we are dreaming with others, it is the beginning of reality.' - Dom Hélder Câmara

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Vernon Joseph Go is a Real Estate Broker | Author of ‘A Lazy Investor’s Way’ | Online Content Creator