July 1, 2024 • 29 mins
Have you ever wondered how some entrepreneurs manage to consistently achieve their goals and stay motivated? Tune in to uncover the secrets behind business masterminds and how they can revolutionize your entrepreneurial journey. This episode promises to equip you with the tools to create your own mastermind group, perfectly aligned with your unique goals and schedule, while bypassing the hefty costs of traditional setups. By gathering a group of like-minded individuals, you can tap into collective wisdom and support, fostering an environment ripe for collaboration and innovation.
We break down the essentials of forming and maintaining an effective mastermind group, highlighting the importance of clear goals, a consistent meeting schedule, and a supportive atmosphere. Learn why rotating leadership roles and sticking to an agenda are key to keeping your meetings dynamic and productive. We also address common challenges such as schedule coordination and group dynamics, providing practical solutions to keep everything running smoothly. Don’t miss our inspiring anecdotes and actionable tips designed to help you harness the power of mastermind groups for unparalleled business growth and mutual support.
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Want 30 Ways to Save Money in your Business? Download the guide here.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
You're listening to the Secrets of Successful
Business podcast, your go-tosource for business tips, tricks
and proven strategies that willhelp you create a streamlined
and profitable business.
We chat to the best minds inbusiness about their journey,
how they started, what theylearned along the way.
How long are you going to givethis Going harder?
Speaker 2 (00:21):
to get more Focus on growing more with what you have.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
What they learned along the way.
How long are you going to givethis?
Speaker 2 (00:29):
What compromises are you going to make Just because
you can do it?
Speaker 1 (00:32):
doesn't mean that you should do it.
It's really important toremember that it's a long game
and, of course, we'll ask themfor their secret sauce for
creating a successful business.
If you're not failing, you'renot doing it right.
You should be struggling attimes.
That is part of the journey.
Join us as we take a sneak peekbehind the curtain.
Talk solutions for thosebusiness pain points, working
(00:52):
smarter, not harder, mindset andthe challenges of fitting it
all in with the demands oftoday's busy lifestyle.
If you're a business owner,side hustler or just starting
your business journey, thispodcast is for you.
Now here's your host, businesscoach and content creator,
justine McLean from FlossieCreative.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Hello and thanks for joining me on the podcast today.
In case we haven't met, I'mJustine, a small business owner
on a mission to uncover andshare the secrets of creating
and running a profitable,sustainable and successful
business.
I've been in business for over20 years now and I get to use
(01:35):
all that I've learned along theway to help other women in
business reduce the overwhelm,gain visibility around their
numbers, charge what they'reworth and make more money.
It's about designing a life youlove that fits into your
definition of success.
So, if I can help you createthe profitable business you
deserve, it's about designing alife you love that fits into
your definition of success.
So if I can help you create theprofitable business you deserve
, please reach out Now.
Without further ado, let's diveinto today's episode.
(01:55):
Hi everyone and welcome to thepodcast Now.
Whether you've been in businessfor five months, five years or
you're a seasoned entrepreneur,one thing that you probably have
realized by now is thatbusiness can be quite isolating.
It's often hard to find aperson or group of people that
you can talk to about yourbusiness, that really get where
(02:16):
you're at, who can provide acollective wisdom, support,
accountability and motivation,and a lot of us spend a lot of
time looking for a group, aplace where we feel like we can
belong or where we can askquestions and hopefully get some
answers to help us keep movingour business forward, and so
(02:38):
that's why, today, I thought Iwould talk about the idea of a
business mastermind.
Now, traditionally, businessmasterminds are groups of
business owners who cometogether, usually created by
another business owner, and youpay to play.
You pay to be part of thesegroups.
(03:00):
Now, whether it is a fewhundred dollars a month or
several thousand dollars a month, obviously there are different
levels in these groups.
They're all set up a little bitdifferently, but the idea is
that in the collaboration you'llfind in this group, in the
community that you'll find inthis group, there is a benefit
to your business, whether it issharing ideas and challenges or
(03:24):
celebrating one another'ssuccess.
Working with these like-mindedindividuals can no doubt lead to
greater innovation, betterproblem solving, and it can help
you get to where you want to gofaster.
In most cases, the mastermindor the group that you join is
curated by someone else, sothere's likely to be a diverse
(03:46):
group of business owners who aregoing to come from different
business backgrounds, havedifferent areas of expertise,
different perspectives, and whoare going to be able to help you
increase your networkingopportunities and those
potential partnerships andreally accelerate your personal
and professional growth.
So there's definitely a lot ofbenefits in being in one of
(04:09):
these groups.
But the thing is for a lot ofbusiness owners that barrier to
entry is money.
To join a mastermind, to bepart of a business group or a
membership, it's very expensiveand, particularly if business is
slow, it's one of those thingsthat you probably put on the
back burner as fast as possible.
(04:29):
It's probably that first thingto go, if I'm honest.
The other thing is that quiteoften when you join one of these
groups, you might find yourselfin a group of people that
aren't quite right.
Maybe you don't have similargoals or values.
Maybe those complementaryskills and that commitment to
growth aren't there.
Maybe you're't have similargoals or values.
Maybe those complementaryskills and that commitment to
growth aren't there.
Maybe you're in a group with awhole bunch of extroverts and
(04:51):
you're an introvert and youcan't quite get what you want
out of that group because, eventhough you're paying just as
much as they are to play,they're the squeaky wheel and
you never get to ask yourquestions and it just doesn't
work.
Maybe the regular meetingschedule and the format doesn't
work for you.
There are lots of reasons thatmasterminds are good, but there
(05:11):
are also lots of reasons thatthey don't work, and when you're
paying for a mastermind, inthat scenario, you'll often find
yourself wondering why youbothered joining in the first
place, particularly if you can'tturn up and take advantage of
being in that group setting.
So today I'm going to suggestsomething a little bit wild,
because business is better whenit's shared.
(05:33):
I think we all know that andthat is you consider starting
your own mastermind and I'm nottalking about a paid mastermind
here.
Sure, if you want to do that,go right ahead.
That's a whole other episode Ican do on how to create a paid
mastermind, but what I'm talkingabout here is a mastermind of a
business collective that youbring together, people who pay
(05:57):
for things like theiraccommodation or their airfare
to get to wherever the group isbeing held, who are happy to
turn up, whether it's online oron person, at a time that's
agreed to by the entire group.
So essentially, it's a freegroup.
It just it's going to cost youyour time and if you choose, to
go away somewhere to have a bitof a retreat style get together.
(06:20):
That's where you're going tohave to pay for accommodation,
airfare food, as I said, butotherwise it's something you for
accommodation, airfare food, asI said, but otherwise it's
something you could run fornothing really.
Now, while I'm not part of amastermind of this type yet, my
aim in the next 12 months is tocreate this mastermind.
I already have two other womenthat I meet with every month.
(06:40):
We sit down and we have coffeequite often, or we all meet
virtually.
But we're going to add to thatgroup and we're going to make it
a little bit bigger, probablyabout six of us, five or six of
us in total, and we're going toget a bit more structure around
it, what we do, where we meet,that sort of thing, but right
now it's quite an informal thing.
(07:01):
The benefit is that I get tobounce ideas off other business
owners who are at the same levelas me in business, who have
other areas of expertise andwhat's costing me a bit of time
and maybe a cup of coffee.
So I think for me, just beingable to work with people that I
(07:21):
know and that I like is reallywhat it's all about.
But for you there might beother benefits there.
So I'm starting to babble.
What I will say is that if youwant to start your mastermind,
your own mastermind, I wouldhighly encourage you to do it,
and I'm just going to give you afew tips on the best way to go
about it, because it's certainlywhat I have started to do in my
(07:44):
business.
So I am going to share with youhow to get started with your
own mastermind, if that'ssomething you're interested in.
Now, the first thing to knowabout this mastermind is that
nobody is going to be in chargeof the mastermind.
There's no one person who isrunning the show.
When you're paying for someone,you're expecting the business
(08:04):
owner, the creator of themastermind, to be the one in
charge, calling the shots,telling you when it is.
That's not going to happen here.
The idea here is that even ifyou are the one instigating it
and I would highly recommendinstigating it, because if you
sit around waiting to be invited, it's probably never going to
happen so just because you'rethe one instigating it doesn't
(08:25):
mean you have to do all theorganizing and so on.
It's definitely a group effort.
It's going to be a groupdynamic.
So the first thing to do is tomake that decision that you're
happy to.
At least get it kicked off.
At least put the question outthere to a couple of other
business buddies whether theywould be interested in doing
something like this.
(08:45):
So get the conversation started.
And once you have theconversation started up and
going, it's then about thinkingokay, who are the right people
that I want to come into thisgroup?
You often, or certainly in mycase, I found that the
conversation started with justone person and together we
(09:05):
thought about okay, who are theright members, who are the
people that we would be happy tomeet with once a month, for
example, who have similar goals,complementary skills, that
commitment to growth.
And so once you identify whothose members are and honestly,
there is no right or wrongnumber of members in this group
it could start out literallywith two of you, which is what
(09:26):
started with me just two of usspending a day together,
occasionally working on ourbusiness stuff.
You can add to it, you can havea situation where you have core
group and maybe you invitedifferent individuals in at
certain points during themastermind.
So there are no right or wrongwhen it comes to the numbers,
(09:48):
but it's about taking that firststep, finding that first member
, and then the two of youtogether working out okay, who's
next?
Who else do we want to add tothis group?
It's about making sure that younot only get the right group of
people together, but that youhave some really clear goals and
objectives for the group.
So they're things likeestablishing a regular meeting
schedule and a format.
(10:09):
So, are you going to meet everymonth?
Is it going to be every quarter?
Is it going to be every sixmonths?
Is it just going to be once ayear?
Are you going to meet in person?
Are you going to meet online?
And when you do, what's theformat?
Is it going to be a hot seatformat where everybody gets 10
minutes to share their thing andthen the group weighs in on
that?
Is it going to be somethingwhere you invite outsiders to
(10:32):
come in to share informationwith the group?
So, let's say, you invite an AIexpert in to give their
interpretation of AI.
What's the format going to belike for your group?
How is it going to work?
Is it going to be the sameevery month?
Is it going to change everytime?
Where are you going to meet?
Are you going to meet online?
Are you going to aim to meet upin person?
Are you going to meet?
Are you going to meet online?
Are you going to aim to meet upin person?
(10:54):
Are you going to do it over twodays at a retreat, like a
location that is central foreverybody, where you can go away
from your day-to-day kind ofoffice and environment and work
in a location where you reallyhave that white space where
you're not going to beinterrupted.
So once you've got your group,you know what the goals and
(11:15):
objectives are for the group andyou've got that regular meeting
schedule and the format thatyou're going to use.
It's about making sure that youthen have an understanding
within the group.
So it could be things likethere's no negative talk or
everything in here needs to beconfidential.
They're just those rules forthe group.
Then it's about thinking okay,what's the technology?
(11:37):
What are the tools that we needto use to facilitate these
meetings, especially if ourmembers are in different
locations and we're choosing notto meet in person.
So it's deciding on whetherit's Zoom, whether it's
Microsoft Teams.
How are you going to meet?
How are you going to be able toshare your problems?
Are you going to whiteboardthem?
Are you going to sharedocuments in advance?
(11:59):
So it's thinking about all ofthose logistics and that is the
get-go.
You need to know what thatstructure is, and even if you
work that out with the firstperson that you bring into the
mastermind and then, as youbring additional people in, you
say, look, this is the sort ofgroup that we've created here
and this is the dynamic that weimagine going forward, then it's
(12:20):
up to people to accept that andbe part of it or say look, not
for me.
So once you've got that up andrunning who your group is you've
got everything else that Imentioned set in stone.
It's, then, about runningmeetings that are effective,
because quite often you willjump on a call and people will
start talking about non-businessrelated things.
(12:42):
You'll get off track, an hourwill go past and you would have
achieved absolutely nothing.
So it's about having thatunderstanding that you're coming
together for a set period oftime, that you're going to
follow a structure so thateverybody gets their turn and
their fair share of the time,and that you achieve maximum
(13:03):
productivity.
So it could be that you startwith your wins.
It could be that everybody hasone challenge that they want to
bring up and everybody elsebrainstorms solutions.
You could have a goal settingmeeting, a goal setting
mastermind, every third month,for example.
Maybe it's a hot seat.
As I said, there should be noreal leader.
(13:24):
It's probably worthwhilerotating that leadership role so
that it not only keeps themeetings dynamic and inclusive,
but it's not all on you, as theperson who instigated the
mastermind, to send out theinvitations and get the next
meeting sorted out.
That part's totally up to you,but the idea of it is that
everybody takes a turn in beingpart of it and getting the next
(13:48):
meeting up and running.
Then it's also about making surethat the meetings are focused
and that they stay on track towhatever agenda you agree to.
For example, if you agree to ahot seat agenda, you want
everybody to get their fairopportunity to share and receive
feedback.
So it might be okay you get 10minutes to tell us what your
(14:09):
problem is and then we're goingto spend 10 minutes giving you
feedback and every person getsthat opportunity.
It could be okay every quarterwe're going to do a goal-setting
session and here is the formulathat we're going to follow for
that goal-setting session.
But that's really importantwhen it comes to running an
effective mastermind, becausethe last thing you want is to
(14:30):
turn it into a gossip session orsomething that you weren't
anticipating when you startedout.
So really important to thinkabout that.
So you've got your inauguralmembers of your mastermind.
You have got your goals andobjectives sorted out.
You've got that regularmeetings schedule and the rules
(14:51):
around the group so that it issupportive, confidential, how
often you're going to meet.
You've got that agenda andyou've decided on a roster so
that you share around theleadership of the group.
Then it's about just gettinginto it making sure that you
turn up for each session, comeprepared with whatever is on the
(15:15):
agenda for that particularsession and participate in the
group, because you're only goingto get out of the group what
you put into the group.
And I think if you've ever beenin a group, you'll know that
the people who get the most outof the group, who get the most
benefit, are the ones who reallynot only lean in and get
(15:36):
involved during the groupsessions, but then who go away
and put what they have discussedor what they've committed to
into place.
But there's no doubt thatwhenever you have a collective
of business owners together,there are going to be some
problems.
There are going to bechallenges that you need to
overcome, so I think it's bestto be aware that they're going
(15:58):
to exist and to address thosechallenges, and they could be
anything from coordinatingschedules to managing the group
dynamics as they come up.
And it's worth thinking toyourself before you get into
this okay, what could the issuesbe?
And if these issues arise, howare we going to overcome them?
(16:19):
As I said, you're not reallystarting this group to be a
leader.
You're starting this group tomake sure that you have a
collaborative group oflike-minded business owners who
really trust, respect each otherand who are prepared to work
together and keep theinformation within the group
confidential, but who are keento participate and who want to
(16:43):
commit to the outcomes thatyou've agreed to from the very
start, and I think that's reallyimportant.
And so there's no doubt thatyou will create this group and
there will be hiccups along theway.
There are going to bepersonality challenges, because
you and the first person youapproach might get on like a
house on fire because you'veknown one another for a long
(17:05):
time, for example, but maybethat third person you bring into
the group isn't quite right forthe group dynamic.
So I think it's reallyimportant to test the waters,
see how it goes and nip theproblems in the bud.
If there is an issue with thegroup, whether it's an etiquette
issue, whether it's some otherchallenge that arises in the
(17:27):
group, because someone is rude,for example, I think it's best
to nip that in the bud.
So definitely worth thinkingabout that before you really
kick off.
And then, once you kick off,it's about maintaining that
consistency with the group,making sure that you stick to
what you've decided on at thevery beginning, that you
(17:49):
continually emphasize with thegroup the importance of
respecting one another andrespecting the structure that
you have created for the group.
It's about making sure that youare looking at what people need
in the group to make themcomfortable and making sure that
(18:09):
you're supporting each other inthat as well.
I think for a lot of businessowners, just being able to work
very closely with businessowners who have those
like-minded values, who are at asimilar level maybe in a
different industry, for exampleis really valuable.
I heard Amy Porterfield tell astory the other day about a
(18:32):
group that she was in where twoof her members, two of the
members of her mastermind,essentially both work in the
same space.
One of them is quite new to thespace.
The other one has been in thatspace for a long time and the
person who had been in the spacefor a long time generously gave
over more or less theirhandbook to the person who was
(18:52):
just starting out, just to helpthem avoid all of those pitfalls
.
So I think you have to comeinto the group generously, but I
think everybody needs to be onthe same page and I think if
there is an issue within thegroup, you have to deal with it
quickly.
So for me, over many years,working with one or two business
(19:13):
buddies has definitely beeninfluential in my business.
It's certainly meant that Ihave achieved my goal of being
in a mastermind, but I've doneit at basically no cost.
It's helped me not only movethe needle in my business but
also be able to share thosehighs and those lows with
(19:33):
someone who gets it, someone whoreally understands what I'm
going through.
And having that person on speeddial where you can reach out
and say, hey, this is what'sgoing on and know that you're
going to get an answer, that isprobably no BS.
That's going to help you knowthe next best step.
I think if you find yourself ina group, even if you were the
(19:56):
instigator, that just doesn'twork for you, though.
It's important to either putyour hand up and say something
or to bow out of that groupgracefully, because, like
anything, you can't turnsomething into what it isn't.
So keep that in mind with yourmastermind as well.
Sometimes the dynamic is goingto work really well, and
(20:17):
sometimes it isn't, but there'sno question that having a great
group of business owners thatyou meet up with often, even if
a few members come and go,there's no question that it's
going to help you in yourbusiness.
I think so often when we thinkabout business and we think
about the people that we need inour lives to help us push
(20:40):
forward to that next level ofour business, our default is to
go to paid opportunities, to payto play, to join a group or a
membership where it's all veryorganized, all very constructed
for us, and we literally justneed to turn up.
But there is definitely a magicin having or being part of a
(21:02):
group that you have created,something that is not going to
cost you anything, unless youchoose to go to a fabulous
location and get together andmeet that way, and so, if you
haven't considered it alreadyand you are feeling quite
isolated and alone in yourbusiness, it's definitely
(21:22):
something that I would encourageyou to think about starting
your own mastermind, because, asI said, business is definitely
better when it's shared.
So I hope that has resonatedwith you.
Let me know if you choose tostart your own mastermind.
I'll keep you posted on mymastermind.
It's very small at the moment,but it works for us and that's
(21:45):
great, and we've certainly donesome good things together.
So until next time.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
Thanks for listening to the Secrets of Successful
Business podcast.
For more information on allthings business, head to
flossycomau and make sure youhit subscribe on the show so you
don't miss another new episode.
If you're enjoying the show,please give it a quick rating or
review, share it on yoursocials or with friends who
might enjoy it.
(22:12):
Catch you next time.
You're listening to the Secrets of Successful
Business podcast, your go-tosource for business tips, tricks
and proven strategies that willhelp you create a streamlined
and profitable business.
We chat to the best minds inbusiness about their journey,
how they started, what theylearned along the way.
How long are you going to givethis Going harder?
Speaker 2 (00:21):
to get more Focus on growing more with what you have.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
What they learned along the way.
How long are you going to givethis?
Speaker 2 (00:29):
What compromises are you going to make Just because
you can do it?
Speaker 1 (00:32):
doesn't mean that you should do it.
It's really important toremember that it's a long game
and, of course, we'll ask themfor their secret sauce for
creating a successful business.
If you're not failing, you'renot doing it right.
You should be struggling attimes.
That is part of the journey.
Join us as we take a sneak peekbehind the curtain.
Talk solutions for thosebusiness pain points, working
(00:52):
smarter, not harder, mindset andthe challenges of fitting it
all in with the demands oftoday's busy lifestyle.
If you're a business owner,side hustler or just starting
your business journey, thispodcast is for you.
Now here's your host, businesscoach and content creator,
justine McLean from FlossieCreative.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Hello and thanks for joining me on the podcast today.
In case we haven't met, I'mJustine, a small business owner
on a mission to uncover andshare the secrets of creating
and running a profitable,sustainable and successful
business.
I've been in business for over20 years now and I get to use
(01:35):
all that I've learned along theway to help other women in
business reduce the overwhelm,gain visibility around their
numbers, charge what they'reworth and make more money.
It's about designing a life youlove that fits into your
definition of success.
So, if I can help you createthe profitable business you
deserve, it's about designing alife you love that fits into
your definition of success.
So if I can help you create theprofitable business you deserve
, please reach out Now.
Without further ado, let's diveinto today's episode.
(01:55):
Hi everyone and welcome to thepodcast Now.
Whether you've been in businessfor five months, five years or
you're a seasoned entrepreneur,one thing that you probably have
realized by now is thatbusiness can be quite isolating.
It's often hard to find aperson or group of people that
you can talk to about yourbusiness, that really get where
(02:16):
you're at, who can provide acollective wisdom, support,
accountability and motivation,and a lot of us spend a lot of
time looking for a group, aplace where we feel like we can
belong or where we can askquestions and hopefully get some
answers to help us keep movingour business forward, and so
(02:38):
that's why, today, I thought Iwould talk about the idea of a
business mastermind.
Now, traditionally, businessmasterminds are groups of
business owners who cometogether, usually created by
another business owner, and youpay to play.
You pay to be part of thesegroups.
(03:00):
Now, whether it is a fewhundred dollars a month or
several thousand dollars a month, obviously there are different
levels in these groups.
They're all set up a little bitdifferently, but the idea is
that in the collaboration you'llfind in this group, in the
community that you'll find inthis group, there is a benefit
to your business, whether it issharing ideas and challenges or
(03:24):
celebrating one another'ssuccess.
Working with these like-mindedindividuals can no doubt lead to
greater innovation, betterproblem solving, and it can help
you get to where you want to gofaster.
In most cases, the mastermindor the group that you join is
curated by someone else, sothere's likely to be a diverse
(03:46):
group of business owners who aregoing to come from different
business backgrounds, havedifferent areas of expertise,
different perspectives, and whoare going to be able to help you
increase your networkingopportunities and those
potential partnerships andreally accelerate your personal
and professional growth.
So there's definitely a lot ofbenefits in being in one of
(04:09):
these groups.
But the thing is for a lot ofbusiness owners that barrier to
entry is money.
To join a mastermind, to bepart of a business group or a
membership, it's very expensiveand, particularly if business is
slow, it's one of those thingsthat you probably put on the
back burner as fast as possible.
(04:29):
It's probably that first thingto go, if I'm honest.
The other thing is that quiteoften when you join one of these
groups, you might find yourselfin a group of people that
aren't quite right.
Maybe you don't have similargoals or values.
Maybe those complementaryskills and that commitment to
growth aren't there.
Maybe you're't have similargoals or values.
Maybe those complementaryskills and that commitment to
growth aren't there.
Maybe you're in a group with awhole bunch of extroverts and
(04:51):
you're an introvert and youcan't quite get what you want
out of that group because, eventhough you're paying just as
much as they are to play,they're the squeaky wheel and
you never get to ask yourquestions and it just doesn't
work.
Maybe the regular meetingschedule and the format doesn't
work for you.
There are lots of reasons thatmasterminds are good, but there
(05:11):
are also lots of reasons thatthey don't work, and when you're
paying for a mastermind, inthat scenario, you'll often find
yourself wondering why youbothered joining in the first
place, particularly if you can'tturn up and take advantage of
being in that group setting.
So today I'm going to suggestsomething a little bit wild,
because business is better whenit's shared.
(05:33):
I think we all know that andthat is you consider starting
your own mastermind and I'm nottalking about a paid mastermind
here.
Sure, if you want to do that,go right ahead.
That's a whole other episode Ican do on how to create a paid
mastermind, but what I'm talkingabout here is a mastermind of a
business collective that youbring together, people who pay
(05:57):
for things like theiraccommodation or their airfare
to get to wherever the group isbeing held, who are happy to
turn up, whether it's online oron person, at a time that's
agreed to by the entire group.
So essentially, it's a freegroup.
It just it's going to cost youyour time and if you choose, to
go away somewhere to have a bitof a retreat style get together.
(06:20):
That's where you're going tohave to pay for accommodation,
airfare food, as I said, butotherwise it's something you for
accommodation, airfare food, asI said, but otherwise it's
something you could run fornothing really.
Now, while I'm not part of amastermind of this type yet, my
aim in the next 12 months is tocreate this mastermind.
I already have two other womenthat I meet with every month.
(06:40):
We sit down and we have coffeequite often, or we all meet
virtually.
But we're going to add to thatgroup and we're going to make it
a little bit bigger, probablyabout six of us, five or six of
us in total, and we're going toget a bit more structure around
it, what we do, where we meet,that sort of thing, but right
now it's quite an informal thing.
(07:01):
The benefit is that I get tobounce ideas off other business
owners who are at the same levelas me in business, who have
other areas of expertise andwhat's costing me a bit of time
and maybe a cup of coffee.
So I think for me, just beingable to work with people that I
(07:21):
know and that I like is reallywhat it's all about.
But for you there might beother benefits there.
So I'm starting to babble.
What I will say is that if youwant to start your mastermind,
your own mastermind, I wouldhighly encourage you to do it,
and I'm just going to give you afew tips on the best way to go
about it, because it's certainlywhat I have started to do in my
(07:44):
business.
So I am going to share with youhow to get started with your
own mastermind, if that'ssomething you're interested in.
Now, the first thing to knowabout this mastermind is that
nobody is going to be in chargeof the mastermind.
There's no one person who isrunning the show.
When you're paying for someone,you're expecting the business
(08:04):
owner, the creator of themastermind, to be the one in
charge, calling the shots,telling you when it is.
That's not going to happen here.
The idea here is that even ifyou are the one instigating it
and I would highly recommendinstigating it, because if you
sit around waiting to be invited, it's probably never going to
happen so just because you'rethe one instigating it doesn't
(08:25):
mean you have to do all theorganizing and so on.
It's definitely a group effort.
It's going to be a groupdynamic.
So the first thing to do is tomake that decision that you're
happy to.
At least get it kicked off.
At least put the question outthere to a couple of other
business buddies whether theywould be interested in doing
something like this.
(08:45):
So get the conversation started.
And once you have theconversation started up and
going, it's then about thinkingokay, who are the right people
that I want to come into thisgroup?
You often, or certainly in mycase, I found that the
conversation started with justone person and together we
(09:05):
thought about okay, who are theright members, who are the
people that we would be happy tomeet with once a month, for
example, who have similar goals,complementary skills, that
commitment to growth.
And so once you identify whothose members are and honestly,
there is no right or wrongnumber of members in this group
it could start out literallywith two of you, which is what
(09:26):
started with me just two of usspending a day together,
occasionally working on ourbusiness stuff.
You can add to it, you can havea situation where you have core
group and maybe you invitedifferent individuals in at
certain points during themastermind.
So there are no right or wrongwhen it comes to the numbers,
(09:48):
but it's about taking that firststep, finding that first member
, and then the two of youtogether working out okay, who's
next?
Who else do we want to add tothis group?
It's about making sure that younot only get the right group of
people together, but that youhave some really clear goals and
objectives for the group.
So they're things likeestablishing a regular meeting
schedule and a format.
(10:09):
So, are you going to meet everymonth?
Is it going to be every quarter?
Is it going to be every sixmonths?
Is it just going to be once ayear?
Are you going to meet in person?
Are you going to meet online?
And when you do, what's theformat?
Is it going to be a hot seatformat where everybody gets 10
minutes to share their thing andthen the group weighs in on
that?
Is it going to be somethingwhere you invite outsiders to
(10:32):
come in to share informationwith the group?
So, let's say, you invite an AIexpert in to give their
interpretation of AI.
What's the format going to belike for your group?
How is it going to work?
Is it going to be the sameevery month?
Is it going to change everytime?
Where are you going to meet?
Are you going to meet online?
Are you going to aim to meet upin person?
Are you going to meet?
Are you going to meet online?
Are you going to aim to meet upin person?
(10:54):
Are you going to do it over twodays at a retreat, like a
location that is central foreverybody, where you can go away
from your day-to-day kind ofoffice and environment and work
in a location where you reallyhave that white space where
you're not going to beinterrupted.
So once you've got your group,you know what the goals and
(11:15):
objectives are for the group andyou've got that regular meeting
schedule and the format thatyou're going to use.
It's about making sure that youthen have an understanding
within the group.
So it could be things likethere's no negative talk or
everything in here needs to beconfidential.
They're just those rules forthe group.
Then it's about thinking okay,what's the technology?
(11:37):
What are the tools that we needto use to facilitate these
meetings, especially if ourmembers are in different
locations and we're choosing notto meet in person.
So it's deciding on whetherit's Zoom, whether it's
Microsoft Teams.
How are you going to meet?
How are you going to be able toshare your problems?
Are you going to whiteboardthem?
Are you going to sharedocuments in advance?
(11:59):
So it's thinking about all ofthose logistics and that is the
get-go.
You need to know what thatstructure is, and even if you
work that out with the firstperson that you bring into the
mastermind and then, as youbring additional people in, you
say, look, this is the sort ofgroup that we've created here
and this is the dynamic that weimagine going forward, then it's
(12:20):
up to people to accept that andbe part of it or say look, not
for me.
So once you've got that up andrunning who your group is you've
got everything else that Imentioned set in stone.
It's, then, about runningmeetings that are effective,
because quite often you willjump on a call and people will
start talking about non-businessrelated things.
(12:42):
You'll get off track, an hourwill go past and you would have
achieved absolutely nothing.
So it's about having thatunderstanding that you're coming
together for a set period oftime, that you're going to
follow a structure so thateverybody gets their turn and
their fair share of the time,and that you achieve maximum
(13:03):
productivity.
So it could be that you startwith your wins.
It could be that everybody hasone challenge that they want to
bring up and everybody elsebrainstorms solutions.
You could have a goal settingmeeting, a goal setting
mastermind, every third month,for example.
Maybe it's a hot seat.
As I said, there should be noreal leader.
(13:24):
It's probably worthwhilerotating that leadership role so
that it not only keeps themeetings dynamic and inclusive,
but it's not all on you, as theperson who instigated the
mastermind, to send out theinvitations and get the next
meeting sorted out.
That part's totally up to you,but the idea of it is that
everybody takes a turn in beingpart of it and getting the next
(13:48):
meeting up and running.
Then it's also about making surethat the meetings are focused
and that they stay on track towhatever agenda you agree to.
For example, if you agree to ahot seat agenda, you want
everybody to get their fairopportunity to share and receive
feedback.
So it might be okay you get 10minutes to tell us what your
(14:09):
problem is and then we're goingto spend 10 minutes giving you
feedback and every person getsthat opportunity.
It could be okay every quarterwe're going to do a goal-setting
session and here is the formulathat we're going to follow for
that goal-setting session.
But that's really importantwhen it comes to running an
effective mastermind, becausethe last thing you want is to
(14:30):
turn it into a gossip session orsomething that you weren't
anticipating when you startedout.
So really important to thinkabout that.
So you've got your inauguralmembers of your mastermind.
You have got your goals andobjectives sorted out.
You've got that regularmeetings schedule and the rules
(14:51):
around the group so that it issupportive, confidential, how
often you're going to meet.
You've got that agenda andyou've decided on a roster so
that you share around theleadership of the group.
Then it's about just gettinginto it making sure that you
turn up for each session, comeprepared with whatever is on the
(15:15):
agenda for that particularsession and participate in the
group, because you're only goingto get out of the group what
you put into the group.
And I think if you've ever beenin a group, you'll know that
the people who get the most outof the group, who get the most
benefit, are the ones who reallynot only lean in and get
(15:36):
involved during the groupsessions, but then who go away
and put what they have discussedor what they've committed to
into place.
But there's no doubt thatwhenever you have a collective
of business owners together,there are going to be some
problems.
There are going to bechallenges that you need to
overcome, so I think it's bestto be aware that they're going
(15:58):
to exist and to address thosechallenges, and they could be
anything from coordinatingschedules to managing the group
dynamics as they come up.
And it's worth thinking toyourself before you get into
this okay, what could the issuesbe?
And if these issues arise, howare we going to overcome them?
(16:19):
As I said, you're not reallystarting this group to be a
leader.
You're starting this group tomake sure that you have a
collaborative group oflike-minded business owners who
really trust, respect each otherand who are prepared to work
together and keep theinformation within the group
confidential, but who are keento participate and who want to
(16:43):
commit to the outcomes thatyou've agreed to from the very
start, and I think that's reallyimportant.
And so there's no doubt thatyou will create this group and
there will be hiccups along theway.
There are going to bepersonality challenges, because
you and the first person youapproach might get on like a
house on fire because you'veknown one another for a long
(17:05):
time, for example, but maybethat third person you bring into
the group isn't quite right forthe group dynamic.
So I think it's reallyimportant to test the waters,
see how it goes and nip theproblems in the bud.
If there is an issue with thegroup, whether it's an etiquette
issue, whether it's some otherchallenge that arises in the
(17:27):
group, because someone is rude,for example, I think it's best
to nip that in the bud.
So definitely worth thinkingabout that before you really
kick off.
And then, once you kick off,it's about maintaining that
consistency with the group,making sure that you stick to
what you've decided on at thevery beginning, that you
(17:49):
continually emphasize with thegroup the importance of
respecting one another andrespecting the structure that
you have created for the group.
It's about making sure that youare looking at what people need
in the group to make themcomfortable and making sure that
(18:09):
you're supporting each other inthat as well.
I think for a lot of businessowners, just being able to work
very closely with businessowners who have those
like-minded values, who are at asimilar level maybe in a
different industry, for exampleis really valuable.
I heard Amy Porterfield tell astory the other day about a
(18:32):
group that she was in where twoof her members, two of the
members of her mastermind,essentially both work in the
same space.
One of them is quite new to thespace.
The other one has been in thatspace for a long time and the
person who had been in the spacefor a long time generously gave
over more or less theirhandbook to the person who was
(18:52):
just starting out, just to helpthem avoid all of those pitfalls
.
So I think you have to comeinto the group generously, but I
think everybody needs to be onthe same page and I think if
there is an issue within thegroup, you have to deal with it
quickly.
So for me, over many years,working with one or two business
(19:13):
buddies has definitely beeninfluential in my business.
It's certainly meant that Ihave achieved my goal of being
in a mastermind, but I've doneit at basically no cost.
It's helped me not only movethe needle in my business but
also be able to share thosehighs and those lows with
(19:33):
someone who gets it, someone whoreally understands what I'm
going through.
And having that person on speeddial where you can reach out
and say, hey, this is what'sgoing on and know that you're
going to get an answer, that isprobably no BS.
That's going to help you knowthe next best step.
I think if you find yourself ina group, even if you were the
(19:56):
instigator, that just doesn'twork for you, though.
It's important to either putyour hand up and say something
or to bow out of that groupgracefully, because, like
anything, you can't turnsomething into what it isn't.
So keep that in mind with yourmastermind as well.
Sometimes the dynamic is goingto work really well, and
(20:17):
sometimes it isn't, but there'sno question that having a great
group of business owners thatyou meet up with often, even if
a few members come and go,there's no question that it's
going to help you in yourbusiness.
I think so often when we thinkabout business and we think
about the people that we need inour lives to help us push
(20:40):
forward to that next level ofour business, our default is to
go to paid opportunities, to payto play, to join a group or a
membership where it's all veryorganized, all very constructed
for us, and we literally justneed to turn up.
But there is definitely a magicin having or being part of a
(21:02):
group that you have created,something that is not going to
cost you anything, unless youchoose to go to a fabulous
location and get together andmeet that way, and so, if you
haven't considered it alreadyand you are feeling quite
isolated and alone in yourbusiness, it's definitely
(21:22):
something that I would encourageyou to think about starting
your own mastermind, because, asI said, business is definitely
better when it's shared.
So I hope that has resonatedwith you.
Let me know if you choose tostart your own mastermind.
I'll keep you posted on mymastermind.
It's very small at the moment,but it works for us and that's
(21:45):
great, and we've certainly donesome good things together.
So until next time.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
Thanks for listening to the Secrets of Successful
Business podcast.
For more information on allthings business, head to
flossycomau and make sure youhit subscribe on the show so you
don't miss another new episode.
If you're enjoying the show,please give it a quick rating or
review, share it on yoursocials or with friends who
might enjoy it.
(22:12):
Catch you next time.
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