Places To Go For Help When Growing a Business

Small business owners are very resilient. We are brave and can figure out problems and succeed at what we want to do whenever we want to do it. But with that strength comes the unwillingness to ask for help. And, that reluctance to call for help can stop our business from growing. This week, I will be talking about places for you to ask for contributing to growing a business. First, you may not know the benefits of asking for help if you never did it before.

First, you need to determine if a task is worth having someone else do it. I understand that reaching out can be scary. I have always been an “I can do it myself personally.” But as I get older, I keep reminding myself that I really don’t need to struggle and spend countless hours working on tasks that take me away from building my business and getting new clients (Affiliate Link). Someone else can do it faster and better than I can. And, I am OK with that. To help you feel OK with asking for help, here are questions to ask yourself.

Questions to ask yourself before getting help growing a small business.

1. Is this task simple to hand to someone else?
2. If I outsourced this task, will I have for time for …?
3. Will this task get done faster if I don’t do it?
4. Will the task need to be done, daily, weekly, or monthly or yearly?
5. Can I afford to let go of this task?
6. Can I accept that the task may not be the way I do it?

If you are still on the fence about asking for help, here are the benefits of asking for help.

• More time to be a CEO instead of being a manager. CEOs create the vision of the business.
• More time with family. Truly have a separation between work and home. It can be done. I wrote about it in a recent post. How To Detach Yourself From Your Small Business Each Day
• You don’t have to do the work. Woo hoo. I love this one. If a task takes too long, I would rather outsource it to someone else.
• You are more open to making a change. When you accept that you can’t do something, you are more willing to find help somewhere else.
• Be able to be more empathic when others ask you for help. If you never asked for help before, you may not be able to be empathic to others that need help.  By asking for help will help you relate to others more genuinely.

Where can you go to reach out and connect with people while growing a business?

There are many places to reach out and connect with people. Here are six places I found online.

• Social media communities – there are many like-minded individuals out there in these social media communities so ask to be added to a few and ask some questions to see what responses you get.
• International Virtual Assistant Associations – this Association has a large membership that can help you with anything from website design to daily tasks. Check out the directory here.
• Chamber of Commerce – If you are looking more for in-person communication and connection, a local chamber of commerce may be for you.
• Meetup – You can also join Meetup which is an in-person meeting to find other individuals that you can connect with within your industry.
• Mentor/Peer organizations – this could be your industry associations. They most likely have social media groups to connect with other more established members.
• Career coaches and counselors – Reach out to other colleagues (Affiliate Link) and ask for referrals of career coaches they may have used. Check out this directory listing from Psychology Today’s Find a Life Coaching Therapist.

“41% of small business owners feel lonely in their work life.” from an Intuit study

If you still feel uncomfortable about asking for help from strangers, here are other ways to get help.

• Family members
• Accountant
• Bookkeepers
• Former coworkers
• Friends
• Colleagues (Affiliate Link)
• Crowdfunding sites

Remember, the more people you have in your life, the more opportunities to expand and grow your business. There’s no reason to be by yourself in your business.

Below are some posts about loneliness for entrepreneurs.

It Is Time We Acknowledged Loneliness In Entrepreneurs And Did Something About It

The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Beating Loneliness

NEW SERVICE ALERT: Recently, I added a new service called, “Virtual Admin Consults”. Where I am available on a one-time-only or ongoing basis to be the sounding board to help you hash through ideas, goals, and possible opportunities to improve your business. Read more about the service by visiting my page or clicking the image below.

Feel free to visit our other Administrative services to help you and your business.

I hope this helps you get your business into better shape. Let’s continue the conversation and leave a comment below on other resources you have used to get help.

Please note these are affiliate links through Amazon, and at no additional cost to you, I will earn affiliate fees if you decide to make a purchase.