Tips & Talk 31 – How to Start Your Own Mastermind Group
Masterminds. Perhaps you’ve invested in one before that included a professional moderator and was timebound – a few months or even a year. These is the traditional structure of a formal mastermind.
I’m talking today about how you can create your own local mastermind group. It brings a level of support that will prove to be a powerful resource to move your business forward. And it’s free!
I’ve also created a blog covering all the points I bring up in the podcast. To read or print this out for your own mastermind development use, you can access it here.
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Transcript
Hi there.
Speaker:It's Sue.
Speaker:And thanks for joining me for tips and talk day.
Speaker:These are bite-sized topics that I pull from community questions and
Speaker:things that I'm observing in the world of handmade small business.
Speaker:If you'd like to submit a topic,
Speaker:DME, over on Instagram at gift biz unwrapped today,
Speaker:we're going to talk about masterminds and more importantly,
Speaker:how you can create your own mastermind.
Speaker:I think that probably a lot of you have heard about
Speaker:masterminds. It's like,
Speaker:oh my gosh,
Speaker:they're going to cost thousands of dollars.
Speaker:Sometimes masterminds are tens of thousands of dollars.
Speaker:And this isn't for you.
Speaker:I'm going to tell you about how you can make your
Speaker:own mastermind,
Speaker:what the elements are,
Speaker:what the advantages are coming from your girl who has done
Speaker:this. I have been part of a local mastermind for 20
Speaker:years. Truth is it's just disbanded,
Speaker:but that's because of lifestyle changes.
Speaker:People moving businesses,
Speaker:completing their lifecycle,
Speaker:et cetera.
Speaker:A mastermind is a group of people getting together.
Speaker:You can do this either virtually,
Speaker:but I really think the very best thing is in person.
Speaker:And that's what I'm going to be talking to you about
Speaker:right now and helping each other,
Speaker:grow your businesses.
Speaker:The value of doing this is a few things.
Speaker:Number one,
Speaker:you learn from other people.
Speaker:Number two,
Speaker:you get a chance to strategize,
Speaker:kick around ideas with people who aren't just friends or family,
Speaker:people who are also trying to grow their own business.
Speaker:And they may have some ideas that can apply to you.
Speaker:They may have done some things that you're thinking about and
Speaker:give you some cautionary tales or some advice to way to
Speaker:go back and forth and talk about what you're planning to
Speaker:do. So you don't feel all alone,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:as a solo entrepreneur,
Speaker:just being all by yourself.
Speaker:And then the third thing is accountability.
Speaker:Because once you create a plan and you tell everybody in
Speaker:your mastermind that you're going to do it,
Speaker:then the trick is actually following through and taking the action.
Speaker:Those are the values of masterminds learning the ability to do
Speaker:strategic planning with people who get it and then accountability.
Speaker:And guess what?
Speaker:You don't need to always join an organized mastermind where you're
Speaker:having to pay money into the system to get the advantages
Speaker:that a mastermind can bring.
Speaker:I was mentioning a minute ago that I was part of
Speaker:a mastermind here locally for years,
Speaker:at least a decade.
Speaker:I'm not even sure if it was more than that.
Speaker:And I'll tell you something.
Speaker:We went through selling businesses,
Speaker:having people being sued,
Speaker:buying businesses,
Speaker:some personal things too,
Speaker:like adopting a child from overseas,
Speaker:let's see employee problems,
Speaker:all different types of things we talked about.
Speaker:You can imagine within the 10 years of being in a
Speaker:mastermind, what ended up happening as we progressed in time,
Speaker:we all knew each other's businesses.
Speaker:So well,
Speaker:we could celebrate the wins.
Speaker:We could be there for support with the challenges,
Speaker:but we had each other's backs.
Speaker:And how awesome is it?
Speaker:When you have a group of people,
Speaker:you can help in an instant because you know their businesses
Speaker:so well.
Speaker:So let me share with you here.
Speaker:Some steps of what to do,
Speaker:if you are interested in creating your own mastermind.
Speaker:The first thing that I would look at is the selection
Speaker:of people who you want to reach out to,
Speaker:to be part of your mastermind.
Speaker:My advice here is not to select people who are in
Speaker:the same industry as you.
Speaker:Why? Because different industries provide different opportunities for learning.
Speaker:And so people will bring more information to the table for
Speaker:you. For example,
Speaker:in the mastermind that I had,
Speaker:we had me.
Speaker:And at that point I was in my gift basket business.
Speaker:When I first started,
Speaker:of course now I've evolved to my other businesses,
Speaker:but I also came with a corporate sales and marketing background.
Speaker:We had an organizer,
Speaker:she came from corporate HR.
Speaker:So now there's another layer of experience that we can tap
Speaker:into. Then we had an orthodontist,
Speaker:by the way,
Speaker:she's the first woman president of the national orthodontic association,
Speaker:shout out to Robin.
Speaker:She was also a professor at a local university.
Speaker:Then we also had a travel agent and gosh,
Speaker:how that industry has changed from 15 years ago.
Speaker:So you can see that by bringing people in from other
Speaker:types of industries,
Speaker:you're layering on the value and the knowledge that'll be around
Speaker:a table for a mastermind.
Speaker:First thing is the selection of the people.
Speaker:Second thing I would suggest is size somewhere between four and
Speaker:six people.
Speaker:The reason for that is you can have a very small,
Speaker:intimate discussion.
Speaker:I know masterminds can get up to 12,
Speaker:18 people,
Speaker:which is fine.
Speaker:If it's more structured and you're actually paying for that structure
Speaker:where you have a moderator,
Speaker:but if you're putting your own group together,
Speaker:keep it smaller.
Speaker:Four to six would be my advice.
Speaker:Personalities is the third point.
Speaker:If you're the one who's putting this together,
Speaker:you can reach out and we're Nate and organize people who
Speaker:you already know personalities don't have to match,
Speaker:but they should blend together.
Speaker:So they should be compatible because there will come times as
Speaker:you get to know each other better,
Speaker:where you might challenge each other and say,
Speaker:Hey, I think you could be doing more than you're doing.
Speaker:Or what do you think about doing this?
Speaker:I know you're afraid to do it,
Speaker:but make a commitment,
Speaker:go to that craft show next weekend,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:or, or whatever the case might be.
Speaker:And you want to have compatible personalities to be able to
Speaker:do that.
Speaker:The next thing after you have invited people to be in
Speaker:the group.
Speaker:So let's say you've selected your four to six people and
Speaker:they've said,
Speaker:yes. So yay for you.
Speaker:Now let's talk about where you would meet the big value
Speaker:here is meeting in person.
Speaker:What we did is selected a local,
Speaker:no, not local well local,
Speaker:because it was easy enough to drive to,
Speaker:and we'd talk over dinner,
Speaker:nothing wrong with talking business over a glass of wine and
Speaker:a nice meal,
Speaker:have a meeting place that all of you will look forward
Speaker:to going to,
Speaker:and I suggest that it not be right in your hometown
Speaker:or right in a popular location.
Speaker:You want it to be where you can grab your own
Speaker:table off to the side where people aren't going to be
Speaker:coming up and saying hi to you every minute,
Speaker:because this should be considered a business meeting.
Speaker:You're strategizing with other people about their businesses,
Speaker:right? So you want it to be uninterrupted time,
Speaker:albeit fun,
Speaker:entertaining time,
Speaker:which is what you can do.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:if you're doing this over a meal that's location,
Speaker:you want to make sure that it's an atmosphere that allows
Speaker:some level of privacy.
Speaker:Because if you're talking about something that's personal,
Speaker:you don't want the table over to be able to hear
Speaker:that. Now with social distancing lately,
Speaker:that's become less of an issue,
Speaker:but it's something to think about when you're thinking about a
Speaker:location. Now you've picked your location.
Speaker:Let's talk about the schedule we used to meet monthly and
Speaker:monthly. I felt was a really good timeframe because it was
Speaker:enough time for people to accomplish things that they decided they
Speaker:were going to get taken care of and done.
Speaker:And then they can report back within four weeks.
Speaker:Right? But it's not too much where you're going too far.
Speaker:Like if you met quarterly,
Speaker:I don't think that that's enough for a mastermind.
Speaker:So monthly,
Speaker:I think is perfect.
Speaker:And what we did is we said the second Tuesday of
Speaker:every month,
Speaker:something specific,
Speaker:so we could get it in our calendar right away.
Speaker:Everybody knew that that was the date.
Speaker:And I'll tell you,
Speaker:we were so committed to each other.
Speaker:That pretty much nothing overrode those dates,
Speaker:unless like you're out at a show which you can't change
Speaker:the dates of a show.
Speaker:Something happens with illnesses,
Speaker:that type of thing.
Speaker:We were really,
Speaker:really committed to being there for ourselves,
Speaker:but more for each other,
Speaker:by being able to put those dates in your calendar,
Speaker:right from the start,
Speaker:you're more likely to be able to honor those dates.
Speaker:Okay. So you all get together around a table.
Speaker:Now, what are you going to talk about?
Speaker:The best thing to do when you're just starting,
Speaker:obviously, as you have to learn about each other and gain
Speaker:a level of trust with each other,
Speaker:go around the table.
Speaker:Talk about your businesses a little bit about your family,
Speaker:because business does include personal life.
Speaker:Obviously get to know each other.
Speaker:And this takes a little bit of time.
Speaker:And over the course of meetings,
Speaker:your trust will develop and then talk about where your business
Speaker:is and what you're trying to achieve,
Speaker:or what your biggest challenges next.
Speaker:And then get feedback.
Speaker:It's like being on a hot seat where you are now
Speaker:talking about your business and you're offering up a topic to
Speaker:everybody that the table to give input on what ideas might
Speaker:they have brainstorming and conversation at each meeting.
Speaker:And this is another reason why you want to keep it
Speaker:between four and six people at each meeting,
Speaker:everybody gets to talk,
Speaker:okay? So everybody is giving help and everyone is getting help
Speaker:for their situations.
Speaker:And then when you get really comfortable,
Speaker:then you start holding people accountable.
Speaker:So you say,
Speaker:all right,
Speaker:this is what you said you were going to do by
Speaker:next time we meet,
Speaker:I want to know if it's done.
Speaker:And so then there's linkage between each meeting because one person,
Speaker:what they said they were going to do,
Speaker:then the next time you follow up and say,
Speaker:well, how did it go?
Speaker:What stumbling blocks did you have?
Speaker:Is it all done?
Speaker:What are you moving onto next?
Speaker:So that's where that whole accountability comes in.
Speaker:There are also times maybe where you'll decide we're going to
Speaker:tackle a topic that we all need to do.
Speaker:There was a point where I was talking about my business
Speaker:plan and everyone else's like business plan.
Speaker:What's a business plan.
Speaker:Why do you need a business plan?
Speaker:What is that?
Speaker:Anyway? And I have a whole different feeling today about business
Speaker:plans than I did then,
Speaker:but that led into each of us creating a business plan,
Speaker:not just to have on paper,
Speaker:to put on a shelf,
Speaker:never to look at it again,
Speaker:but to use as a working document,
Speaker:to guide our business forward for the year.
Speaker:That was a really interesting year.
Speaker:When we did those,
Speaker:you can see that you can start with topic that you
Speaker:are all going to share or each individual person what you're
Speaker:encountering in your business,
Speaker:where your challenges are and what are the next steps.
Speaker:We went through a whole bunch of different types of things
Speaker:that you may never encounter in your business,
Speaker:but how great is it to be able to be supportive
Speaker:and willing to help another person with what's going on in
Speaker:their business and knowledge,
Speaker:intimate knowledge,
Speaker:I'll say behind the scenes of other businesses strengthened to you
Speaker:as a business owner as well.
Speaker:Obviously there's a level of trust.
Speaker:We never signed a nondisclosure agreements.
Speaker:You may decide that you need to,
Speaker:but the value of this,
Speaker:I cannot overstate when you get to the point where you
Speaker:can be so honest about your businesses with each other and
Speaker:how much you can help another person move their business forward.
Speaker:And they can give you advice and confidence so that you
Speaker:can move your business forward.
Speaker:And the final part to all of this is celebrating your
Speaker:successes. When you have a group of people who know how
Speaker:much work it was to reach a new milestone in your
Speaker:business, not only that,
Speaker:but they might have contributed to helping you get there.
Speaker:The feeling of success for all of you at the table
Speaker:in the mastermind is great.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:I was sometimes even happier for other people's achievements than my
Speaker:own because I knew how hard it was and what an
Speaker:obstacle it had been for them to be able to get
Speaker:to where they were.
Speaker:So these are all benefits of creating your own masterminds.
Speaker:And I don't mean to say here or discount in any
Speaker:way, masterminds that you might invest in.
Speaker:I think there are different things you can get out of
Speaker:those types of masterminds.
Speaker:Then you can get with creating your very own local mastermind.
Speaker:So let me summarize again,
Speaker:what the steps would be and the different points to creating
Speaker:one for yourself.
Speaker:So you're the leader you're taking control.
Speaker:You're going to create a mastermind.
Speaker:The first thing to do is the selection of people.
Speaker:Look for people who come from different industries and possible multiple
Speaker:backgrounds within their past experience,
Speaker:because they're just bringing more information to the table that you
Speaker:guys can tap into.
Speaker:Secondly, size,
Speaker:keep it four to six people.
Speaker:Third personalities doesn't mean that everybody is a similar match of
Speaker:a personality,
Speaker:but everyone blends together.
Speaker:Like you don't want someone who's dominating.
Speaker:The conversation is always talking.
Speaker:You also want people who are all givers in one way
Speaker:or another.
Speaker:Oh, I forgot to talk about this earlier.
Speaker:Gender, something to consider.
Speaker:We were an all female group it's not necessary,
Speaker:but it's something to think about as you're forming the group,
Speaker:how you would feel about that,
Speaker:whether you would want it to be all one gender or
Speaker:not. If it matters,
Speaker:whatever, then we talked about the meeting place,
Speaker:something that is convenient and a fun place where you're looking
Speaker:forward to going to a place where you're not going to
Speaker:get interrupted by people who know you and come to your
Speaker:table and interrupt you all the time,
Speaker:then set a schedule.
Speaker:I personally liked the monthly and put it on the calendar.
Speaker:So everyone knows that these are dates.
Speaker:We are committing to each other as a group.
Speaker:Like I said,
Speaker:we were over dinner.
Speaker:So our meetings were two and a half,
Speaker:three hours,
Speaker:but maybe you have a time limit.
Speaker:It's an hour and a half a timeframe where you can
Speaker:get into the issues deep enough.
Speaker:And that also everybody gets a chance to talk.
Speaker:That's really important.
Speaker:Then topics you go around.
Speaker:And if you don't have a specific topic that you're working
Speaker:on, then have everybody talk about what they've achieved within the
Speaker:last month and then where their challenges are or what they're
Speaker:working on for the next 30 days.
Speaker:It could be something big.
Speaker:It could be something little,
Speaker:it could be part of a project.
Speaker:It really depends on where everybody is at that time.
Speaker:And then of course celebrating the successes.
Speaker:Michelle's asking what if you're a newbie business owner and you
Speaker:feel you have nothing to contribute.
Speaker:This is a good point,
Speaker:Michelle, and something that I didn't bring up,
Speaker:I find that masterminds are best if everybody is somewhat at
Speaker:the same level in business.
Speaker:So if you're a business newbie,
Speaker:then I would match up with other people who have been
Speaker:in business for a year or less.
Speaker:When you don't do that,
Speaker:when you have more established business owners and then newbies,
Speaker:what happens is most of the time the established people are
Speaker:coaching and there's not as much value for that other person.
Speaker:The best thing is to try and keep it on the
Speaker:same level of time into a business.
Speaker:As you possibly can.
Speaker:You don't have to wait for someone to invite you into
Speaker:a mastermind.
Speaker:You don't have to wait to have enough money to join
Speaker:an already structured mastermind.
Speaker:You can control this yourself and reap all the benefits that
Speaker:a mastermind can offer.
Speaker:That's a wrap.
Speaker:I'm a get to the point kind of girl.
Speaker:And this is what you can expect from these quick midweek
Speaker:sessions. Now it's your turn go out and fulfill that dream
Speaker:of yours.
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