Episode 104: How To Cultivate A Supportive Community Around You As A Small Business Owner
Our group coaching program is now open. Apply between 3 June 2021 and 17 June 2021. Find all the information over on our Group Coaching page
Are you a small business owner in need of support from the people around you - whether they are people you already know or small business owners you’ve just met? In this coaching episode with Fiona, she gives us a reminder about the importance of cultivating crews and she also talks about the benefits of joining group coaching programs.
Topics discussed in this episode:
Introduction
Getting the support crew you need
The 5 Crews you need
Core crew
Bounce off crew
Creator crew
External crew
Aligned groups crew
On working for yourself
Having friends in the same field as you
Paying for group coaching
Benefits of group coaching
The My Daily Business Coach Group Coaching Program
Competition Reminders
Conclusion
Resources mentioned in this episode:
Episode transcript:
How are you going to cultivate a community around you? And it doesn't need to be a massive community. Even a couple of friends, a couple of people that are in a similar position, they also run small businesses and maybe they have similar lifestyles to you. So if you're in the regional area, maybe they're also in regional areas. If you have children, maybe they also are parents so that they understand the challenges that you're going through.
Hello and welcome to episode 104 of the My Daily Business Coach podcast. My name is Fiona Killackey. I'm your host. I'm an accredited business coach, and I've been working with small business owners for six years now. And prior to that for about 15 years in marketing and content and kind of brand roles, but today you are listening to a coaching episode and we dive into one kind of element of small business. But before I get stuck into that, I wanted to remind you that we are still running a 100 episode kind of competition. So because we hit 100 episodes of this podcast and that's a real milestone and a joy to celebrate as somebody who just didn't know how this podcast would go. So we decided on the hundredth episode, which you can go and listen to if you haven't listened to it already.
But we talked about a competition, which is purely for you to share any episode of the podcast. And you can do that on social media. Just make sure you tag at @mydailybusinesscoach so that we see it. You can share it on a blog and just send us a link. You can share it through an email and send us a link to that. And you can do all of those just by emailing us hello@mydailybusinesscoach.com. You can also leave a review on the Apple podcast page for My Daily Business Coach podcast. And if we see you do that, or we get your email, or we see you tag us on Instagram, you will go into the draw to win one of 10 $100 vouchers to spend on the mydailybusinesscoach.com Shop. So that means you could take a $100 off a coaching session with me.
You could take a hundred dollars off some of our courses, you can buy some of the courses they're less than a hundred dollars. You could buy some of the e-books or content planners, or really so much, or you can even gift it to a friend. If you're like, I've got a friend who this would really benefit and you know, it's a pretty good gift. So if you want to enter that and make sure that you do it before 11:59 PM Australian Eastern standard time on Thursday, the 10th of June 2021, because we will be drawing the names from people the next day. And we will announce those on the following week's podcast. Anyway, let's get stuck into today's podcast episode, shall we?
Today's podcast is a coaching one, like I said, and it's about something that I don't feel like is talked about enough in small business. And I have talked about it before. So I've talked about it on this podcast. I've talked about it in my emails. I send a weekly email every Sunday, if you're not on that, get on that. I've talked about it at length in my book, but I think it's just a really important thing. And what I want to talk about is friendship and cultivating a community around you. So I have talked about before in a quick tip episode, I think it was episode eight, kind of cultivating your crews and their sort of crews that I think you should cultivate around you as a small business owner. And I'll touch on them again shortly. And in episode 66, I interviewed Dr. Hannah Corel, who is a neuropsychologist, and she has published a book called how to break up with friends.
And we talked about what it means to have friends when you are a small business owner, potentially friends that are also small business owners. And we talked about things like envy and competition and all the sort of things that aren't necessarily talked about in public, at least for small business owners. Now I'm a coach and I do one-on-one coaching and group coaching. And something that I talk about a lot, particularly with one-on-one clients is how are you going to cultivate a community around you? And it doesn't need to be a massive community, even a couple of friends, a couple of people that are in a similar position, they also run small businesses and maybe they have similar lifestyles to you. So if you're in the regional area, maybe they're also in regional areas. If you have children, maybe they also are parents so that they understand the challenges that you're going through.
And it doesn't have to be things that same lifestyle as you, but sometimes that can help. And the reason that I ask clients to think of that is that it's awesome to have a business coach for sure, but it is also awesome to have people that are going to be in your life for, you know, 10, 20 years that you feel completely at ease with to talk to about everything. And as I mentioned in a second, there are various levels of kind of the friendships that you have in business, but it's really important to have accountability. Now you can get that, right. Otherwise obviously you can use a business coach. You can also do things like group coaching. You can be part of a mastermind. You can be part of these more sort of like institutional business groups and networking groups.
But the important thing is to really consider, do I have people in my life that I can be real with when it comes to the stresses and challenges and the celebrations and wins that happen as a small business owner?
So today I was going to touch on how I've done this in my own business, because I do believe that, you know, you should walk the talk and I shouldn't be, you know, suggesting things to clients that I'm not doing myself. So I was going to go through various ways that I've done this, and also recap on that kind of crew mentality that I've talked about before. So the cultivating your crews, I might actually do that part first. So if you are familiar with book, you would have seen this in there. We also have a freebie that you can download about based, but really, I guess it's about thinking we can make promises to ourselves all the time, all the time. We just, you know, I know that I do it all the time. I'll say, oh, I'm going to do this tomorrow. And I don't do it. I let something else slide in. And part of that is, you know, setting boundaries, but also it's because we don't feel the same sense of accountability to ourselves as we do to somebody else. And you see it all the time.
Whenever people talk about exercise, it's like get a training buddy, because you're less likely to let somebody down for a run. If you've organized a time to meet them, versus if you're just lying in bed being like, I can't be stopped getting up, it's too cold. So I guess part of cultivating business friendships is to, you know, have somebody there, have that support, but also have that sense of accountability because you don't want to be making promises when it comes to your business. That you're just going to break. It's just like, oh, I had all these fun and I sat down, I plan things and I have my goals.
And then they just go nowhere. And a huge part of why people use a business coach is to get that sense of accountability and to get somebody else saying, yes, you're going to do this. You're going to change this. And obviously it's different, but people also seek out, you know, therapists and psychologists for similar reasons. They want to fix something that they feel isn't working in their life and they want somebody else to guide them and help them along that journey. So when I talk about kind of crews or business crews, I'm talking really about a support team that you can call on at various levels and various intensities, I guess, for your business. And, so I really feel like there are kind of five groups or crews as I like to call them.
One is your core crew. And that really consists of the people that you can call at any time of day, who will be there to, you know, wipe your eyes when, you know, things turned to, excuse my language.
Or they will be the first to celebrate things with you to really celebrate it. And they're kind of like your ride or die people. You just don't feel any of judgment from them. They only want the best for you and the kind of people that you can trust to give you a hundred percent honest feedback on just about anything. And so this crew may include, you know, your significant other, your partner, your spouse, or, you know, your parents or sibling. It shouldn't consist just of family members because, and I've talked about that in other episodes, you know, you don't want to be spending all your family time talking about your business. You want to have some people in your coal crew that are not related to you by blood. So that's the core crew. That's the first one.
Then you've got your bounce off crew and that's kind of similar to the cool crew, but you wouldn't usually run to them when you're having like a complete meltdown.
And, you know, there's no shame in having meltdowns, but this crew slightly different from the core crew because the coal crew, you could definitely run to about anything and everything, but the bounce off is kind of like that next sort of level of professionalism, I guess. And that group, the bounce off crew is kind of made up of, of people who like work in a similar industry or complimentary industry people who you can literally bounce ideas off. So say for instance, you are in the construction industry, you might have someone in your bounce off crew who also is in a construction industry or in the building industry or in something property management, property development, where there's a similar understanding. Whereas if somebody was in the construction industry and they kind of wanted to bounce off ideas with somebody who runs a pet store, maybe it would work, but they might have more success and more kind of understanding of the nuances of their business with someone who's in a similar industry.
So in your bounce off crews, you might have people that you could go to around things like staffing issues, software that they use, marketing ideas, pricing, strategies, platforms, and tools like software. Like I just said, or even things like, you know, recommending a lawyer that is specific to that type of industry or things. You know, if you both run events, maybe you've got a lawyer that specializes in events and in working with different insurances and indemnities and all of that sort of thing, they really, and genuinely the kind of, you know, hashtag collaboration over competition is friends. You know, they're the people that you could, you'd collaborate with this, not going to be jealousy. There's not going to be, oh, she's doing better than me, or he's doing better than me. They are your bounce off crews. And depending on what the members of your core crew do, you may well have some from your core crew who are also in kind of your bounce off crew as well.So that's the second group.
The third group is kind of your creator crew. And this is really this group is really, I guess, about helping you with the more creative elements of your business, especially things like branding and marketing. They're the people who could help you with copywriting, photography, videography, visual branding, the kind of tick stuff, sitting up your Shopify website, website, design analytics, linking, you know, your e-commerce platform with your mail platform, event management, PR social media, even down to like, how do I work on my personal brand? And one of the biggest challenges that I hear from small business owners is, oh, I need to get X, Y, Z done. Or I want to pay a PR agency, or I want to pay someone to do my graphics, but I've worked with somebody and they just didn't get me. And that's what they use it a lot, that kind of term, like they didn't get me.
They didn't understand me. Whereas if you're working with somebody that you know, who happens to have those skillsets, they do, they already get you. And that's kind of who you want to put into your creative crew and kind of documenting this list allows you to see, oh, I already know someone who could do that. Who also knows me. So maybe it's someone who used to go to school with now, they run a graphic design agency. And so you could hire them before you go out to someone who you don't know at all. So that's yeah, your creator crew. And then you've got your external crew and that is people like an accountant. And I sound like a complete nerd, but I love, love my accountants and just shout out to MJA accounting in Canberra or lean and get that they are amazing and they work across Australia.
So if you're in Australia and you need an accountant, definitely check out MJA accounting, we will link to them in the show notes, but they are part of my external crew. And so, you know, I'm loud and proud when it comes to promoting them because they, you know, and I don't get any kind of kickback for doing that, but just like everything else that I mentioned on this podcast, but I'm happy to promote them because they really helpful and useful for my business. And without them, I would've come up against some really big kind of financial challenges or issues or obstacles. And so my accountant is part of my external crew. And this external crew group is also made up of basically anyone that is going to help the day-to-day running of your business easier, but doesn't work in the business. So it could be a dog Walker.
It could be cleaner. It could be, it could be a nanny. If you, if you're a fortunate enough to have that, it could be a bookkeeper, a lawyer, anyone that sort of got those specific skills that you'll draw on from time to time like an IP lawyer or a trademark lawyer, but they're part of your external crew. And you just sort of want to, again, like the creator crew document them. So you can go to those people and keep them front of mind. You know, when you come up to certain roadblocks or challenges, then you've got your fifth group, which is your aligned groups crew. And this, you know, I've said, it's the last in the order, but it's by no means last in importance. And this crew is really it's consisting of people that, you know, from various groups in your life. So it could be like church, if you go to church or synagogue or mosque or temple, it could be people from a sporting club.
It could be people from the school that your kids go to, or the childcare that your kids go to. It could be from an online group. It could be people inside of a business community on Facebook, like the good business group on Facebook, which is my free community, a book club, or even like alumni from your school or your university or something else that you've been part of. And I know sometimes people like, well, how would they help my business? And I guess apart from like practical advice related to various areas of business, such as, you know, a membership group actually showing you how to launch a membership group for your own business, they could also help you with opportunities to meet your ideal audience and share your journey. So say for instance, you are, or like a nutrition expert, or you do workshops on nutrition.
You might be like, you know what, I'm actually really trying to tap into youth, the youth market coming up and all the kind of issues with obesity and eating disorders and all of that. And so you might play basketball or you might have a child who plays basketball. And if you look at your line groups, you might be like, you know what, I'm actually going to talk to the sports club about running one of these workshops, or I'm going to talk to them about an ebook that I have that, you know, I'll make available at a discounted rate for members of that sports club, or, you know, what can I do to help get my business out, but also help these people who need the service I'm offering. So that's sort of your aligned groups crew. And then you've got your internal crew, which is your sort of staff.
And I've talked a bit about making sure that you really make a great place for your stuff. I have to work. But in addition to that, you have your non-work network. And those are people who have nothing to do with your business, who you can rely on to talk to about everything else, but, you know, and we all need that. We all need kind of a break from talking about our business and we all have friends like that, or people in our lives that when we go it's really, you know, I don't know real talk about your family or your relationship or something else, and you're not really talking about business. And those are just as important. But today I wanted to talk about, I guess, business relationships. So I've gone through those crews. And like I said, I have talked about those in detail in episode eight.
And if you want to go back to that, we also have a kind of a downloadable that you can get on the website to sort of nut out who those people are, so that you sort of keep it front of mind and you might just, you know, pin it up on your wall in your office or put it in some sort of digital file that you've got so that you can go through those people first, when you need to hire somebody particularly say in the creator, the videographer. But the other thing I wanted to talk about yeah is kind of how I've cultivated different friendship groups for my business, but also, you know, for myself as I've run this business, because it can be really difficult to run a small business owner, especially if you're like me and your staff are remote. So you're not actually working with somebody.
I sit in this office, but I'm recording the podcast in the, by myself. This is, I mean, I'm on zoom all the time, talking to people and stuff. Um, but you know, sometimes it feel lonely to run these types of businesses and especially, or if you are someone who runs a business and all your friends, like say the people you went to high school, we thought, you know, your partner's friends or your family friends don't run their own businesses. It can sometimes feel like you're quite alone. And I definitely felt a bit of that when I first started my business, because I had gone from working as head of marketing at a kind of large-ish company where I'd been, you know, head of three teams. I had people around me all the time and had people to delegate tasks, to, and people to be in meetings and people to bounce off ideas with and people to review budgets and working with, you know, the financial team and the legal team.
And you had so much support around you and even just people to, you know, go and get a coffee waste and have a chat ahead, all of that. And then I suddenly went to, oh my gosh, I'm working for myself. I have to represent myself. I can't hide behind a brand anymore. And I'm going in. And I'm often sitting, if I'm going into consult, I'm either sitting with the CEO or meeting them briefly and then sitting at a desk and getting the work done by myself. Or if I'm coaching, I'm at home by myself, or if I'm running workshops, I'm turning up to a venue. And I don't know that, you know, 20 people or 16 people that are sitting there. And again, it's, it's sort of like, oh, you don't have that crew around you that support that you do have in most employed roles.
And so that was something that I had to cultivate and I had to kind of create that. So I wanted to talk through how I've done that. And part of the crews that I just ran through before, based on what I've had to do to create that community around myself. So I'll talk about the kind of non-paid ones first and then the paid programs and things that I've been parts of. And also talking about my own group coaching program, which actually launches today. So if you're listening to this in real time, you can jump on over to mydailybusinesscoach.com/groupcoaching - one word, and you will find everything you need to yeah. Come on and be in the group coaching program that I run. But so let's go back to the start. When I first started my business, I was at Mimco and head of marketing at Mimco, and that was kind of a corporate-y role head of, you know, in a retail environment.
And prior to that, I'd worked at a digital agency and some of my friends that had worked with me had gone off and started their own businesses. And so there was three in particular Cape may and Melia, and we would meet. So we would, we kind of caught up whilst I was at Mimco, but then when I decided to leave Mimco we caught up probably once a month and we'd go for dinner and we'd talk about business. That's what we'd talk about. We all sort of, now over years, we've gotten to know each other's sort of personal lives and partners, but even still predominantly what we talk about is related to work. And so we, that was a really great thing. So it was basically calling on past colleagues and sort of formalizing this wasn't formal, but we just sort of said, okay, once a month, we're meeting for dinner or we sort of, it's just sort of became about work.
And we even had things like where we'd go away to a hotel for a night and we would discuss stuff. And of course, you know, we'd have champagne and we'd dance. And I think at one stage we were like dancing tool all hours of the morning to like nineties R and B and thinking we were hilarious, really, probably annoying for the people in the hotel room next door. But I had that, that was a really great initial starting point to cultivate crews. Cause I had people around me that I could go to for different things. So one of them's a content strategist and she's amazing at content. And other one is just really connected and really high places in her, such a amazing, intelligent way of thinking about the world and just having a conversation with her was always eye-opening and interesting. And then another one has just, you know, had this amazing experience internationally with, and it's just a gun at what she does.
And she is somebody that, you know, potentially I've gone to the most when I was first starting with kind of my proposal documents and Hey, what do you think of this? And what would I charge for this? And that was amazing. I also had outside of that, Chris Mannix, who I've talked about quite a bit, and I've mentioned here in the book was basically the first person that I sat down and said, this is what I want to do. And she gave me so much encouragement. She runs a PR agency called Soda Communications. And she sat with me and was like, yep, you could do this. And you could do that. And this is how I've done it. And even down to basic things like you should use zero to do your accounting. She was amazing. And still is literally I've talked to her today.
So she's still somebody that I would go to for business advice and vice versa and definitely somebody that I could feel I could tell everything to. So I had these people and Chris was somebody that, again, our paths had crossed through work. So I used to write for the age newspaper and she was running PR for different companies. And so, you know, PR journalists they're in with each other. So we got to know each other through that and became friendly and we'd catch up all the time. And then when I wanted to quit, Minko I definitely, I remember exactly where I was sitting with her in a restaurant on church street in Richmond talking about what I wanted to do. So the first kind of area, I guess I looked at, and what I suggest to clients is who are people that you've worked with before, who are people that know you in that professional environment, even if you're doing something slightly different, another person that I've talked about on this podcast.
And I actually interviewed on episode 62 is Natasha Ace. And Natasha Ace is the founder of Private Practice Alliance. And again, she was someone who I had crossed paths with in my first consulting gig in this business, I worked for a psychology group and she was also a consultant to them and we would share an office and we have since become such good friends and we meet pretty much weekly about our businesses. We do offsite strategy planning, days, every quarter. And again, she was someone who I come into contact with through my work. And so I think there's something great about that because they understand how you work and there's a level of respect that's already there. So they've been amazing. I've also, you know, reached out to people on Instagram. I have people who I've met through Instagram and that's, what's connected us and we've been able to chat about our different businesses.
Tracy Harris from mum's with hustle is one of those people. There's Kylie Lewis from of kin and quite a few other people like that. And then of course, there's, you know, friends from years and years ago, Kate VanderMeer, who runs the super-cool. I mean, there's lots of people like that, that I've been able to reach out for different things about my business and vice versa. So that's the first kind of part when you're say potentially thinking, well, I don't want to pay to be in a mastermind or a group coaching program right now, or for whatever reason you're looking to maybe work with people or be able to bounce ideas off with people who really really know you from no many years or have known you in a professional work environment. So that's kind of one area of it. The other is to invest in, you know, paid help and, you know, let's just be transparent about that.
So I have invested in multiple business coaches in my time, I've had somebody in the UK, someone in the US I have bought various courses and programs. I'm currently in a mastermind program in the US and those have been amazing as well, because whilst I haven't known people, you know, they, haven't known me the same way at least to start with there's one, when you put money to something, when you put a financial investment in something, I feel that sometimes you're more likely to show up and do the work. Versus if you have say a casual conversation with a friend and you're like, yeah, we should do this again. And then, you know, things get in the way and suddenly it's three months later and you haven't actually caught up again. So one is that, you know, if you pay for a business coach or a group coaching program, or a mastermind, just the act of putting that financial kind of skin in the game, forces you to show up.
The other thing that going into these programs with like an expert in a particular field is that you're going to learn from their business journey as well. So particularly if you're new to what you're doing, or you haven't ever sat down and really mapped out your business, and you really want to have that person, who's had those skills has worked with other people like you they're able to come in and kind of see from the outset, oh, you know, why haven't you thought about this or that, or you could do this even today. I was coaching somebody and she's amazing. She's been running her business for quite some time. And we were talking about content and I just said a few things. And she was like, oh my God, you just make it sound so like, whoa. And I said, yeah, but that's my job.
That's what I've been doing. And I also, prior to starting my business have worked with content for, you know, close to two decades. So that's something that I do find relatively simple because I'm like, oh yeah, you know, I've done that thousands of times literally made hundreds of content plans for different places, as well as worked in content for so many years. So that's kind of second thing outside of, you know, investing financially means that you're more likely to show up and do the work. The second part is that you can access this great expertise. And that also goes for group coaching programs. So it's not just the coach that you're getting. It's the other people that are coming into that program. I remember when I ran group coaching for the first year, I do like a year long group coaching program. And the first year we had somebody in there who's very highly regarded in the design industry.
And we had somebody who was just starting and just watching them chat to each other and watching them kind of liaise and, and think about, you know, things from each other's perspective. It was just really lovely to be able to say that because from the person who was just starting out, they were getting this incredible knowledge and insight into that business. And then the person who had been in business for some time, they were kind of reminding themselves of all the things that were so exciting at the start and how energized they were when they began this and kind of finding that love for business again. So it was really awesome to watch that. So with the group coaching or a mastermind program, you're getting all those other people, as well as the coach and often not always, but sometimes with group coaching programs, this is the case with me.
It's more affordable than doing one-on-one. So that can be a really great reason that people get into it as well. If they're like, well, I'm not ready yet to invest in one-on-one, but I am ready to be part of a group and I can afford that right now in my business. And so that's a really awesome avenue that they can go down. Another reason for working with a business coach or group coaching program or a mastermind is that you are kind of coming into all the networks that that person has. So you're opening up your eyes to new things. And particularly if like before, when I was saying, you might be surrounded by people who don't have a business, if you're then going into a group coaching program, and you're surrounded by not just the coach, but you know, 10 other people who, or nine other people.
In my case, I have groups of 10, you have so much exposure at that. You know, you're like, oh my gosh, do you have someone who can do Facebook ads? Yeah, I have this person they're really awesome. Let me send you their details or, oh, I'm really interested to get into this magazine. Well, this person knows the editor and they can connect you. There's all these connections and networks, as well as the expertise that come with being part of those programs. I know at the moment doing this mastermind program in the U S it's been really awesome to see just even different platforms and software systems that people running businesses in the U S are using that. I haven't heard that much of here in Australia. And it might be, you know, similarly they may not know certain software that we have here, but it's just been really interesting to open my eyes up to, oh, okay.
That's a different, you know, software program that I'm not familiar with, but you know, lots of them are using it. So I'm going to go and explore that. So you're really opening up your eyes and your networks to new connections and new information. And that is really exciting as a business owner, especially if you're working by yourself, because again, you just might not have the access to that information if you're just working by yourself. And another kind of element from there is just the opportunity to think bigger. I think that's one of the most interesting things as someone who runs group coaching programs, and who's someone who's been part of them is to see people just really expand their goals. You know, they might come in saying, I want to do this. And then through the course of the program, just being around all these other people, seeing what's possible, whether it's financially, what's possible, whether it's what I could build as a team, or whether it's, oh my gosh, I could actually add these other categories to what I was going to produce.
It's just amazing to see that kind of growth happened because their eyes are wide open to what's possible. And it just forces you to think bigger. And then on the flip side as well, being in a group program or working with somebody, when you hear what hasn't worked or what's not going well for them, it's also kind of gives you that idea that we all go through the same stuff and you might go into a group coaching program or a mastermind and be like, oh my gosh, you know, that person's been in business way longer than I have. And then when, you know, people get vulnerable and start talking about things, you realize, oh wow, they're going through the same stuff that I'm going through. And I thought I was alone in that. And so it really gives you this idea and this sense of solidarity and unification, and that it doesn't matter if we in the yard yes.
Or Australia or India or Brazil or anywhere we're all going through the same stuff. And I think that's one of the best parts of group coaching is that you really identify with other people and it could be about business. It could be about, you know, challenging children and running a household, as well as running a business. It could be, you know, they have an elderly parent, you have an elderly parent and all the stuff that comes with that. So there's so much more to it when you're kind of creating these business connections and these business friendships, then sometimes just business often I'll have people that go through the group coaching program and they're like, it was awesome. I learned so much from you and your coaching and education, but I also learned so much about myself and kind of my mindset blocks and also about, you know, my ego or my fears or things that I'd just been sitting there letting, you know, kind of these things have been holding me back and I'd been allowing that to happen.
But once I got into group environment, I really realized that, you know, I'm not alone in that. And I saw how other people had worked through those challenges. And I was able to do that myself as well. So yeah, whether you are, you know, cultivating crews based on friendship groups from high school, whether you are, you know, you've got an extra neighbor or somebody at the school pick up who does a similar thing and you just kind of meet casually or whether you are going to put your investment into a business coach or group coaching program or a mastermind. And guess what today's podcast episode is really about creating a support team around your business. And also on the flip side, you know, you being a support as well. When I go into a group coaching program, yes, I'm the coach, but I'm also hoping that I'm as support in, you know, I'm just the same.
And I'll often talk about in the group coaching program, you know, my own things that I'm going through or my own challenges, you know, it's not all rainbows and unicorns all the time. And in my group, coaching attendees, you know, I'm learning so much from them as well. Likewise with the mastermind that I'm a part of the leader of the mastermind, the main coach, she is sharing, you know, really personal things about herself as well. And I think that's something that's really lovely to see when you're in a group coaching environment, to be able to kind of just feel like you are, you're all equal, you're all going through it. It doesn't matter how many years of experience or how much expertise you have in something. We all have parts of our business that we don't feel really strong at, and that we need help within, that we need support with.
And so I guess today's topic is really on business friendships. And I've seen that I've seen those come out of the group coaching program that I ran the first year currently, we're in the second one and it's been amazing. I've like bumped into, you know, group coaching members at events when they've come together. And I'm like, oh my God, that's awesome that you guys are like meeting for drinks and meeting for coffee and going out for dinner. And, you know, because that's part of what I want people to get from my group coaching programs as well is friendships that can last well beyond when group coaching ends. So that's it today. It's really thinking about kind of how you cultivating that support crew around you. How are you cultivating those friendships, whether they are as a result of a paid program, like my group coaching program, which, you know, just PS opens today, or whether those are things that you are working on organically and working with friends or people that you've worked with in the past or cousins or something else where you're sitting down and really formalizing.
Let's meet up at this frequency and talk about our business and let's, you know, really help each other grow so that we, you know, we both succeed and we both achieve the business objectives that we want. So again, if you are interested in group coaching program, I run that for 12 months and it will kick off in July. It is open as of today. So you will find all the information over at mydailybusinesscoach.com/groupcoaching. We'll link to that in the show notes, but yet it runs for 12 months. We meet every two weeks. And yeah, it's a mix of me coaching and teaching you. And it's a mix of kind of group feedback being in hot seats. It's really about having the support crew around you, having all the expertise that I can offer you, as well as you know, these amazing other small business owners.
We have people from the US in there. So don't feel like, “oh, I can't do it. Cause I'm outside of Australia”, depending on the time zones that work for you, you can definitely apply. And yeah, see if that suits you, but I'd love to hear from you, whether it is, you know, to talk about group coaching program or whether it's just you telling me how you've created your own business friendships, and that have helped you and being there as a support team as you grow your small business.
So don't be a stranger come on over and share those with me. You can DM me on Instagram at @mydailybusinesscoach. You can send an email hello@mydailybusinesscoach.com. And before I go, just another reminder about that competition. And of course, if you wanted to do the competition and you won, you could take $100 off your first month group coaching.
So that's exciting. So again, that competition is just running until June at the 10th 2021. All you need to do is share any episode of this podcast. You can do that on social media, on your blog on email, just make sure that you tag at @mydailybusinesscoach, or you email us a copy of things like an email or a blog. hello@mydailybusinesscoach.com. And you can go into the draw and be one of 10 winners of that a $100 voucher for anything that we sell at My Daily Business Coach.
So again, if you want to be part of group coaching, go over to mydailybusinesscoach.com/groupcoaching. And if you're a winner, you could take a hundred dollars off first month. Anyway, that is it for today's episode, all the details and all the links for everything that I've mentioned will be available over at mydailybusinesscoach.com/podcast/104 as this is episode 104. Thanks so much for listening. See you next time. Bye.
Thanks for listening to My Daily Business Coach podcast. If you want to get in touch, you can do that at mydailybusinesscoach.com or hit me up on Instagram at @mydailybusinesscoach.
