Business Leaders’ Family – Manifesto
“Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.” – Henry Ford
Being an entrepreneur can be quite a lonely and challenging journey.
Even when we’ve got employees and business partners there are moments of high pressure, stress and self-doubt when we feel completely alone.
And even when we succeed and achieve our big goals we might realise that we don’t have people to celebrate it with who would truly get what it took to get there.
Often our families and close friends are not entrepreneurs themselves so they don’t quite get the challenges we face.
But there are people who are going through the exact same journey… our fellow entrepreneurs.
I believe that every entrepreneur should have their Business Leaders’ Family (BLF) – a close-knit community of fellow business owners to share the journey with and support one another.
There are many amazing organisations out there that bring entrepreneurs together. Entrepreneurs’ Organization, YPO or Vistage are all great, but they require a minimal turnover of £1M+ for members to join.
The journey to the first million is even harder than from £1M onwards – that’s where we lose the most potential!
There are many great business coaches and accelerators (e.g. Dent) out there too, but the costs can be unsustainable for a small business. Alternatively, they take you through a programme and the implementation is up to you, which can also be a challenge.
There is BNI, which is fairly affordable, but I feel with its focus on referrals it’s very transactional, salesy, and rigid. It’s great if you provide a service everyone needs (Accounting, IT services, Website Building) but businesses that are more niche or sell to bigger organisations won’t see as many incoming referrals.
The ultimate role model for the BLF is an organisation that’s not primarily about entrepreneurs. It is instead Toastmasters – an affordable and global network of self-running local clubs where members support each other in improving their public speaking and leadership skills.
As a member for many years, I saw again and again how the structure of Toastmasters predictably helped members grow their skills, regardless of where they were on their journey. And through sharing our stories and our ups and downs we became a family.
So, I decided we needed a version of Toastmasters for Entrepreneurs.
And that’s what the Business Leaders’ Family is.
It is a place where we: Connect, Learn and Do.
Connect: BLF is a curated network of business owners – if you come to one of our gatherings you know that you will meet committed and ambitious entrepreneurs who love to share, learn, and give to others. You know you won’t be pitched and preached at. Our door is too small for big egos.
Learn: There is a lot of knowledge, experience, and value in every entrepreneurs’ mind. At BLF we share these insights. Why do we have to learn everything through trial and error when we can just listen to someone else who has just walked the same path?
Do: Working together is one of the best ways to connect with others. Break the sweat, share the experience, help each other become more effective. We come together to work on our businesses – be it Linkedin posting, online co-working or goal setting. By doing that we provide each other with accountability to do the important work.
At BLF, we focus on building strong relationships because we know these will lead to business success, whether it’s game changing advice, an introduction, a partnership, or maybe an investment.
But the greatest value is in the relationships themselves – the feeling of belonging to a tribe that gets you.
The vision is to make BLF an impactful and inspiring space for you to thrive in.
