Why you Need Business Besties and How to Find Them
We all have our moments.
Those moments of self doubt and overwhelm.
Those moments of "What the heck am I doing?" and "Why in the world did I think I could do this again?"
That's where your business besties swoop in and save the day.
They halt your oncoming breakdown with some loving words of encouragement or make you laugh with a few dumb jokes. They tell you to pull yourself together or suggest you mix a strong drink.
Your business besties are the first people you go running to with one of your new brilliant ideas. And you go to them knowing you'll get an honest opinion.
Business besties are the people who have your back, share your work, give you tough love when you need it, and offer up advice that you respect. Sometimes business besties are the people you end up blocking off your Friday night for just so you two can sip cocktails and talk about every topic under the sun... for six hours straight. (Real life. This happened.)
Business besties are seriously the best. If you have some of your own, you know how valuable they can be. If you don't have business besties quite yet, don't worry, I'm going to help you find some today.
Why You Need Business Besties in Your Life
01. THEY LOVE AND SUPPORT YOU
When I'm feeling overwhelmed, trying to do it all, or feeling crippled by the noise of the online world, I go straight to my business besties. They're there every time relating to my struggle and pulling me out of my funk.
Having business besties who love and support you, have your back, and keep you going is everything. Your business besties can be the reason why you get out of your funk faster and the person you celebrate your little—and big—wins with!
02. THEY SHARE YOUR WORK — NO EMAIL PITCH NEEDED
Your business besties genuinely believe in you and your work. Odds are you talk to them on a regular basis so they know exactly what you're working on and what you're launching. You know you have real business besties when you have to remind them which ideas they are not allowed to share online yet.
03. THEY GIVE YOU A KICK IN THE BUTT WHEN YOU NEED ONE
Tough love is a beautiful thing. I'm all for having business besties who call me out on my BS and excuses. Sometimes we just need a swift kick in the butt to keep moving along. Tough love can be a very effective motivator. Enough said.
04. THEY INSPIRE YOU TO BE BETTER
One of the best ways to stay motivated and inspired as a solo business owner is to surround yourself with other business owners. When your close friends are being boss and running successful businesses, you're going to want to keep up with them and I guarantee you'll be inspired by the amazing work they're doing.
05. THEY UNDERSTAND YOUR BUSINESS WOES
Having business besties to run your business questions by is going to help you avoid those blank stares and looks of confusion. Your friends and family can love and support you as best as they can, but they might not be the greatest sounding board to your business ideas and questions.
By having your business besties, you can share your exciting ideas with someone who gets it and have someone to ask those tough questions to who stands a fighting chance at answering them.
06. THEY WILL GIVE YOU HONEST FEEDBACK
When you're updating your logo or writing your sales copy, your business bestie is the perfect person to give you feedback and critique. The reason your business bestie can give you valuable, transparent feedback is because she knows your brand inside and out.
Once you spend enough time with your business besties, you're going to know their brand almost as well as your own. This means your business besties are one of the few people you should be accepting critique and praise from.
When my business besties are honest with me and give me meaningful critique, I respect their praise that much more because I know they're not just blowing smoke.
07. YOU'RE BETTER TOGETHER
When you partner up with your business besties—whether you're launching a new product or cohosting a twitter chat—you're going to come up with better content, cover different areas of expertise, and get more people interested in what you're doing.
This tip goes back to last blog post which was all about collaboration over competition. When you partner up you're going to make a bigger impact and have a lot of fun in the process.
NOTE: THIS is A TWO-SIDED RELATIONSHIP
Your business besties will love and support you, give you honest feedback, share your work, and listen to your ideas, but you need to be doing the same for them! It's a two way street. One of you cannot be putting in all the effort.
Your business bestie needs to get just as much value out of the relationship as you are. Find ways to build your business besties up and show them how much you appreciate their support!
How To Find Your Business Besties
This, right here, is often the hardest part as a solo business owner. You see other people who have business besties and you want your own business besties, but you don't know how to find them.
I've met every single one of my business besties through this organic "formula." I say formula in quotations because there is no step-by-step guide. I've simply noticed some consistencies in the way I've built organic relationships with my business besties.
01. GET SOCIAL
Instagram has been instrumental in meeting some of my greatest business besties as well. I met some of my blogger besties virtually and in real life after we were constantly commenting back and forth on each other's photos.
Facebook Groups are another great place to meet business besties within your niche.
Pinterest Boards are another great place to reach out to bloggers and business owners within your area of expertise. Find a group board you love, look up the creator, and message them to join!
02. MOVE IT INTO YOUR INBOX
Eventually the 140 character limit just won't cut it, so you can move the conversation into your inbox. From past experiences, you'll probably email each other back and forth a few times until you can't keep up with the five different email chains you have going on. That's when you'll want to move it to the next level!
03. MEET FACE-TO-FACE
A video chat over Skype is the perfect next step. You can see how well you click when you finally meet and talk to them in real time! You will get to hear their voice, see their face, and notice their quirky hand gestures.
04. KEEP IN TOUCH
If the chemistry is there and you want to keep talking to this potential business bestie, determine how you will stay in touch! If you're both looking for more constant communication, talk about setting up a weekly accountability meeting. If you're looking to talk with more than one person, a mastermind group might be the way to go. If you want to keep it casual, swap numbers so you can text.
In order to grow solid, lasting relationships with your business besties you need to continually be communicating with them.