Living life as a solopreneur sounds exciting when you’re just getting started. But solopreneurship can be quite the buzzkill when start thinking about the best way to grow a business and its reach.
And working by yourself day in and day out can quickly take a toll on your mental health and well-being. Especially when your goal is to interact with other people and share your message to a wider audience.
Just like you need a village to raise a child, a business needs community and partnerships to grow. Simply put, you need to collaborate effectively to see better results.
If this is new territory for you, don’t worry. There isn’t just one way to embrace co-creation. First, let’s explore how collaboration will ultimately benefit you.
The benefits of working with others
So you love being in business and helping others get results. If you run a transformation business, you set out to help your clients change their lives.
But no matter what your focus is, odds are what you do is ever-changing and evolving. What worked in the past may not work anymore. Failing to adapt is a common business mistake.
And you risk getting stuck spinning your wheels trying to figure out a better solution on your own. Studies suggest that entrepreneurs are at greater risk of burnout, because they’re extremely passionate about their work and more socially isolated. Co-creation can benefit you by taking some of the pressure off your shoulders. You don’t always have to carry every burden on your own.
If you feel like you don’t have enough time or money to take your business to the next level, you’re not alone. There are only so many hours in a day, and you can only reach so many people on your own. So when you have a message the world needs to hear, collaboration lets you leverage other Business Owners’ skills and network to expand your impact.
One surprise benefit of collaborating? The possibility of additional funding for your venture and splitting expenses with partners. The goal is to grow your profit while spending less time, money and energy. Because, as they say, teamwork makes the dream work.
Collaboration over competition
Now, you may be wondering how you make co-creating with your direct competition work. Sounds like a crazy plan, right?
But take a step back and a different approach. You don’t have to collaborate with the competition. You’ll actually find the most value from connecting with a Business Owner who complements your passion and wants to work with you on a joint venture.
You just need to find someone with similar goals who lets you preserve your own experiences and authenticity. Imagine how much greater your social impact will be when you band together for a project.
How to start collaborating the smart way
If you’re tired of living with burnout while having a limited reach, collaborating is for you. But collaborations are a two-way street. Think about what you can contribute more than what you can get out of the interaction.
Connect with the right person or people. Seek out a partner who understands the maturing market and is just as passionate as you are about using entrepreneurship to make a larger impact on the world.
Here are a few things you can do to start collaborating efficiently.
- Mastermind: Masterminds are popular among entrepreneurs these days. The peer-to-peer mentoring concept where a small group of entrepreneurs discuss goals, concepts and ideas while providing each other with support and constructive feedback is very attractive. A mastermind can help you stay accountable for reaching your business goals.
- Co-promotion: Co-promotion merges networks and audiences with other Business Owners to grow your reach. For example, if you appear on a podcast to share your message, you and the host can co-promote that message and each other.
- Sharing Resources: Why do everything yourself? An alliance of Business Owners can make bulk purchases of services at a lower rate than on their own. Not only do you not have to spend the time figuring out the best app or service, you also don’t have to take on the entire bill yourself.
- Co-creation: This is the ultimate way to collaborate with other Business Owners. When you ban together and everyone contributes their experiences, resources, talents, intellect, skills, and influence, the work’s quality and reach is so much greater.
Each of the four elements is equally important. And you can try to do all four solo, but without co-creating and collaborating, you’re limiting your potential for success.
Even though you’re in business for yourself, you don’t have to be in business by yourself. To survive in this ever-changing market, you have to co-create and collaborate.
The views and opinions expressed are those of the guest author and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of MindShift.money.
image credit: Bigstock/yarruta
