Being A New Small Business Owner Can Be Lonely

When you start your own, very new, small business your passion takes over, you are very excited and then WHAM! It's as if you walked into a door it hurts so much.

Being the new boy or girl at school is often a lonely feeling, you have to find your way around the school, find out who is who and who you want to make friends with. BUT, and this is the big one, everyone is already friends with each other, so how do you break into the inner circle? This example can be used to describe being a brand new small business owner.

You thought that people would want to get to know you because you had so much to offer, and you do, but so do they..the other business owners. They really have no idea who you are and, quite often, don't have the time to get to know you.

I often share that this is the real reason networking was invented. It's not about selling when you network it's about making new friends, connections, building new relationships and being part of that very important inner circle.

Yes, I do agree with you, you can do IT without networking, but it does depend on what your particular IT is. If your product or service is like nothing else on earth, then yes people will come running to YOU.  But if you are very much the  (excuse my wording) common or garden regular kind of small business, it takes time and effort.

I was an unknown when I started my first business, I felt lonely and left out and I knew NO-ONE at all. I was the new girl in town with a new business so I have experienced what it's really like in those early days.

Before you write off networking and all it has to offer, think about the possibilities and the opportunities that will come your way if your inner circle is full of people who influence others, people who are already experiencing success, and people who are happy to mentor, share and build communities.

A word of caution, it can be lonely when you reach the top too, unless of course you are connected to the people who care about relationships and have built trust with you. It's called loyalty.