At a recent Link4Growth board meeting, one of the attendees was Chairman of a business valued at over £4M.  Sat across the table from him was someone who, at a low point in her career, had taken a job on the tills at her local Tesco to make ends meet.

As the Chairman went into the details of his business challenge, the former checkout girl felt a bad case of Imposter Syndrome coming on – that growing feeling that any minute now you are going to be found out as not being the smart business person you claim to be.

What questions could she ask to drive the discussion forward, while maintaining the ‘illusion’ that she knew what she was talking about and wasn’t out of her depth?

What on earth could she offer by way of a solution to his unique and unusual challenge that involved big name brands, high risk, large sums of money and rapidly approaching deadlines?

What value could she add for someone who was doing business in a completely different league?

As it turned out – a massive amount!

As the moment arrived for her to share her thoughts, she realised that looking in from the outside, she could see a few things that the Chairman couldn’t.  He was too close to his problem and was trying to solve them using his usual methods.

As she, and her fellow attendees, shared their ideas, the Chairman’s face lit up as penny after penny dropped and the mist cleared from his eyes.

By the end of the session, not only had the Chairman found some new actions to try, he’d made a decision to come back to future Boards and to recommend them to his colleagues.

And by the end of the meeting, the checkout girl had gained a new level of confidence in her knowledge, thinking and abilities.

How do I know that for sure?  Because that former checkout girl is…..ME!!!

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Having initially turned down Chris Ogle’s suggestion that I get involved in launching boards here in the NW, because I didn’t want to be tied down geographically, a reworking of the role of Regional Board Director to Development Director meant that my objection had been tackled and I now had no excuse!

I trained as a business mentor a few years ago, and participated in a couple of mastermind and peer networking groups over the years, so I knew just how powerful a tool the Link4Growth board meetings would be for small business owners. My first task as a Development Director was to find a suitable Board Director for my first board. I had no hesitation in approaching Isla Wilson of Ruby Star Associates. Isla’s expertise is in bringing big business thinking to small businesses. A great fit with the whole Link4Growth ethos.

Having decided on the 4Networking meeting at Runcorn as our launch pad, Isla and I worked as a team to harness as many marketing channels as we could to raise awareness of the Link4Growth concept and the launch itself.

Come the morning of the board, we had a full house – a fantastic achievement for a completely new concept in the region. One no show due to a last minute business issue but other than that all went well.

The range of challenges raised by the attendees was broad and we were really spoiled for choice as to which to discuss. In fact we had a tie break for the fourth challenge and almost had to go to drawing straws as the second round of voting was neck and neck until the last two votes.

I was delighted with the level of engagement in the meeting. The participants whose challenges were chosen were open and honest in explaining where they were. The questioning to gain clarity was very powerful with well thought out questions and a willingness to answer as fully as possible.

Moving on to the suggestions round for each challenge had a real excitement about it as it quickly became clear just how much breadth and depth of expertise and experience was gathered around the table.

Everyone gave abundantly and there was genuine gratitude from those receiving advice and suggestions.

A great part for me too was that even though my challenge wasn’t chosen, I could relate to all the challenges that were and the solutions given to those participants will be as useful to me in my business as to them in theirs.

Two and a half hours flew by, but when the meeting did close, we realised just how hard we had all been working. Actively listening, thinking on the fly, adapting your questions and solutions to take account of those preceding you – our brains were in turbo mode and as the meeting closed there was the same buzz as if we’d participated in a sports match.

Armed with my Flip camera, I grabbed a couple of well-known participants to ask about their experience of their first Link4Growth board.

Here’s what Tom Lawrence of TLC Business Supplies had to say:

Jen Hinds had her business issue selected for discussion and here’s her reaction to the help she received.

The next Runcorn Link4Growth board will be meeting on Thursday 13th October at 11am at The Heath Business Park, Runcorn. You can reserve your place here

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There is absolutely no doubt that few (if any) of us have all the answers and all the knowledge that we need to deliver our vision. There will always be something that crops up where we just don’t have the expertise (or desire very often) and we need external help. It maybe however that our business just needs some fresh thinking, new ideas or inspiration to get it to the next level.

One of the options is to take on advice or guidance from a business mentor or coach. For many (and I include myself in this group by the way) the idea of spending say £200 (retainer) for two x 1 hour phone call sessions per month is difficult to get our heads around, especially if money is tight (which it is these days), and… when whole DAY RATE’s being charged are not much more than £200!! I know we are supposed to focus on the value not the cost… but the proposition puts the risk all in my camp and it is £200.

What happens in these circumstances is… wait for it… absolutely nothing!! The majority of micro businesses will not retain the coach and instead flounder with the issue themselves… or beg / borrow advice from someone around them who they consider knows enough to advise but won’t charge them for it.

We all know the right thing to do… but the combination of ‘the money’ and free (often worthless) advice from well meaning folk takes us down the road which more often that not produces unsatisfactory results. This is a very real problem I have experienced it and I have seen it happen many many times, so what is the answer?

Well… Link4Growth is the perfect solution (and why we created it) ! For an investment of just £30, anybody (there is no contracted period) can drop into a Link4Growth boardroom with their most pressing business issues and receive the advice and guidance from 11 others around the Boardroom table. The 11 others by the way come from an amazingly diverse set of business backgrounds from every walk of life and almost always includes business coaches or mentors!

Let’s just recap here… 11 other people including Business Mentors focussed on your problem for £30? I don’t know about any of the others that I have met in my 20 months networking but this is an amazing opportunity to help micro and small business owners take real positive action and drive their businesses forward with minimal financial investment.

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This guest article was originally published on ClaireRaikes.com on 14 August 2011.

SME owners and sole traders often struggle with finding lasting solutions to the problems, issues and challenges (both routine and exceptional) that inevitably come up in business. There are all kinds of reasons for this which fall broadly into 2 areas:

1. Mindset. Typically, they are leaders and entrepreneurs – neither of which find it easy to

a) admit they need help – and that’s as much to themselves as, God forbid, anyone else
& b) actually ask or look for it!

We are used to being independent, making things happen… so even when we know things are not working, that things need to change, the idea that this time, we alone might not have the answer/can’t fix whatever’s broken is just a thought too far! Add to that the discomfort of feeling vulnerable, exposed, ‘stupid’ even, that admitting and sharing our problems can bring up and it’s little wonder we delay getting help – often perilously.

2.  Financial. When big businesses have problems, they call in expensive consultants. That works for them because they can afford big fees and they take the (correct) view that it’s an essential investment ie. they focus on the value the ‘spend’ will deliver, rather than seeing a ‘cost’. The sole trader, or small business (even if they share this ‘success’ mentality of ‘value/investment’) would be hard pushed to afford big business consulting fees. Even a few hundred pounds for half a day (say) with an independent consultant, can, in times of hardship – and when there are no guarantees – bring on the jitters. There’s a worry* about putting all your eggs in one basket… What if your investment doesn’t deliver, or fails to give you the desired return? (*Oh look, we’re back to mindset again!)

So what to do? Well, besides stepping away from our egos and accepting that we alone can’t possibly have ALL the answers, we can also accept that not only is it ‘okay’ to admit that we want help, it’s actually the smartest position to take. And from there, we can start looking for the best help available.

About a month ago, my dear friend, client and colleague Chris Ogle came up to Wales on one of his 4Networking (4N) Road Trips. Besides visiting and 4Sighting at several Welsh 4N meetings, he also arranged and chaired a Link4Growth ‘taster’ session after the  4N Chepstow event. Chris had been banging on about Link4Growth for months, and had hired me to build them a very basic website, so I already knew a fair bit about this new venture; but in truth, I didn’t really ‘get it’. He described it as a ‘Board Room’. Honestly? It sounded really dull and stuffy to me and I’d kind of decided that it wasn’t anything that I’d benefit from. However, I’d heard some really positive feedback from people who’d attended the first Link4Growth events, down ‘that London’ way, so whilst my decision to attend this ‘taster’ was mostly out of loyalty and a desire to support him, it was also to see what all the fuss was about.

Boy am glad I decided to show up! In fact, so powerful was the experience, that immediately afterwards, I put myself forward to get Link4growth off the ground here in Wales – and booked and PAID for my place on the first one.

Why so powerful? You know, I keep trying to explain ‘why’ to friends and associates in business , but it’s incredibly hard to do. I’ve yet to work out why that is, but I suspect it’s to do with the multiple levels it works on; it is a ‘board room’, and it’s also a mastermind group, and I’ve since discovered that the process is essentially an ‘action learning set’, but none of those phrases really explains how it flexes your business, relationship and personal development muscles simultaneously. And that goes as deep as it does broad. Plus it makes you feel great because you get to give as much as you receive…  so you feel supported and supportive, valued and valuable etc. in equal measure.

But most importantly perhaps – you get tangible, practical, workable  solutions and ideas to apply to your business from 12 REAL business people… not theorists, or people who are out of touch with today’s marketplace, but those – who like you are actually out there doing it – day in, day out.  So you benefit from freah thinking, MASSES of experience and new and varied skills and perspectives…

AND because dropping your ‘Yeah, business is fantastic!‘ mask, in favour of the ‘Actually, things are a bit crappy and I’m struggling‘ truth, takes a bit of courage – and you do it along with another 11 people in a supportive, respectful and confidential space – a quality of relationship is created which is usually only achieved after months, maybe even years, of small talk over coffee/wine.

Anyway, I’m loathe to go on now, because my gushiness is in danger of over-egging the whole thing, so instead, I’m going to point you towards the Link4Growth website where you can find out more about how it all works and where your nearest ‘board’ is.

I’m also going to leave you with an audio of an unplanned conversation I had with my friend Beryl Whiting about her Link4Growth experience.

If you’re in the South Wales area, please do come and try it for yourself. Our first session is on 18th August 2011 at the Coldra Holiday Inn in Newport (11 – 1.30pm) or the next one after that is on 7th September at the Maldron Hotel in Cardiff (10.30 – 12).
ADVANCE BOOKING is ESSENTIAL (£30*) and is easily done via the website or by following those links above.

*Someone suggested to me that people wouldn’t be prepared to spend £30 on something they’d never experienced before and that we should run a freebie session!! Well, I’m sorry if this upsets anyone, but if you’re not prepared to ‘risk’ a £30 investment in yourself and your business, then perhaps you should go find a job, because I’m pretty sure you shouldn’t be in business.

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The venue was set at the Chepstow racecourse in one of the Boxes there, an excellent setting for the very first Welsh Boardroom and we had 5 attendees. In short no one really new what to expect but everyone was thoroughly impressed with the format, what they took away but just as important what they could contribute during the 2.5 hour session.

Such was the impact of that first boardroom that we now have two boards in Launch phase. One at Chepstow (although the first will be closer to Newport) on the 18th August, and the other at the new Maldron hotel in the Centre of Cardiff itself on the 7th September.

Exciting times indeed! Plus I had a really warm welcome from all those down in Wales, these people really know how to enjoy themselves! I will be back to attend the Link4Growth launch events and have even been requested to 4Sight again!!

Below are a series of AudioBoos recorded with Claire Raikes after I returned from the Road trip, enjoy!

http://audioboo.fm/boos/419948 - Part 1

http://audioboo.fm/boos/419954 - Part 2

http://audioboo.fm/boos/419964 - Part 3

http://audioboo.fm/boos/419976 - Part 4

http://audioboo.fm/boos/419982 - Part 5

http://audioboo.fm/boos/419994 - Part 6

http://audioboo.fm/boos/420000 - Part 7

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Take a look at the Find a Group page to see other groups that we are opening soon… just final details to be confirmed on venues and we will be able to switch those onto launch phase as well!

Daryl and Paula Hine have been particularly busy with process and documentation, and on the marketing front we now have Banners that we are using at Networking events! I’m off to Wales next week on a bit of a road tour and will be facilitating at a special Link4Growth event with particpants consisting of people wishing to open a Link4Growth board of their own… so that should be fascinating! and in August Paula will be doing the same thing in Scotland… so all aboard for the Link4Growth express ride!

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1. It doesn’t work for my type of business
2. No one here is big enough to be one of my customers
3. I’ve given it 6 months and hasn’t generated any business
4. I haven’t the time, I’m too busy

How can we better serve business owners that discover Networking but for whatever reason leave dissillusioned and disappointed with their experience? The fact is that everyone Networks to some degree or other whether they recognise it or not! For some reason when it comes to Business Networking we view it differently to leisure Networking such as a Football or Rugby club we might belong too.

Networking events by themselves are great as a way of meeting lots of people, but apart from getting acquainted with potential Suppliers or Customers it very often doesn’t provide an environment that delivers on equally important other issues! So what issues are they?

Understanding Networking

Networking is not socialising, picking up business cards and then trying to sell… but very often people leave Networking thinking I went, I saw, I gave out business cards, told people what I did, and I didn’t get any business, therefore Networking doesn”t work.

There are 10′s of thousands of people for whom Networking works and… in all business sectors. So how have they made it work whilst others cannot. It requires the transfer of information and knowledge in a different environment difficult in a buzzy, positive and clappy meeting environment.

Support and Guidance

The Networking meeting is designed to introduce people, get people started on a journey, the format does not provide ample time to get into that space where we trust and respect people enough to share challenges and provide genuine support. This doesn’t mean it can’t happen and sometimes develops naturally over time, but for many people it requires deeper relationships to be built.

Share Business Knowledge, Experiences and Contacts

The combined skill and knowledge not to mention access to a phenomenal range of Networks at a Networking group is amazing. But for most people they never get past the first few conversations. I have met people who have been war reporters, managed a Thai Takeaway, ran Iron man competitions, been radio and TV presenters, but all of this was not offered until people got to know each other better. I personally am constantly surprised when I find out what people have achieved in previous lives and what experience they re carrying around with them that I never knew about. How much experience and how many contacts into far flung Networks are just sitting there waiting to be tapped into, only if there was a vehicle to enable it to happen.

In Truth…..

All we do is Network, we all talk to people discuss things and if we are open and share things with others, opportunities arise and we are introduced to other people. Just some of us do these things more naturally than others, but we are all capable…

Link4Growth

Link4Growth is a Business Development platform. Once a month after a 4N meeting, 12 (maximum) people from a Group can meet for a 2 1/2 hour boardroom style meeting. This platform enables a much higher level of engagement between the participants, and virtually by osmosis information and ideas about a huge number of things passes easily between the group members.

One of the things about these meetings (which surprised me at first) was how good it felt to be of real use to another person. To have some snippet of information that could make a real difference in the other persons life or business. Actually the Link4Growth platform provides a framework for something we all ‘need’ to do, which is ‘Give’ and has been consistently one of the key reasons given as to why participants come back time after time.

How can Link4Growth benefit more people?

Providing the Link4Growth platform nationally is our key goal. We want to enable everyone beginning their Networking journey to find real success from it. We are our Networks, they are fundamentally important to us both now and in the future, and we want to provide people with the best possible chance of success for them and their business.

To this end we need to take the platform out there… we need engagement… we need to find suitable local representation who can create the Business development hubs around the country.

… Can you help us?

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A full house at this event, saw 4 highly relevant issues discussed including a very lively debate on whether Twitter is a suitable tool for Business coaches. The Link4Growth boardrooms provide an excellent framework to help small and micro businesses to share knowledge, ideas and connections. The Watford Link4Growth group has already seen members start collaborating and Joint Venturing having learned more about each others backgrounds and experience.

Link4Growth has two existing venues, and the next four groups are already in the launch process!

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Big thanks to Brand & Marketing Strategist Claire Raikes who, despite being asked to hold back on her ‘whole-istic’ approach to digital brand building, agreed to put the site together for us with next to no brief, and in a ridiculously short time. Claire’s talent and passion for authentic, conversational communication is still very much in evidence and we’re looking forward to implementing the bounty of recommendations she’s given us, in Phase 2 of our online development strategy.

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