Coaching Programs to Accelerate/Kick Start Progress

[gabeb1920]

@snowbank recently had openings for his Incubator program which I applied for, was accepted before but before I could hustle up the money to enter the group it filled up.

Now I'm in a situation of having the money and the desire to accelerate my progress towards starting a business without a resource I know of that is worth paying for. I'm wondering if people know of any programs similar to the Incubator program where there is small group, dedicated feedback towards starting a genuine business?

I know there are a multitude of programs out there but I'm looking for something like the following:

• Run by a real business owner/entrepreneur and not just an info marketer
• Small group with access to said business owner/entrepreneur and not just a bunch of videos/blog posts
• Cost around $4K

I guess I'm basically after some dedicated feedback on business ideas and assistance on how to develop a process. I've tried asking here on the forums before but have found the conflicting advice confusing. I'd be willing to pay for someone I trust to give they're personal coaching and feedback.

I know @biophase has offered a similar coaching program however I don't have enough capital to get involved in that one. Perhaps I should hustle/save some more?

Any suggestions would be helpful.

Thanks

 

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[John Robert]

@snowbank recently had openings for his Incubator program which I applied for, was accepted before but before I could hustle up the money to enter the group it filled up.

Now I'm in a situation of having the money and the desire to accelerate my progress towards starting a business without a resource I know of that is worth paying for. I'm wondering if people know of any programs similar to the Incubator program where there is small group, dedicated feedback towards starting a genuine business?

I know there are a multitude of programs out there but I'm looking for something like the following:

• Run by a real business owner/entrepreneur and not just an info marketer
• Small group with access to said business owner/entrepreneur and not just a bunch of videos/blog posts
• Cost around $4K

I guess I'm basically after some dedicated feedback on business ideas and assistance on how to develop a process. I've tried asking here on the forums before but have found the conflicting advice confusing. I'd be willing to pay for someone I trust to give they're personal coaching and feedback.

I know @biophase has offered a similar coaching program however I don't have enough capital to get involved in that one. Perhaps I should hustle/save some more?

Any suggestions would be helpful.

Thanks

You probably want to reach out directly to people.

At that pricepoint, you're probably looking for a person thats making between 25k/month, which means they wouldn't have a very well built out info-product, and basically have zero marketing dialed in, since info-products are an exponential business... you either know what you're doing, or you dont.

 

[AgainstAllOdds]

Someone on this forum recommended https://www.score.org/find-mentor for mentoring.

However, it looks like you're in Australia. So here's what I'd do:

1. Find a similar group to Score.
2. Attend a meeting. Meet 5 entrepreneurs that you click with.
3. Follow up with a thank you note + $100 bottle of wine (for whatever advice they gave you).
4. Identify which entrepreneur was most receptive to your thank you.
5. Spend the remaining $3,500 on asking them to lunch, dinner, etc, and build the relationship from there.

Here's what I did:

1. Optimized my mentor's business so that he's making an extra $500k a year.
2. Then started getting mentored. (He's busy, but whenever I have questions or need intro's, he helps out).

This method requires that you have a skill-set that you can provide. My skill-set is sourcing, negotiation, and cost optimization. It's of little value to someone starting a business, but big value to someone already operating a big business.

Figure out what your skill-set is and offer it for free.

Another thing worth trying:

The about me on your website says you're a student. So start talking with your professors and tell them your goal of becoming an entrepreneur. Ask them for advice. Often they'll redirect you to someone else.

Attend speeches. Talk to the speakers after, and thank them for taking the time to come out. Then tell them a bit about yourself.

Join entrepreneur groups (Meetup.com, etc.). A lot of them are fun -- as in you drink alcohol and talk about business.


To summarize: get yourself out there. Make friends with entrepreneurs. Provide value. And in turn you'll eventually find someone to mentor you for free.

And note that I'm not speaking out of my a$$. I currently have two mentors for the business I'm operating. One worth 9-figures. The other operating a $600k profit a year business. In other industries, I have a list of people that I could contact and speak with if I wanted to enter the industry. And they'd likely help me. Why? Because I took the time to get to know them and provide value. Start doing the same.

 

[devine]

I suggest making your goals clear in your OP.

 

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[gabeb1920]

Someone on this forum recommended https://www.score.org/find-mentor for mentoring.

However, it looks like you're in Australia. So here's what I'd do:

1. Find a similar group to Score.
2. Attend a meeting. Meet 5 entrepreneurs that you click with.
3. Follow up with a thank you note + $100 bottle of wine (for whatever advice they gave you).
4. Identify which entrepreneur was most receptive to your thank you.
5. Spend the remaining $3,500 on asking them to lunch, dinner, etc, and build the relationship from there.

Here's what I did:

1. Optimized my mentor's business so that he's making an extra $500k a year.
2. Then started getting mentored. (He's busy, but whenever I have questions or need intro's, he helps out).

This method requires that you have a skill-set that you can provide. My skill-set is sourcing, negotiation, and cost optimization. It's of little value to someone starting a business, but big value to someone already operating a big business.

Figure out what your skill-set is and offer it for free.

Another thing worth trying:

The about me on your website says you're a student. So start talking with your professors and tell them your goal of becoming an entrepreneur. Ask them for advice. Often they'll redirect you to someone else.

Attend speeches. Talk to the speakers after, and thank them for taking the time to come out. Then tell them a bit about yourself.

Join entrepreneur groups (Meetup.com, etc.). A lot of them are fun -- as in you drink alcohol and talk about business.


To summarize: get yourself out there. Make friends with entrepreneurs. Provide value. And in turn you'll eventually find someone to mentor you for free.

And note that I'm not speaking out of my a$$. I currently have two mentors for the business I'm operating. One worth 9-figures. The other operating a $600k profit a year business. In other industries, I have a list of people that I could contact and speak with if I wanted to enter the industry. And they'd likely help me. Why? Because I took the time to get to know them and provide value. Start doing the same.

Wow! Thank you so much for this advice and for taking the time. Not only did you post here but you went away and visited my website to learn about me so you could provide the most valuable, tailored advice! Awesome stuff!

I need to update my website a bit as I am not currently studying. I deferred to work in the industry full time as the work took me away from the uni campus, however I can see your point. I need to take advantage of the opportunities in front of me and make use of my existing connections.

I've tried attending Meetups before but I'm not great socially. I find it difficult to approach people I don't know and to find things to talk about. But I guess being an entrepreneur is all about doing things which make you feel uncomfortable and if I can't approach people how am I ever going to be able to sell a product! I'll give this one a go and try to meet some successful entrepreneurs.

Any other suggestions on where to meet these successful people? Just that the people I have spoken with at these meetups are just like me and just starting out/trying to get their ideas off the ground. I don't think I've ever spoken with someone worth 7 figures or someone with a successful business at the level I want to eventually reach. Definitely need to meet these people!

Thanks again for your awesome response!
Rep++

 

[AgainstAllOdds]

Wow! Thank you so much for this advice and for taking the time. Not only did you post here but you went away and visited my website to learn about me so you could provide the most valuable, tailored advice! Awesome stuff!

I need to update my website a bit as I am not currently studying. I deferred to work in the industry full time as the work took me away from the uni campus, however I can see your point. I need to take advantage of the opportunities in front of me and make use of my existing connections.

I've tried attending Meetups before but I'm not great socially. I find it difficult to approach people I don't know and to find things to talk about. But I guess being an entrepreneur is all about doing things which make you feel uncomfortable and if I can't approach people how am I ever going to be able to sell a product! I'll give this one a go and try to meet some successful entrepreneurs.

Any other suggestions on where to meet these successful people? Just that the people I have spoken with at these meetups are just like me and just starting out/trying to get their ideas off the ground. I don't think I've ever spoken with someone worth 7 figures or someone with a successful business at the level I want to eventually reach. Definitely need to meet these people!

Thanks again for your awesome response!
Rep++

Instead of meetups, find networking groups like Score. The best groups are all invite only (I don't belong to any), followed by any old school groups that have been meeting for decades. Most meetups are filled with young, "internet savvy" individuals, and not as valuable. "Networking groups" are a better fit. Find those groups. Email the organizer to see if it'd be a good fit, and then attend.

Also, I'm pretty good socially, but dislike small talk, etc. My go to line at events is "Hi. So what do you do?" And then build a conversation about business after that. It's easy to have conversation if the topic you're discussing is something you enjoy talking about.

Edit: Maybe check out https://www.mensa.org.au/ if you qualify. Or http://www.toastmasters.org.au/. Mensa - worst case you surround yourself with awkward smart people. Best case you meet incredibly smart individuals that can introduce you to entrepreneurs they know. Toastmasters is good for helping you practice public speaking. Half the time the groups are weird. Half the time they're valuable. Find a valuable group, practice speaking, and strike up conversation with businesspeople in those groups.