How a Community of Entrepreneurs Can Supercharge Your Business

Let’s face it, starting an “online” company by yourself is fun at first, but lonely after a few months.

Personally, I find that learning languages and starting a business are very similar.  It takes someone who is willing to fully devote themselves to master a number of new skill sets.

Assuming you are into traveling, there are typically two different types of people you can surround yourself with when you are abroad:

1. The people that are passing through; and
2. The hardcore expats.

The people who are just passing though, make zero attempt to learn the local language. Whereas, more hardcore expats choose to throw themselves into an environment that can accelerate their learning.  For instance, one of the best ways to learn a foreign language (or business) is to surround yourself with like minded people. 

Scott M making a speech in Mandarin in SuZhou China

For this articles purposes, we can call the more hardcore expats the “do’ers.”  In my case, these were the people who wanted to master the Chinese language and not have to depend on anyone to get by. Personally, I found this group of people the most inspiring, interesting and fun.

Who Are the “Do’ers” in Life ?

Matt, ET, & Jorge actin’ like a boss

When you are surrounded by a group of friends who are all really into the same thing, your performance level will increase significantly.  Whenever you run into a problem or issue, you can simply ask one of them for help.

You’ll find that you will be constantly coming up with ways to help one another and feed off one another’s energy.

How Does This Relate to Entrepreneurship?

The Big DT doesn’t like your Business Model

Being around a group of “do’ers” does a lot more than give you a group of people to ask questions. It gives you inspiration and shows you the finer details of success, something that likely can’t be expressed over skype, phone or any other internet outlets.

Plus, your new found friends will care about your well being and be willing to help you out with your business when you are stuck.

The Lone Wolf Strategy vs Being a Friendly Entrepreneur

Can you learn a language or marketing by yourself? Sure! But it is probably a lot faster if you join a group of people who are interested in the same thing.

Better yet, if you can throw yourself into a group of people who are more advanced than you in your chosen skillset, you are much more likely to be thrown onto the fast track to success.

Helping you See the Unseen (Young Padawan…)

Hayden giving Advice to Jorge

Simply put, sometimes you get so wrapped up in your own head you miss the obvious stuff.

Perhaps you have a skill that easily monetizable or you already own an asset or have a relationship that is just waiting to be tapped for profits.

Each person is different, but to share a personal example I had an old money site (that even had its own products) waiting to be reawakened. It was just sitting there for years waiting to be brought back to life.

This site:

1. Had an audience of people who bought my previous products;
2. Has a hardcore following that often emails me asking about my whereabouts;
3. Has a decent chunk of organic traffic waiting to be leveraged.

Why did I Stop Working on this Site?

Well… Clearly the Lone Wolf Strategy wasn’t working out too well for me. I probably got into my own head and put it behind me.

In hindsight , this might sound like an obvious decision, but on my own I likely would have never have done anything with the site.

So You Don’t Have an Old Website to Leverage? (cough  cough bullsh*t)

“60% of the time, it works ALL the time.”

Sorry, but if you are saying to yourself “yea… but… I don’t have an old website that is collecting dust to take advantage of” this is an excuse. If you have even been paid for anything (i.e a job) you likely have skills or relationships that can be leveraged.

Its just a matter of finding your unfair advantage.

It is much easier to start business around a subject where you have an unfair advantage.

If you surround a group of like-minded people, they will likely help you uncover your advantage.

In my case, I felt like I was having an intervention.

All my friends down here in Valle (around 8+,) one by one carefully explained to me how I was wasting an asset.   It was a little embarrassing, but it will likely result in an another business being added to my profilo.

The benefits don’t stop there. Hanging with a group of like-minded people will give you a lot more than just a few good business ideas.

Holy Motivation Batman!

This aspect is probably the most obvious. When you are around a group of like-minded people, away from the 9-5 grind of your homeland, it is really easy to get sh*t done.

To say the least, it is very motivational working down here in Valle.

We are constantly coming up with ways to help one another and feed off one another’s energy.

The energy levels here are so high that my girlfriend, who came for a short 4 days visit and  doesn’t have the slightest interest in marketing or starting a business, is currently learning the ins & outs of internet marketing and is currently validating her business model.

Imagine what it can do for you?

Hello Jedi Productivity

When you own your own business, there will be times when you just got to get stuff done. Being among people like Hayden, is very inspirational and makes everything seem very achievable.

Watching some of the guys bang away at their Macbooks is like watching a professional NBA player on the court. Their level of focus is intense….

Mike Terry (aka Mr. CRO,) Hayden, & ET leveling up NoHatDigital.com

There was a point where I didn’t take weekends off and pretty much worked 24/7. A few weeks later, to my surprise, there was a point during my stay in Valle where Hayden actually said to us “you guys are working too hard, you probably aren’t being productive enough.”  (#TimFerrisMoment)

Implementing simple techniques like pomodoro, where you work for 25 mins, rest for 5 mins, increases your level of focus significantly.

Once you get used to it, when its time to work, your brain trips into hyperdrive and you get more work done faster and at a higher quality.

In my case, it has at least 3x’ed my productivity levels.

Currently, I only work during the week, and try to do something extra fun during the weekend.

How to Invest in Yourself

The final big opener for me personally was how important it is to invest in yourself. This could simply mean taking 30 minutes a day to read a business book or a course that can help you level up faster.

For me, its been really eye opening learning how many of my new peers my invest in themselves regularly and leverage their new found skills to improve their business.

Lasting friendships that Will Outlast your Bestest High School BFF

To this day, some of my best friends are the group of linguists from China whom I discussed earlier in this post.  I guess there’s this feeling of “we’ve been through it together” and despite living in totally different time-zones, we still talk regularly.

With online entrepreneurship, I’m finding it to be the same thing. I’m hanging with a group of people with similar goals and we are overcoming obstacles I once thought impossible.

Final Thoughts

Which one are you:

• Someone who is passing through life or…
• a “do’er” who is willing to do whatever it takes to make it happen.

If you ever considered living among entrepreneurs, I highly recommend it.

Personally throwing myself into a community of  like minded individuals has been a live changing experience.

If you’re interested in coming down to Valle, check out our upcoming retreat. Otherwise I’ll see you when I’m stateside ;-)

Have you had any experience living among online entrepreneurs? Who do you surround yourself with?

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