Creating Your Community or Business Group

Whether you live in a big city, or a small town, have lived there forever, or are brand new, creating camaraderie with others like you is very important, and possible! I moved from the San Francisco Bay Area to Bend, Oregon about a year ago, and have already found my people (sorry, I am for some reason opposed to the word tribe). Knowing that I was leaving the proximity of the Creative Business League behind in geography (I still Skype in for monthly meetings and attend the twice yearly in-person retreats), I knew I wanted to find an existing creative business group, or create my own. Here are the steps I followed, hopefully they help guide you to your own group.

Step 1: Search for maker spaces, groups, co-working locations, etc. on Facebook

In my initial search, I found out that Bend has a whole geographical area called, Bend's Makers District - it is an industrial area where a lot of small businesses of have their workspaces and/or retail shops. I emailed and connected with one of the makers who told me that they have bi-monthly meetings, and even though I didn't have a space in the Makers District, I could attend those meetings to start to create a community for myself. About a month or two before I moved, I found out that a new co-working space, The Wilds, aimed at creatives, was opening in Bend. I 'liked' their page on Facebook and was on the lookout for any social gatherings they were going to have that were open to the public. Right after I moved, The Wilds had a Holiday Open House, so I went, by myself.

Here is where I will interject that on order to create your business group, you may need to do a few things out of your comfort zone. Networking is never that easy, but I am a firm believer in going to events like this one on your own - it forces you to talk with people, and you're not as intimidating to others because you are solo, not in a large, unapproachable group. I also believe that there is always someone else out there like you, maybe even a few people, looking for a connection.

I met quite a few people at The Wilds that night, and I knew I was on to something. So now I had two places to call on in order to start forming this business group.

photo courtesy of The Wilds

Step 2: Show up and make yourself useful

I started to go to the Bend's Makers District meetings on a regular basis, and offered my services where I could. I was a recognizable face, and I was starting to understand who the Makers were and if any had a need for a business group. The Wilds has monthly artist receptions, and I made it a point to go to all of them. There, I met more and more creatives, and really started to see the need for a business group. I even started teaching business and craft classes at The Wilds.

Step 3: Put it out there

I knew all along I wanted to create a business group in Bend, I just wasn't sure how or when it would take shape. One day, one of the women from The Wilds commented on Facebook how she was kicking ass and taking names, but it was also leaving her too busy to attend certain events, and I called her a #bossbabe. Another woman from The Wilds commented, and I said something to the effect of, let's start a business group. And we were off. Immediately I got the response that others had been thinking the same thing, and a couple of us picked a date and met to start planning. #BendBossBabes was born. It truly was as simple as that. People are always looking for community - truth.

Step 4: Plan a meeting

For our first meeting, we decided it would be best to keep it pretty informal. We wanted people to feel comfortable and to get to know what everyone wanted from the group. I hosted, and it was a bit like a cocktail party. We had some paper on the walls with some prompts for people to write down "What's a Bend Boss Babe To You?", "How Can Bend Boss Babes Serve You?", and "Services Offered/Help Wanted".

Step 5: Continue to have meetings on a regular basis

Continuity will be a big role in making sure that your business group survives. The CBL has monthly meetings, but maybe you start out with every other month. See what works for your group. The Bend Boss Babes are having our next meeting in a couple weeks, and people seem excited. Stay tuned! 

Planning an Amazing One-Day Business Retreat

Each year the CBL gals plan two retreats: a two-night adventure in January to set goals for the year ahead, and a single-day retreat in July to make sure we're on track with our goals.  A one-day retreat is inexpensive and easy to plan, so the ratio between effort and value is extremely high.  We've done this since 2013, so we've pretty much got the planning down to a science.  It took Alyson Thomas and only a few hours to plan an amazing day for the group.  Here are our steps and suggestions for planning an executing a successful one-day retreat.  Grab your business buds and put a date on the calendar- you'll be glad you did when at the end of the retreat you're holding a glass of rose, noshing on cheese, and feeling reinvigorated and inspired to make your business dreams come true.  

Scheduling:

Getting a date on the calendar can often be the most challenging part.  Start at least 6 weeks in advance, longer if there are more than 5 people involved.  Doodle is your best friend for this task.  Once you pick a date, stick to it.

Location:

You don't have to get all fancy and rent an Airbnb or anything.  We usually choose someone's house, giving bonus points to locations that have a deck or outdoor space to lounge around drinking coffee or wine.  Doing the retreat at home has the advantages of being free, nearby, and having kitchen access.  Pick someplace you can relax and focus- so make sure the kids are out for the day.

Food & Drink:

This is a retreat, people.  That means it should feel like a mini vacation, even though you're going to be using your brain all day.   When I'm on vacation, I like to eat well.  The CBL does not shy away from luxurious noshing.   We always start the morning with pastries, fruit and coffee, have a potluck style lunch (usually millions of tasty salads), and round out the day with a wine and cheese happy hour.  We designate a host for the day and she is in charge of delegating and coordinating the meals and snacks.  Everyone pitches in, and we always end up with an amazing spread.

We're firm believers that cheese fuels inspiration.  Photo by Alana Rivera.

It helps to have a cocktail expert on board.  Alyson Thomas made each of us a bottled Aperol Spritz!

Content:

This is the real meat of the retreat.  We usually designate two people to plan the content and agenda for the day.  Each retreat is different, but they often feature many of the same elements.  Here are a few of old standbys:

• Personal Reflection Time: Usually 15-30minutes, this is time for each person to go off on their own, reflect and journal on the year so far and set intentions for the day.
• CELEBRATION Check-Ins: At every meeting (not just the retreats), each member to takes the floor for a few minutes to give us the update on their business.  We do this with a twist at the retreat: we put a special focus on the positive things we've accomplished so far this year.  As business owners, it's far too easy to look toward the next mountain we need to summit and forget all about the eighteen hills we climbed to get where we are.  It's so important to celebrate our progress.  We'll often bust out gold star stickers, applause, bubbles, or confetti... it is a celebration, after all!
• Small-Group Time: We usually break up into groups of 3 or 4 and take some time to focus on discussing each business in more depth.  Each person gets about half and hour in the spotlight to really dig into issues they may be facing and ask for feedback, support, and advice.  The small group works together to brainstorm and plan creative solutions for the road ahead.
• Wildcard Activities: This is the content that requires the most advance planning.  The content team should meet a few weeks in advance to plan activities based on what people in the group need the most.  Start by thinking about what you are really craving- is it feedback?  Inspiration? Creativity?  Confidence?  Design your own activity or discussion to help achieve those goals.  Here's a few activities we've done in years past:

  • Brainstorming Your Way Through a Wall: Alyson just posted an amazing recap of the recent brainstorming discussion we had at this year's retreat

  • Forced Compliment Acceptance:  Each member had to sit silently as every other person present listed off what they admire about the person, what positive qualities they have, and the secret-sauce they bring to their business and their life.  No refuting or deflecting allowed, it was harder to be the subject than it sounds.

  • What Do YOU See In My Business?  Each member created a series of questions on a worksheet to be filled out by all the other members with questions about their business.  It gave everyone an outsider's perspective on their business's identity, strengths, weaknesses, and areas to improve on.

Reflection:

The final step (are arguably the most important step) to a successful retreat is to take all the thoughts and ideas you generated throughout the day and put them into action.  Take time at the end of the day or the following day to reflect and create an action plan that will transform your ideas into changes.  We're big fans of the SMART goals method- take your idea or goal and break it down into measurable, achievable mini goals and set some deadlines.

Create Your Own Business League

All of us in the Creative Business League (CBL for short) agree that being a member of our group has changed our business immeasurably for the better. For me in particular, having these dedicated, passionate, funny, powerful, encouraging women at my back has given me so much inspiration and kept me going through many a difficult time.  When someone tells me they are about to start a business, my best advice is to find a peer group and meet regularly.  In this post I’d like to share some of the factors and structures that have helped make the Creative Business League so invaluable to all of us.  My hope is that it might inspire others to form their own inspirational, supportive and wildly successful business groups.  

What does a business league do?

The CBL does and is many things.  Here are just a few:

• We are a pep squad who will shout about one another’s many successes
• We are a critical-thinking testing ground for new ideas
• We are accountability partners for goal setting
• We are a brain trust of freely-shared ideas, inspiration and information
• We are support group for when the going is tough (which is a lot)

Who should be in your group?

When looking for members for your group, try to pick people who are in similar industries but are not the same.  The CBL is made up of maker businesses, but we have so many different kinds of amazing products that we learn from one another’s unique niches.  We gain common ground  by all understanding the challenges of manufacturing and selling a product, but we would lose unique perspectives if we all were making the same type of product.

I think one of the reasons The CBL gels so well is that we all began our businesses at roughly the same time.  All of us are between six and ten years into our businesses.  For the most part, we all met each other by doing craft fairs, which meant that we were all at about the same stage of our businesses.  This has been key for us- we encounter the same obstacles at roughly similar paces, so we can learn from each other as each one of us hits a growth point.  

How many members should you have?

We’ve discovered that seven members is the perfect number for our group.  Each member gets dedicated time to talk at each meeting, and each person’s voice and opinion is heard.  At the same time, our group is large enough to have varying opinions and perspectives.  Having less than ten members also keeps scheduling relatively easy.  We can usually find one night each month where everyone can get together.  It's been key to our growth and bonding to have every member at every meeting.

What do you do at your meetings?

Our meeting structure has been essential to our success.  Each monthly meeting follows the same structure, and allows us to be social, get updates on each other's businesses, and go deep on a few larger topics.  A typical night is outlined below.

7:00-8:00 Wine, Dinner and Catching Up

This is the part of the night were we visit, eat something super delicious, and just relax.  Getting to be social with one another really makes it fun- it’s definitely not all business all the time.

8:00-9:00 Check ins

Each member gets 5-10 minutes to tell everyone what is going on with their business this month.  This is the time we share successes, what unique challenges we are facing, and in general unload everything that’s been swirling around our to-do lists for the past month.  Usually no feedback is given unless it’s asked for.  After we hear from everyone, we usually break for dessert and more wine.

9:00-10:00 Delving Deep

This is the time we set aside to go more in depth on a series of rotating topics that we agree upon ahead of time.  Any member can propose a topic.  We might have a general talk about pricing, legal structures, or any other business topic.  Someone might present new information they’ve learned from a class they took or a show they’ve been to.  We might also tackle a specific problem someone needs help with.  This is our time to really get into one or two bigger idea or issues.  

What else do you do?

Each year we plan two retreats.  In January or February we all go away for the weekend and really dive into goal setting and business strategy.  We also eat amazing food, usually stay in a gorgeous remote cabin, and unplug and relax.  It's a great way to get the new year off on the right foot for our businesses.  In July, we usually do a less-elaborate single day retreat.  This is a time to check in our on yearly goal progress and refocus if things have veered off track.  

If you have any questions about forming your own group, don't hesitate to post in the comments section.  If you have a business or are thinking of starting one, you've got nothing to lose- go find your people!