Sept 24: Let's Get Uncomfortable

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Successful small business owners are coachable. And scrappy.

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Guest post by: Sue Tellier, JetCo Solutions

Sue Tellier, President of JetCo Solutions
Sue Tellier, President of JetCo Solutions

Seriously. We fail all the time, and our job is to learn from the failures and find smart people to guide us along the way. Also, we have to get over our own “I-can-do-anything-myself” egos and pick up the pieces when expectations exceed reality.

This is about finding smart people and learning from them.

Most small business owners I know associate with other small business owners. Quite frankly, many of my closest friends are like-minded small business owners. It’s like a unique club of risk-taking, innovative, clever badasses who face similar challenges. A glass (or more) of wine with them is a cathartic, therapeutic, mutual-learning experience.

We also tend to surround ourselves with informal mentors – larger companies, more experienced CEOs, business leaders who provide guidance based on experience, not just scrappiness.

Recently, the Small Business Administration (SBA) expanded the mentor-protégé program to include all small businesses. (Formerly, it was only available to certified 8(a) companies.) According to the SBA website:  “The purpose of the new program is to develop strong protégé firms through mentor-provided business development assistance, and to help protégés successfully compete for government contracts.”

So what does this mean?

The federal government realizes small firms bring mad skills, which are highly useful to federal agencies. In order to speed their path to becoming federal contractors, they have created this program to help the smalls learn from the bigs.

Make sense? Learn more, or maybe just get more confused, at the SBA web page.

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What’s it like having 6 dogs sleep with you? Exhibit A.

🐕no room for your legs.
🦮king size bed; single for the humans.
🐩bed on a bed.
🐾wake with a crick in your neck.
🦴it’s their world, we’re just living in it

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Open post by bodespeaks with ID 18174154756423008
What’s it like having 6 dogs sleep with you? Exhibit A. 🐕no room for your legs. 🦮king size bed; single for the humans. 🐩bed on a bed. 🐾wake with a crick in your neck. 🦴it’s their world, we’re just living in it

The power of the @smallbusinessassocofmichigan Women’s Entrepreneurial Fellowship is best described by the second-stage WOSBs in it. Ashley Connelly, 25-26 grad, sums it up:

“If you’re a second stage woman business owner seeking an fellowship program that allows for the participants to be FULLY authentic 💃 , network with peers for advice, celebrate each other’s successes and failures all while being exposed to amazing speakers who are also practitioners - SIGN UP! ✅ People involved in this program GET IT... they understand what is means to be and think like an entrepreneur.”

Apply for the next cohort, launching in October. Deadline is mid-September.

Apply now: https://sbamwef.org/apply/

WEF is a program built by business owners for business owners, which is what makes it so incredible. The women chosen for the program have access to resources, mentorship, peer support, and 9 months of learning focused on the emotional and practical.

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Open post by bodespeaks with ID 18113635111928988
The power of the @smallbusinessassocofmichigan Women’s Entrepreneurial Fellowship is best described by the second-stage WOSBs in it. Ashley Connelly, 25-26 grad, sums it up: “If you’re a second stage woman business owner seeking an fellowship program that allows for the participants to be FULLY authentic 💃 , network with peers for advice, celebrate each other’s successes and failures all while being exposed to amazing speakers who are also practitioners - SIGN UP! ✅ People involved in this program GET IT... they understand what is means to be and think like an entrepreneur.” Apply for the next cohort, launching in October. Deadline is mid-September. Apply now: https://sbamwef.org/apply/ WEF is a program built by business owners for business owners, which is what makes it so incredible. The women chosen for the program have access to resources, mentorship, peer support, and 9 months of learning focused on the emotional and practical.