Training wheels for entrepreneurs

No (wo)man is an island and as a fledgling entrepreneur, I had to do something about the loneliness that was creeping in. I also needed a crash course in how to run a business, having never studied it before. Plus I needed to start building a network, as I'd heard that word of mouth is the best way to market yourself.

Connecting with others is vital to entrepreneurial success for numerous reasons, but for me, these have been the most important:

* Support. It's so reassuring to discover that other people are dealing with the same challenges - and you can share experiences, helpful hints and contacts.
* Learning. Most entrepreneurs have little to no business training when they start out. I've built a network which has led me to invaluable (and mostly free) courses and workshops.
* Marketing. My network is a way of getting my company's name out there to a wider audience in a non-pushy way - word of mouth just can't be beaten.
* Energy. Sparks fly when you connect with like-minded people. Ideas are generated, collaborations are formed and friends are made. It's stimulating and exciting.

Here are some ways I've found that help me achieve the above. Some may be suitable for you, some less so. If you have other resources to recommend, please add them in the comments section below.

* Go to conferences: The first thing I did when I quit my day job was to book myself onto the two-day The Big Idea conference. Ownership and management have changed since I attended it, but this sort of event, tailored to aspiring or current entrepreneurs, can be great for learning and networking - and was a great kick-start for me. I've since been to and presented at other 'un'conferences including BarCamp, PodCamp Cape Town and Flying Solo SA.

* Sign up for training courses: Not long after I'd launched Freelancentral, my Web company told me about the Cape Information Technology Initiative, an organisation that is 100% behind start-up ICT businesses in the Western Cape. It offers a range of training programmes and networking events. My company was selected for the VeloCITI programme in 2007 - a nine-month course covering basic business skills and personal development, and it included mentoring. The course was free but I had to commit to a high level of participation. There was also a competitive element where the top performing companies over the nine months would win prizes. Freelancentral came third and won press offices on ITWeb and BizCommunity, which have been fantastic resources.

Late in 2007, I spotted a call for interest in the CITI newsletter for women ICT entrepreneurs. I was thrilled to be selected in my personal capacity for the Professional Development Programme for South African Women ICT Entrepreneurs. Run locally by Maxum and CITI, it is organised and funded by a variety of American organisations**. This is the programme that took me to the US for three weeks in April and is providing me with ongoing mentoring and support for a further 18 months. Again, it cost me nothing, but I did sign an agreement committing myself to high levels of participation, regular reporting as well as passing on what I learn to other women ICT entrepreneurs in my community and sphere of influence.

* Move into an incubator: I work from a home office but if I didn't, I would seriously consider taking office space in an incubator. Cape Town's Bandwidth Barn (where CITI is based) and Pretoria's Maxum Business Incubator at the Innovation Hub in Pretoria offer office space solutions tailored to start-up IT businesses - supplemented by training, shared resources, networking and more.
* Join a peer support network: PeerPower is an entrepreneur development company specialising in assisting entrepreneurs to think strategically, focus on their results, support each other and grow their businesses. Entrepreneurs participate in regular groups where they benefit from sharing challenges and experience. Great for networking as well as learning. I have been attending PeerPower sessions for 18 months now as part of the other programmes I'm on.
* Find a mentor: Someone with solid business experience behind them and knowledge of what it takes to start a business. Meet or chat on the phone with them monthly. Use them as a sounding board and to tap into their networks.
* Use professionals: Call in the experts for things you can't learn quickly yourself. There's no need for you to handle your bookkeeping, accounting, legal matters when there are plenty of professionals out there who can do them for you. Find people who specialise in small businesses and you'll be surprised how cost-effective - and effective - their advice is.

Sparks fly when you connect with like-minded people. Ideas are generated, collaborations are formed and friends are made.

Jo Duxbury is founder of <a href="http://www.freelancentral.co.za/">www.freelancentral.co.za</a>

I've read some of these books below; others are still on my list and have been recommended to me by other entrepreneurs and my mentors. This list gets longer the more people I talk to! If you have any great books to recommend to entrepreneurs, please add them as a comment below.

* The E-Myth Revisited - Michael E Gerber
* The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People - Steven Covey
* Crashproof Your Business - Peter Carruthers
* The Secret - Rhonda Byrne
* Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything - Don Tapscott and Anthony D Williams
* Built to Last: The Successful Habits of Visionary Companies - Jim Collins
* The Four Hour Work Week - Timothy Ferris
* The Parentpreneur Edge - Julie Lenzer Kirk
* The Gratitude Effect - Dr John Demartini
* The Google Story: Inside the Hottest Business, Media, and Technology Success of Our Time - David Vise and Mark Malseed

There are unlimited online sources of information and advice sites for entrepreneurs. Just Google 'entrepreneur advice' and watch the results roll in. The trick is to find those that are most relevant to you. I also subscribe to a number of Web sites which I collate into Google Reader, including www.SethGodin.com, www.StevePavlina.com/blog/, www.FastCompany.com, www.FreelanceSwitch.com and www.FreelanceFolder.com.

In his very funny and thought-provoking article "10 Reasons You Should Never Get A Job", Steve Pavlina's eighth reason - "An Inbred Social Life" - is the reason that entrepreneurs like to network. As a new entrepreneur, if you don't network, you'll either drive yourself, your family or your other business partners crazy very quickly.

Meeting hundreds of interesting people in the nearly three years since I left my 'regular' job is one of the things that keeps me out of gainful employment! I am now exposed to all sorts of fascinating people I would never have met otherwise.

But while I am very much a people person, the thought of schmoozing at a networking event, business card in one hand and tepid white wine in the other, breaks me out in a cold sweat. I've tried a number of networking groups and some have suited me; others haven't.

I've also had to formulate my own etiquette for adding 'friends' on social and business networking sites. My usual rule is that I have to have actually met them in person before adding them. I tend to be quite picky about accepting people onto my social networks and on Facebook, for example, I will usually reject friend requests from freelancers and ask them to join the group I set up for Freelancentral instead. I'm not out to collect as many connections as possible - for me it's more about whether I can add value to them, and them to me.

My favourite networks are the 27 Dinners, Freelancentral's own social get-togethers, Flying Solo SA, Business Warriors, Facebook (I use it for business as well as social networking), LinkedIn and, recently, Twitter. If you can't find a network to suit you, why not start your own?

If you have any other support bases that have worked well for you, I'd love to hear about them.

* Jo Duxbury is founder of www.freelancentral.co.za. Contact her at jo@freelancentral.co.za.

** The Professional Development Programme for South African Women ICT Entrepreneurs is sponsored by the US Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (BECA) Office of Citizen Exchanges, the Maxum Business Incubator at The Innovation Hub and the Cape IT Initiative (CITI). It is organised by the Meridian International Centre in Washington, DC, in partnership with Maxum and Maryland Women and Information Technology. Local workshops in SA are sponsored by the US Department of State's BECA Office of Citizen Exchanges, the SEDA Technology Programme of the Department of Trade and Industry, Maxum, CITI and the Eastern Cape Department of Economic and Environmental Affairs.