How to Start a Collective Business & Find Success

Starting a Collective business enterprise can be an extremely rewarding experience. It can also be very hard and frustrating, but the benefits are worth it.

Partnerships require a lot of trust and surrender, so communication and self-awareness is vital in order to thrive. There are many ways to start your own collective business enterprise, which we will go into detail about in this blog post!

1. Ideation

Start with your idea, something you are passionate about and think will be valuable to others. You can come up with this on your own or collaborate with other people in order to brainstorm ideas for potential businesses!

If you do decide to work together, it's important that everyone is able to voice their opinions without feeling like they're being judged.

Work on a solid plan and give equal opportunities to everyone in the collaboration. You need to be able to clearly communicate your ideas, and make sure that everyone is on the same page.

2. Find Your Partners

As with any relationship, it's important to find someone who is compatible and shares similar goals. You should all be on the same page when it comes to your values , interests, strengths and weaknesses.

If you are unsure if one of your potential partners would make a good fit for the group, talk about how you would resolve problems in advance so that you can be prepared if they arise.

3. Stay in Communication

Have regular check-ins to make sure that everyone is still on the same page and able to work together.

Make a schedule for meeting with each other, and choose facilitators who are responsible enough to keep track of what has been discussed at previous meetings!

If something comes up that needs immediate attention, make sure to address it as quickly and respectfully as possible.

4. Decide on a Business Name

Having clear boundaries is one of the most important aspects in starting a collective business. You need to be extremely careful when choosing what your name will be!

It should encompass all of you while still representing each individual person's unique talents. It's also important for your name to be searchable online, so that anyone who might want to partner with you can find it easily.

5. Legal Issues

If you are seeking funding or applying for any kind of financial support, chances are the application will require having a legal business entity set up in order to receive what is needed.

You can either work with an attorney to form a legal entity (and pay them hundreds of dollars) or do it yourself, which will cost significantly less and take much more time.

Choose the option that is best for your business needs. If you want help choosing what type of structure suits you best, consult someone who specializes in this area such as a lawyer, accountant or business consultant.

6. Marketing & Community Building

After you have an idea about what business model you are going for it's time start building a community around what you're doing! This way people will feel included in your vision, which makes them more likely to support it.

You can start building a community around your business by creating a digital presence and offering value before asking for anything in return.

For example, you could create an online course or tool that provides people with valuable content related to the niche of your business.

Once someone is aware of what you're doing they will be able to share your content with their friends and help you grow!

7. Set manageable goals

After completing every single detail of your idea, you're ready to start seeing what's actually possible. You can't do everything at once, so it's important that your goals are manageable and that everyone is clear about them!

You need to be able to break down each goal into smaller steps in order for things to get done. This way you know exactly what needs to be worked on and what you need to focus on, and can easily delegate tasks.

Focus on the big picture but take every single step one at a time! You'll be surprised how quickly things will come together once everyone is focused and invested in your idea!

8. Create accountability through deadlines

When we know that something needs to get done by a certain point it is much more likely that we will actually do it. You can create accountability by setting deadlines and making them public!

Ideally you want to give yourself enough time so there isn't any rush but also not too much, otherwise you'll never get things done in time.

It is important to make sure everyone knows what the deadlines are , and if they are public, you'll have to hold yourself accountable as well. This way it will be much easier for everyone involved in your business idea to stay on track!

9. Be clear about your audience

Start with defining your audience and establishing a goal. You can do this by yourself or work together as a team, but be sure to give everyone an equal voice in the process!

Create value before asking for anything in return through digital presence, which will help build trust with people interested in your business idea.

After creating a community around your business you need to keep them updated on the progress through goals and deadlines! This will help everyone stay focused.

10. Customize Branding

Your Branding is the core while starting a collective  business. It's not your logo, font or image but what people feel when they think of you.

It is important to create a style for your brand that represents the business idea and vision. This will help keep things organized as well as make it easier on everyone involved!

You can even work with an online branding agency to get some additional tips and tricks to create your brand!

11. Be Open to Opinions

In a collective business everyone is an owner, which means that there aren't any bosses or employees.

You work as a team and with this comes both the good and bad! It's important to be open about opinions, especially if you want your business idea to succeed!

Having different points of view can enrich conversations and help create new ideas. Try to keep an open mind and ask for opinions when needed, because sometimes another person's perspective can be just what you need!

12. Build a Team of Trust

The team members you work with need to be reliable and trustworthy. You can do this by meeting them in person, if possible, or building up a relationship over time.

It is important! People who don't care about your idea will never help you make it successful, so make sure that everyone is committed before working together!

13. WorkSpace

You need to find an appropriate WorkSpace, which is where you'll do all the work. Make sure it's a comfortable place for everyone and has everything that they will need! You don't want anyone feeling uncomfortable or distracted from their tasks.

A good workspace can make a huge difference in how focused people are as well as your team's morale! Make sure it's a place where everyone feels comfortable and can easily get together to work on your idea.

14. Finance Your Business

Last but not least, this is the part that requires most of your attention. You will need to have a solid plan in place for how you are going to finance your collective business enterprise before you even begin!

Make sure that everyone has done their research on what kind of capital they will need to start up, and how they will have access to it.

Once you make a plan for where you'll get the money from, write down your monthly budget and review this with each other every month. This way everyone knows exactly what is going on behind closed doors!

It's important that no one feels left out or like their ideas are being ignored, so make sure that everyone has a say when it comes to the financials.

15. Make the Most of what You Have

You don't need much in order to make something happen ! All you really need is motivation, discipline, commitment and support from other people who want this business idea to succeed!

Don't forget that you are not alone ! There are people out there who want to help and support your idea, but they won't if you don't give them opportunities to do so!

You will need everyone's contribution in order for this business idea to succeed, which means that it is crucial to make the most of what you have.

Ways To Thrive

If you have made it this far in your collaboration process, congratulations! You are ready for any obstacles that might come up along the way.

If you stick together and communicate effectively with each other, chances are that with a little patience, you'll succeed! You can do it if you work together as a team.

This is our biggest tip for starting your own business with friends! Don't be discouraged by the "what ifs", take every opportunity that comes up and make the best of what's in front of you.

With these tips and tricks, you'll be able to handle the roller coaster of collective business like a pro!

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