It’s very hard running your business when you are a one man band or a small operation. You have to make all the decisions, plans, assessments, everything. So it’s no wonder your progress is slow, and you don’t do as much testing as you should. You know how the gurus get by, don’t you? They network with each other, they brainstorm, they bounce ideas off each other.

Have a look at corporates, and bigger businesses, they have managers, sales teams, research and development people. That’s why their successful.

Well, like everything online, you just need to think big, and think outside the square. Surround yourself with professionals, be prepared to open up to an inner circle of colleagues and bounce your thoughts off them, exchange ideas, even consider joint ventures with them. You cannot put a value on having another set of eyes going over your content, or getting an opinion on a plan from somebody who sees things differently from you, to get an objective thought. You will certainly cover more ground, and I promise you, you will most definitely present a much higher standard of content. FACT!

I have my inner circle, and I don’t do anything important in my business without sounding out my team of professionals. I often get ideas that started over conversation in our think tank and end up being major projects, and I can tell you, they came together easy and quickly because of the advice and ideas fed to me from the think tank. It’s amazing how from using a think tank you end up being much more organised, logical and you are even aware of the trouble spots you may encounter. Your progress is much quicker and you have an inside track on what to avoid.

My team of professionals are …

• My business partner Massimo Papa
• My good friend Steve Bethell
• And another good friend Jeff Austin

My business partner Massimo Papa keeps me on the straight and narrow. He is brilliant at looking at things in a totally different perspective than I do, and that is a good thing. He has given me the courage to go down paths that I probably would never have considered. While Massimo loves and works in the same business arena as me, he has an incredible knowledge in the areas that I am not so strong with and that allows me to forge ahead in what I am good at. Together we cover an amazing amount of territory online, and I often wonder how I survived before we connected.

Steve Bethell is a professional in the areas of creative marketing consultancy and contract sales. Steve’s company is Prospective Marketing and delivers what I believe to be an “old school” philosophy in terms of service. He is so good at what he does that his recompense is outcome based. A true professional with an air of confidence, and he can afford to be that way because he knows his stuff! You will get to know more about Steve Bethell in the future as I will be doing a business profile on him in the near future.

Jeff Austin is a guru of business coaching, my god I think Jeff has forgotten more than I will ever know. Jeff is based in Bunbury Western Australia, but for the right price he can be lured to your workplace no matter where you are located. Jeff Austin delivers professional knowledgeable advice in results training, business systems, team building, leadership coaching and event speaking. He can get inside a business and identify areas for improvement, but more importantly he can deliver solutions to the areas identified. You will get to know Jeff better as I will be writing a business profile on Jeff in the near future.

My inner circle (think tank) is very well rounded in terms of what input I get from each of them and their areas of expertise is very broad, and what they are very very good at, I have only some knowledge about, but certainly nothing compared to their expertise. So I now have a much broader range of expertise given the fact that I have my inner circle supporting me. Makes sense hey.

So my message to you is to consider strengthening your business model by creating your very own inner circle (think tank). Start looking at the people you come in contact with in your day to day dealings with the intention of identifying some core professionals who you can leverage off and in turn give back valuable knowledge of yours. It will hit you in the face when you come across the right people because you will feel a connection with them, a synergy. You will know! You will improve all aspects of your business the minute you identify and connect with your think tank.

To your online success,

Gary Pudney for Online business advice.