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Been there, done that
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Entrepreneurs learn from others’ experience with networking group
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By Jennifer Hogeland, October, 2009
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Scott Alberts, Alberts Illustration & Design (right) and Tracy Heckel, Guten Tag! Design Studios
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As a room full of business owners gathered after hours at Lucky’s Bar & Grill in Darboy, the topic of social networking came up. Tracy Heckel didn’t hesitate to share a recent experience. Explaining how she received an assignment through her LinkedIn account, the graphic designer at Guten Tag! Design Studios in Oshkosh inspired others to chime in.
Some in the crowd hoped to walk away with real-life examples on ways to market their business; others came to share their knowledge of the topic. The group was part of the newly formed Entrepreneurs Anonymous.
Established by two entrepreneurs, Kevin Eismann, founder of Epiphany Law in Appleton, and Gary Vaughan, founding member of Guident Business Solutions in Appleton, Entrepreneurs Anonymous was founded to fill the area’s need for a more interactive networking group.
“A lot of times you go to a function or presentation and it is one-way information. We wanted to create something to promote collaboration between business owners,” says Eismann. “It is as important to get input from your neighbor business owner as it is from your lawyer, your banker and your accountant.”
Apparently he isn’t the only one who feels this way. Just six people attended the first meeting of Entrepreneurs Anonymous earlier this year. The second meeting drew 20 people. During a late August meeting, the back room of Lucky’s Bar & Grill was elbow-to-elbow with more than 60 business owners. What typically was conducted around a group of round tables at the last minute was transformed to banquet style seating in order to accommodate all those present. Eismann says the responses grew from 20 to 60 in five days preceding the event.
“We had to come up with a quick solution – which isn’t unlike how small business has to adapt to change,” he says. “You find a way to do your best with what you have.”
No one seemed to mind. There was more than enough pizza to go around; attendees grabbed a beer or cocktail from the cash bar before they settled in to participate in the evening’s discussion.
A few weeks prior to the meeting an e-mail blast broadly announced the evening’s topic would be on marketing. Presenters and entrepreneurs, Dan Lacy and Elizabeth Finnegan, were solicited at the previous meeting to lead the evening’s discussion.
Eismann described the organization’s mission before turning the floor over to the facilitators. Lacy, founder of A Strategic Branding Consultancy in Appleton, shares, “Everyone came ready to participate, listen and learn from one another.” What began with an informal discussion of the basics of branding and market segmentation was quickly driven by the group to review the latest social networking craze. Some had in-depth knowledge of the subject; others didn’t know the first thing about it. “I think everyone learned something,” says Eismann.
Entrepreneurs Anonymous was not created to be a membership organization. Business owners are invited to attend when a topic interests them.
The event is free but attendees must abide by the organization’s simple, but strict, rules. Rule No. 1: Individuals are not to solicit business. Rule No. 2: Everything shared is confidential.
Heckel, burnt out from the traditional networking events and having dabbled with LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook, embraced the opportunity to hear what strategies worked for other business-minded people.
Curt Esser, owner, member and manager of Esser Consulting, LLC in Appleton, explains while he is still involved in other groups, he relies on Entrepreneurs Anonymous as his resource for advice on how to handle the difficult situations that come up within his own business. The feedback is immediate.
“You don’t have to have a Bill Gates sitting in the room, you just have to have a business owner who has worked through some of the same challenges and is willing to talk about those experiences with others,” says Vaughan.
He adds entrepreneurs are known for making up their minds on their own but it is valuable for them to have as much information as possible to make an informed decision.
“The best information comes from those that have been there, done that,” says Vaughan. “They have already experienced it.”
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