“It all started with an email in my angelwingsweb inbox. Joe Sorge, of Kitchen Table Companies was letting the subscribers know about a thread created by of one of the newest members, asking for advice to assist on how to pull out of a crisis for their company.
Joe’s appeal was to the point: let us share from our experience to provide help to possibly save a business.
I didn’t visit the thread until later the next day. I wasn’t sure I was qualified to offer any advice, because I am certainly not a seasoned entrepreneur, and my expertise is not in the financial field, but still, you feel like we are all part of a like-minded family, and you never know where help can come from, sometimes just showing up to support someone who has the courage to describe his or her demise is important.
Of course, I was curious too. I wanted to read about how other members, who had been contacted in the same manner as I had been contacted, had answered the call: it’s always very telling about a community to gauge their willingness to lend a hand – or in that case – some time from busy lives to spell out thoughts and advice.
And wow! did I find a pouring support!
I wasn’t really expecting to find lots of activity on the thread (what was I thinking?) and instead I bumped into so many great posts, filled with top quality – free – advice, that could certainly make sense to more than one single person. The wealth, and warmth, and depth of the answers impressed me very much. There surely was an awesome well of ideas, of which the member who had presented his case would find solutions, or at least would find the impetus that would allow him to create the necessary solutions to get out of his present mess.
What also struck me as extremely powerful was that Joe had initially called upon the community of contributors, in a true spirit of mentoring: no one can have the magic bullet solution, no one does exactly know what a described situation is – that may need a complete audit, background, retrospective, etc to be fully grasped. But the inspiration came from the addition of intelligent and wise contributions, shared from very different perspectives.
I am not sure in the end what will trigger the outcome. But what I am absolutely certain of, is the inspiration I received from such a forum. I am also thinking that being listened to, in a non judgemental manner, nor in a professoral – out of touch – way may have deeply helped this company to look at their demise with a better perspective, enlightened by so many ideas and open paths.
Working a company or small business from a kitchen table can be a very lonely experience, with many feelings that we are overwhelmed or doing so many things the wrong way. In a split second, and thanks to experiencing what went on that simple thread, I realized that I would probably never be that alone: fellows are listening and ready to answer, and offer their common expertise which is priceless.”
This was one of our proudest moments early on inside KTC.
Our first indication of the real community that was being built.
Won’t you join us? It’s pretty risk free to give it a try for 10 days.
Just click here.
