Running a business can be a lonely place sometimes. We’re here to remind you that you most certainly aren’t alone.

There are parts of running a business that are surprisingly lonely, but business loneliness doesn’t always stem from actually being alone…

Some of us are lucky enough to have a small team, a family, fabulous customers, suppliers and a diary that barely gives us a moment to ourselves. On paper, we’re far from lonely. But, when you’re running your own business, no matter the support network around you, there are always moments when the decisions, the worries, and the responsibility still feel as though they are resting entirely on your shoulders.

You’re the one who has to decide whether to take the opportunity, whether to spend the money, whether to hire the person, whether to say yes or no. And when something goes wrong, there isn’t always someone sitting beside you who understands why it matters quite as much as it does to you.

Then, on top of this, in and amongst all the business ‘stuff’, you’re juggling several other balls all at once – the family, the house, the things you want to do for yourself, the things you promised you’d get done this week.

Sometimes one of these balls (sometimes even several) drops. When this happens, it can be very easy to look around and think that everyone else is managing theirs rather better than you are – a master juggler if you will.

The truth?

They’re probably not!

This is what our wider Countrywoman’s Guide community is built around.

The value of finding people who understand.

One of the things we’ve always valued about Countrywoman’s Guide is the opportunity we have to hear and share how other people are doing business alongside the true realities of countryside life. Not the glamourised version we often see gracing our feeds.

Through our podcasts, articles, social channels and events, we have been brining together people who are building their businesses, creating careers, running farms, managing family life and simply working out what comes next. And most importantly sharing the magic words of ‘Yes, I’ve struggled with that too’ – a sentence that is extremely powerful.

Hearing from others, and even better, getting to talk to them about it, is one of the best ways to put a problem into perspective and consider ideas you hadn’t thought of. Sometimes, hearing from others who have been there simply reminds you that the thing keeping you awake at night isn’t something only you are experiencing.

Making space around the table

Our new Membership opportunity is our way of creating a little more space for these conversations.

You don’t have to be in the same business, have the same ambitions or live the same life to take something useful from another’s experience. It can even work in your favour when you don’t, a perspective from a slightly different angle can often provide the bit of advice you were seeking.

Our community is a place for those perhaps feeling a little ‘business lonely’ to come together (both virtually and in person) to ask questions, talk through things that are vexing them, and learn from people at different stages of the journey.

It won’t be a place where you arrive feeling that everyone else has got it together, because that’s not authentic or reality!

The principle will remain the same as it always has, in both our free and paid options…

You don’t have to navigate all of this on your own.

There will always be weeks when everything seems to work, and there will also be weeks when the figures don’t make sense, family commitments take precedence, the business needs you a little more and you find yourself wondering how you’re supposed to balance it all.

That is business. And that is life.

We can’t promise to remove the difficult bits (now that would be a unique selling point!), but we can make sure you have people around you who understand they exist.

The most useful thing a community can give you isn’t always the answer, Simply the reassurance that you’re not doing it alone is enough.

Photography Credits: Rachel Collins