A business can have access to plenty of resources and still be stuck. Not because the help isn’t good, but because the help doesn’t match the problem.
You can spend months networking when the real issue is operations. Earn a certification without knowing how to turn it into an opportunity. Take a finance course when what you really need is someone who can challenge the way you are thinking about the business. More resources won’t necessarily move you forward. The right resource can.
That idea came up again and again when Josh Johnson of Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses joined Say Less Unscripted. His advice wasn’t to join every program available or even to assume 10,000 Small Businesses is right for everyone.
It was to find your tribe.
Find the people, knowledge, and opportunities that fit where your business is now and where you are trying to take it. That starts with knowing what you are actually looking for.
Start With The Gap
Before you look for another resource, look at the business. Where are you stuck?
A company with plenty of leads but poor margins probably doesn’t need another networking event. An owner who has to approve every decision may have a leadership or systems problem. A company pursuing government contracts may need procurement guidance before adding another certification. Different problems require different kinds of support.
You can see that even in the way the U.S. Small Business Administration structures its resource network. Small Business Development Centers offer advising and training. APEX Accelerators focus on government contracting assistance.
They are all business resources. They don’t all do the same job. That is why the first question shouldn’t be what is available?
It should be what is holding us back?
Look For Something That Changes The Business
Josh made this point with one of the funniest analogies in the episode. He bought an exercise machine, he never took it out of the box, and, strangely enough…. The six pack never arrived.
Business education can work the same way. You can attend the workshop, fill the notebook and leave with ten great ideas. But if none of those ideas make it back into the business, what did you really gain?
The best resources help close the gap between learning and doing.
Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses, for example, combines business education with advising, peer learning and the development of a growth plan. Participants work across areas such as financial management, marketing, sales, leadership, and workforce development. That combination is important because information alone isn’t always the problem. Sometimes you need help applying it.
So when you are considering a program, course or advisor, don’t just ask what you are going to learn. Ask what you should be able to do differently afterwards.
Find Your Tribe, Not Just More Contacts
Then there are problems that aren’t solved by another lesson. Sometimes you need people. Business ownership can be lonely in ways people don’t always see. Josh talked about the reality that owners cannot share every concern with employees, customers, or potential business partners. Yet someone needs to know what is really going on.
The right business community gives you a place to have those conversations with people who understand the weight behind them.
They have made the bad hire.
They have lost the big customers.
They have wondered how they are going to make payroll.
They have made a decision they were sure was brilliant and discovered six months later that it absolutely was not.
And they kept going.
That is what makes Josh’s advice to find your tribe so important. Your tribe isn’t simply a room full of people with businesses. It is a group where you can learn, contribute, ask the uncomfortable questions, and hear an answer from someone who has actually lived it.
Milton Quinn experienced another side of that after completing 10,000 Small Businesses. He realized his network was no longer limited to the people in his own phone. Trusted relationships gave him access to the people in their phones too. That is more than networking. It is the ability to call someone and say “who do you know?”
The right relationship might lead to a customer, supplier, banker, partner, or simply the person who has already solved the problem sitting on your desk.
A binder eventually gets put on a shelf. A strong relationship can keep opening doors for years.
Access Isn’t The Same As Opportunity
Certifications offer another good example.
Josh talked about business owners who hear they should get a HUB or another certification. They do the work, receive the designation, and the reach an important question: now what?
The certification may be valuable, but is isn’t a strategy.
The U.S. Small Business Administration explains that qualifying federal small business certifications can provide access to certain contracting opportunities and business development resources. But certification itself does not guarantee a contract.
You still need to know who buys what you sell, where opportunities exist, how your company competes, and which relationships you need to build.
That is also why specialized resources such as APEX Accelerators exist. They help businesses navigate government contracting, including registration, certification, and identifying opportunities.
Access matters. Knowing what to do with that access matters more.
Know What You Are Walking Away With
Maybe this is the simplest way to judge a business resource. When it is over, what will you have that you didn’t have before?
Better knowledge?
A process you can actually use?
A relationship you can call three years from now?
Access to a new market?
More confidence in a decision?
A room of people who understand what you are building?
Those are meaningful outcomes. Another folder of notes probably isn’t.
Your time is one of your company’s resources too. You don’t need to say yes to every program, event, certification, or opportunity simply because it could be valuable.
It needs to be valuable for you, right now.
Before you commit, ask:
What problem am I trying to solve?
What will this resource change?
Are these people I can learn from and contribute to?
Those three questions can save you a lot of time spent chasing resources that were never designed for the problem you actually have. You don’t need every resource.
You need the right knowledge when you have a knowledge gap. The right access when a door needs opening. The right guidance when you don’t know the next move.
Continue The Conversation
Ready to find the resources that can move your business forward?
Watch the full episode with Josh Johnson for more on Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses, finding your tribe and choosing the right support for your business.
Want more conversations and resources built for leaders and entrepreneurs? Join the Say Less Dispatch.