An Entrepreneurial Community Built on Grit
Late one night, I started a WhatsApp group for Entrepreneurs’ Organization members having a tough time. Slowly and steadily, an engaged community has taken hold.
By Ami Kassar
About eight months ago, I was getting frustrated. We were getting more and more calls at MultiFunding from business owners and entrepreneurs who we couldn’t help with financing because their profitability and cash flow were upside down. Other than offering encouragement and suggesting they cut expenses, I would have to move on to my next call.
Many of my friends are members of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization. We are a community built by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs, designed to create supportive connections for successful business owners everywhere. However, as I reflected on the trends we were seeing in our financing calls, I began to wonder whether we could do more when times get tough. Our core offerings include learning events and forums where members can get support and help. That said, I wasn’t sure this was enough, especially if a forum doesn’t have members who have worked through a tough economic cycle and can share their experiences.
So, late at night, on a whim, I started a WhatsApp group that I think was first called “members who are having a tough time right now.” (Catchy, I know!) Slowly and steadily, an online community grew where members feel safe saying times are tough, discussing challenges they face, and asking for help. Soon enough, we realized we needed a proper name, and the community brainstormed it out. Before long, we were officially the EO Grit channel.
When I started Grit, I thought the challenges entrepreneurs were facing were mainly in the USA. As our community has grown to nearly 1,000 members, EO entrepreneurs have joined from around the world, and today, we are international in every sense of the word. I love that about half of the members are in the Grit community because they need help, and the other half are there to offer guidance, support, and help. It’s this combination that makes the Grit community so powerful.
We began to host learning events, and there have now been more than 60 of them. All members are encouraged to host a virtual learning event, as we feel everybody has something to offer. We don’t pay for speakers. Typically, the hosts give an initial presentation in an area where they feel they have expertise, and there is plenty of Q&A to follow. Sometimes there are no slides, and it’s a conversation on a tough topic, such as confronting the need to make layoffs or finding the cash to make payroll next week. These are not fun topics, but they are always important.
We are also experimenting with pop-up forums, where, if members have a particular challenge, we pop up a group to help them talk it through. For example, a few weeks ago, a member walked out of a meeting having lost his largest client. He was 2,500 miles from home and he was scared. He posted on EO Grit. Within 10 minutes, members worldwide – many of whom had experienced something similar – had encircled him with support and encouragement.
I attended EO’s Global Leadership Conference in Honolulu a few weeks ago. My friend Jamie Pujara, the current chairman of EO, asked me to meet him a few minutes before the conference started. Before I knew it, I was sitting next to him in the front row along with the board members and was confused about why I was there. When I tried to excuse myself, I was told to sit down.
Before I knew it, I was being called onto the stage to receive the organization’s Volunteer of the Year award. Naturally, I was dressed in shorts and one of my signature T-shirts for the occasion. It was an honor to receive this award on behalf of the EO Grit community.
Building a business rarely progresses in a straight line. There are often speed bumps and craters along the way that will hit different entrepreneurs at different times. And when it hits you, that’s precisely when you need a group like EO Grit.
Ami Kassar is CEO of MultiFunding.
