There’s an African proverb that says “It takes a village to raise a child”. What does it take for an entrepreneur or small business owner to successfully raise an idea into a profitable business? In a previous post, “How Do Entrepreneurs and Sole Proprietors Juggle All Those Balls?”, I wrote about dealing with all of the different aspects of a business including technology, marketing, sales and finance – on top of your core business. Ideally, you have a budget and can hire professionals. But what if you’re an “accidental entrepreneur” (Thanks to Jeannette Paladino for coining that term.) and you find yourself suddenly out of work . . . or maybe you’re looking for a way to earn extra income but you don’t have money to invest? What if you’re just testing the waters to see if there’s an interest in a product that you make or you want to see if you can make money through affiliate programs or Google AdSense advertising? How can you find people who are willing to help you when you can’t afford to pay them? Continue reading “How Can Entrepreneurs and Sole Proprietors Help Each Other?”