If you are facing a small business challenge, you are not alone

When things are going great and a small business owner sees the chance to learn something from a small business owner friend, there is no hesitation to reach out and ask for insight into how something works, or how to do something better.

So I know small business owners have the ability to ask for help.

But during bad times — when the mode is survival rather than growth — small business owners often hunker down rather than reach out.

Perhaps there’s some misguided belief that reaching out in a challenging time is an admission of failure. Or perhaps there’s a belief that if you’re “the boss,” then you have to be the leader and, somehow, have some innate ability to guide the ship through troubled storms.

Someone reading this is filled with anxiety about whether or not that big client is going to switch to another vedor, or if the bank is going to refuse to renew the line of credit or if a great salesman is about to jump ship.

I wish there were easy answers to calm these anxieties. All I know is this: even the small business owners you think are always successful have plenty of horror stories they’d like to forget.

And while they may not be able to help solve that crisis you’re going through right now, there’s something reassuring about hearing that you’re not the first or only one to experience the anxiety you’re feeling now.

Go ahead and call a small business friend. Talk it over. You’ll be amazed at how much good it will do you. And who knows, if may even help you get some sleep.