Guiding Light Feeling a little lost at the helm of your business? Don't worry: A peer group can help you find your way out of the darkness.

It is a Thursday morning, and normally, Cynthia Malcom would betending to her business. But today, she's sitting in aclassroom, listening to a lecture with a handful of otheradults.

Actually, she is tending to her business. It just doesn'tlook like it at first glance. Malcom is attending BYOB, and no,it's not what you think. This is Build Your OwnBusiness, a 10-week program for anybody who wants to run acompany. Situated in a spacious but almost barren room on thesecond floor of the Cincinnati Business Incubator, BYOB targetsresidents in underserved, urban neighborhoods. Malcom and herclassmates are paying $50 for 20 hours of instruction from aseasoned entrepreneur; after the class is over, they can receiveongoing free services, like financial counseling and taxpreparation from BYOB's nonprofit organization, Smart MoneyCommunity Services in Cincinnati.

But Malcom has already mastered one important lesson in startinga business, one that entrepreneurs new to the scene would do wellto learn: You are not alone. No matter how bleak things might seem,there are always people willing to aid and comfort a strugglingentrepreneur.

Malcom, who's in her 30s, runs the Hand Candy Mind and BodyEscape in Cheviot, an urban neighborhood in Cincinnati. She has onepart-time employee and more than 100 regular customers. Hersisn't exactly a multimillion-dollar business, but she wants itto be. She's come a long way since launching her salon withlittle more than $5,000 after working several years at a casino.Having dreamed of being an entrepreneur since she was 12 years old,Malcom opened her business in 2000, and she hopes to open hersecond store within a couple of years. But to do that, a littleadvice and inspiration wouldn't hurt. "I'm the owner,manager, secretary and janitor. You get so busy, you forget thebasics," explains Malcom, who hopes the education will helpfill some gaps in her knowledge.

Coming to BYOB was a smart decision. As any entrepreneur knows,if you have a problem, you fix it. You might be flying solo, butthere are always air traffic controllers in the tower, ready totalk to you, ready to help. Going it completely alone isunnecessary-maybe even foolish. And Malcom would rather soar thancrash.

Help forEverybody
Across the Ohio River from Malcom is Nicole Christian, the vicepresident of development for the Northern KentuckyChamber of Commerce. "What we do is point people in theright direction," says Christian, espousing a philosophy ofchambers of commerce nationwide.

Even if you have only the foggiest notion of what your businessis going to be, Christian-or somebody like her-can help. Shedirects people with a business idea to the nearest Small BusinessDevelopment Center, which helps novice entrepreneurs formulateblueprints for their businesses. And SBDCs are everywhere. Even ifyou live in American Samoa, you're in luck.

If you have at least a vague idea of what your business plan is,chamber executives like Christian can make finding financing anddeciding on a business location less overwhelming. As you'rewriting that business plan, "we have a business panelreview," Christian says. "It's a revolving panel ofabout 10 people, and they can ask questions that will help yourealize if there are holes in your plan."

And, of course, a chamber of commerce or an SBDC can steer youto other organizations such as SCORE (Service Corps of RetiredExecutives). Located nationwide, these retired executives want tohelp budding young entrepreneurs; the SCORE Web site even offersfree e-mail counseling. You can seek these groups on your own, ofcourse, but the chamber of commerce and SBDCs are often alreadyworking with groups like SCORE and may introduce you to their localcontacts a little faster.

Help From Your Peers

But what you really want is somebody in the trenches with you,right? There are plenty of peers who are willing to share theirwisdom and introduce you to important players in your industry.

Not to beat a dead horse, but the chamber or an SBDC could tellyou what's out there locally. Or just search the Web, wheregroups abound, like TechExecs, a Houston-based peer network group forentrepreneurs, execs and investors in early-stage tech companies;and the CommunityDevelopment Corporation of Long Island, which offers numerousprograms to low-income entrepreneurs, including seminars on findingcapital. Also, see if your industry has a trade organization thatmight help you.

No matter how niche-oriented your business is, you might besurprised by what's out there. For instance, the FablessSemiconductor Association in Dallas provides a networking group forfabless semiconductor companies and their suppliers-with anemphasis on helping start-ups. Its venture capital advisory boardoffers details on practices and trends; its "KnowNetwork" answers members' questions about theindustry.

"If I'd known how helpful networking groups are, Iwould have started my business earlier," says Ron Dresner,40-year-old CEO and president of Your PRDepartment LLC in Farmington, Connecticut. After a lengthycareer in mostly radio, Dresner began his business in 2000 with$25,000. Today, his company is doing well enough to support threeemployees. The first place Dresner turned to for advice was hischamber of commerce. After that, he approached almost every grouphe could find-which is how he found NEXTBusiness, a nonprofit in Glastonburg, Connecticut, that helpsits members get to the next level. Only entrepreneurs are allowedin. And you do have to apply or be invited, but membership is free.Dresner was invited into the group through a contact he made atanother networking function. He says he leaves each meeting withabout 15 new business cards-and often, that leads to a newclient.

Help From theAcademics
You could go back to school for free help. There are 140 activeSmall BusinessInstitutes located at universities nationwide, says BruceKemelgor, director of the Small Business Institute at theUniversity of Louisville in Kentucky.

Every year, the Small Business Institutes help entrepreneurs forweeks at a time, often daily-and for free. "These are[entrepreneurs] who are struggling to get going beyond that firstyear," says Kemelgor. "We go out and work alongside [theentrepreneurs], like conducting market and research studies.We'll do accounting, financial and collection problems,cash-flow problems-and we don't just do one thing. Weusually try to address two to three needs the client has."

But there is one caveat-and this is the guiding principleat every Small Business Institute, says Kemelgor. The entrepreneurmust "have genuine problems that could be resolved with theexpertise of the students and myself. I get requests fromentrepreneurs who are lazy or don't have enough time," hesays. "They'll ask 'Would you write a business planfor me? I can't get around to it.'" Well, neither canKemelgor. He wants to help start-ups, but he wants his students tobenefit, too. So if you have a genuine need for some addedbrainpower that can fix a thorny problem, then a Small BusinessInstitute is the place to go.

Do-It-Yourself Help

If nobody seems to offer the support you need, then you mighthave to create your own support group. That's what John Friessand some like-minded entrepreneurs did. Similar to NEXT Business,but in Portland, Oregon, Starve Ups is what it sounds like: ashelter in the storm for start-ups.

StarveUps came about because Friess, 27, is the vice president andco-founder of Wired.MD, a company that produces interactiveeducational videos for hospitals and health-care organizations toshow to their patients. Wired.MD opened in 2000, though its producthas been in the market for only about a year. Friess' companyhas 15 employees; clients consist of 88 health-care organizationsin 29 states.

During the start-up stage, he and his brother and co-founder,Mark Friess, 30, attended every entrepreneurial meeting they couldfind-with disappointing results. "What we found,"recalls John, "was that at the end of [the meetings], we'dmeet other [attendees] in the parking lot. We were finding that themost valuable component of the meeting was that 20 minutesafterward, talking in the parking lot."

And so John, Mark and 25-year-old Paul Anthony, CEO ofRumblefish, a Portland, Oregon, record label and publisher, formedStarve Ups, a peer group that simulates those parking-lotconversations. "We have an extremely strong peernetwork-we can call each other anytime and ask anyquestion," says John. "We've got the ability toutilize other companies' resources, and we've gotten somegreat leads."

It's a tight group with 18 companies-and 92 businessesare on a waiting list to get in. Entrepreneurs in the Portland,Oregon, area may not be able to join the group anytime soon, butwho knows? As John says, "Those who are passionate andaggressive usually get what they want."

If you live elsewhere, you could start your own Starve Upschapter, which John wants to see happen. Just call him-ifyou're serious, he'll help you get started. Or begin a peerentrepreneurial organization of your own. In any case, StarveUps' peer counseling seems to have benefited its members."At our first meeting, seven young companies showed up,"says John. "Two years later, they're still in thegroup."

This sounds great, but doesn't starting a nonprofitentrepreneurial peer group take time away from running yoursoon-to-be thriving enterprise? And at a time when every ounce ofyour energy should be focused on building your business?

Definitely, agrees John, "But at the same time, it bringsso much back. You get organizational skills, leadership [skills]and opportunities like this interview. And we're buildingrelationships with like-minded peers, relationships I believe wewill have for many, many years."

It's Still Up toYou
But don't overindulge, advises John. "A lot of times,networking is not working. You just sit around and talk. Once youmeet [someone who can connect you to an opportunity], try to keepit to one to three networking groups."

"Time is valuable, so I choose the event," agreesDresner.

Being puzzled, worried, frazzled and even frantic is part ofbeing in business. So is asking for advice. Keep that in mind, andthings will be decidedly different in the future. The nextgeneration of entrepreneurs will have somebody else to turn to forhelp: you.

Geoff Williams is a freelance journalist in Loveland, Ohio.He says people are always telling him he should seek help.