It's called "borrowing trust".

It's not found in most startup playbooks or courses, and yet it's something I'd argue every single successful entrepreneur I've met has proactively done in some form.

Let me explain.

What is borrowing trust?

As a successful entrepreneur, I’m always looking to work with others who can help me take my business to the next level, so  I made the decision to work with my current mentor, business strategist Lisa Johnson. Not only do I know that she can add real value to my business with her knowledge but here’s the thing:  I already knew she had a loyal, engaged following who respected and trusted her.

She didn't just have an audience, she had real influence.

So instead of trying to build everything from scratch on my own, I made a conscious decision to invest in working with her, being around her, learning from her, and building a real relationship with her so she can also get to know and trust me.

This has since gone on to open life changing opportunities for me and my businesses. Not just because of what she's taught me to do. But because she's also now happy to recommend me to other people and make introductions for me.

And here's the key point... because when Lisa tells somebody they need me on their podcast or speaking at their event, they trust what she's saying... which means they automatically already trust me.

That's the power of "borrowed trust".

Most people are out here trying to build credibility from the ground up, which is admirable. But the truth is, reputation is transferable. And the savviest founders don't just build alone, they align with others who already have the reputation.

I also pitched to collaborate with a friend of mine a few years ago to create a course together.

I knew he had a membership with over 700 people in it with my potential ideal client. And he built this membership over many years to the point that the people in there were highly engaged and really trusted him and everything he sold to them. He always does everything with integrity, and only ever collaborates with people that he genuinely trusts, and he is happy to endorse.

Which meant if we were to create something together, I'd automatically have the trust of his audience too.

We went on to develop the course, and not only did I make a percent of every sale, but I now had people who, once they had finished going through the course, now wanted to keep working personally with me.

To this day, three years later, I still have about 40 paying members in my membership that discovered me through that course, and I've also consistently invested in some of my higher ticket services too.

Collaborating with him was a great way to add additional value to his audience, make money from that one course but also develop trust with his audience so that they were happy to also keep investing in me long term.

It's not what you know, it's who knows YOU!

We've all heard the old phrase, "It's not what you know, it's who you know". But in today's digital world, I'd add to that: it's who knows you, and who's willing to tell other people about you.

There's a certain compound effect that happens when someone people already trusted and admired says your name in a room full of ideal clients.

You get instant credibility.

And you shouldn't just be waiting for all of this to happen organically or for free.

Don’t be afraid to ‘Pay to Play’.

Here's something that way too many people frown upon and get on their high horse about: don't be afraid to pay to play

Too many early-stage founders think that visibility should just land in their lap if they're good enough and can hack the social media algorithm, go viral and be an overnight success. But this isn't The X Factor.

Nobody's sat behind a desk waiting to "discover" you.

If you want to grow faster, get in the rooms with people who are already trusted. And if that means paying to sponsor a podcast, paying for somebody to send an email to their email list or buy your way onto a stage, my advice is, do it.

You're not cheating the system. You're investing in marketing.

And if you believe in your offer and know you deliver the goods, why wouldn't you want more people to find out about you faster?

Marketing is not optional!

Most online business owners expect to build a multi-million point empire by doing everything on social media "organically" and just getting advice on YouTube for free. I think we've developed a generation of lazy, entitled business owners. Not everyone, but most. People who don't want to spend any more because they're not used to having to.

Twenty years ago, if you wanted to start a business, you'd expect to have to invest tens of thousands of pounds into marketing, branding, PR, and more.

How on earth would you have ever created a profitable company if you didn't start by investing in it? And if you personally didn't have the money, you'd have got a loan from a bank, government funding or perhaps an Angel investor on board.

Today, because of the low barrier to entry when starting an online business,  people think they can grow a business for free just using Canva and ChatGPT and a few Instagram reels. And to some degree they're not wrong. Technology has made things so much easier for us all – and that's amazing.

But it means people are no longer backing themselves and putting in the real graft to get out there, get known and seriously grow.

Seriously, use the free stuff, but invest in your business too... and invest in working with people who can introduce you to bigger arenas.

5 ways startup founders can borrow trust

1. Invest in mentorship: not just for what you'll learn, but for who you'll meet, be introduced to and be recommended to
2. Build genuine relationships: show up, support, give value
3. Pay to play: you're building a business – invest in it. If someone has your ideal audience and offers a route to them, don't shy away from it. Pay to get on their podcast, email their mailing list, sponsor their event or speak on their stage
4. Serve before you sell: become known as the person people actually want to recommend because they see you're actually good at what you do and are genuinely interested in helping people
5. Ask for help: the biggest missed opportunity in business is thinking you have to do it all alone. The definition of company is a group of people. Build your power team, delegate, get support and get help

Borrowing trust isn't just a smart strategy. It's what the best in the business have been doing for years.

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