As a home based business owner it is easy to find yourself stuck in a rut and cut off from the outside world. This is especially true when starting out. You need to get yourself involved in a network of like minded business owners to help keep you, as a home based business owner, on track and working towards achieving your goals.Joining a business network, and building a trusted source of allies and mentors, can do any number of things to help you grow your business. In a way, they are like a personal trainer. They help keep you accountable, they help you track results and make changes when needed but they’ll also get the whip cracking when you are lagging behind with what you are supposed to be doing.Accountability is key from your network- Like I said; a network of mentors and allies can help you like a personal trainer. They can help you set goals for your business, both short term and medium term, and will also work with you to brainstorm ideas and strategies that can help you achieve your goals. As a home based business owner, much of your network must happen online and there are plenty of groups you can join and web forums where you can do this.You can start a mastermind group to grow your business- Napoleon Hill, in his masterpiece Think and Grow Rich, espouses the benefits of a Mastermind Group. A Mastermind Group meets up fairly regularly to thrash around ideas and strategies about each group members business and looks at ways that they can grow each business. If you are a home based business owner, you won’t have staff that you can bounce ideas off so you will get these benefits from being in a group of like minded business owners.They can put you in touch with other business owners that can help you grow your business- If you have a network of business owners keeping each other accountable, you are going to be able to help each other grow your businesses and take them to the next level. This is because you are going to be able to refer business to each other but also help out with introductions to other service providers.Starting a mastermind group is really important for anyone that is a home based business owner so that you can get out of the house, be accountable in growing your business, get feedback on your ideas and also get referrals from other group members.