Groups at ARC: facilitated rooms for business owners

What makes it a group and not a network

Three things separate an ARC group from a networking event or an online forum.

• It is facilitated. Someone runs the session, holds it to time, and makes sure the quietest person gets the floor.
• It recurs. Same people, same rhythm — so nobody re-explains their business every time.
• It has a structure. Every session follows a shape the members know before they arrive.

The third one matters most. Most owners are surrounded by people who work for them, sell to them, or are politely impressed by them. None of those can help with the decision you are stuck on. A structured room of peers can, because the structure takes the awkwardness out of admitting you do not know.

The groups running now

ARC runs two groups today. Both are online, so you are choosing a time, not a city.

A group here goes live when someone signs up to it. That is deliberate: ARC opens rooms when people ask for them rather than publishing a calendar of sessions nobody booked. So a group listed without a date next to it is not a dead listing — it is waiting for its first person, and signing up is what starts it.

Founders Think Tank

One hour, on Zoom, for founders and early-stage owners. Three sessions run every fortnight — Monday 2:00pm, Wednesday 5:30pm and Friday 11:00am, all Sydney time — and you take whichever suits.

Every session runs on the same four questions: what challenges are you facing, what resources do you need, who do you need to be connected to right now, and what advice are you seeking. A fifth is asked every time — what did you achieve since the last one.

The hour is divided deliberately: ten minutes on where everyone is, fifteen on what is stopping you, twenty on the room answering, ten for a specialist speaking to what was actually raised rather than a slot booked in advance, and five for one commitment each. You answer the four questions before you come, so the session is built around what people raised.

ARC Millionaires Club

A fortnightly group in ARC's Wealth Creation community, built around a single declared objective that members report progress against openly. Members bring numbers, obstacles and introductions, in that order. Application-only, read personally, deliberately small.

How to join

1. Register a free ARCverse profile. It costs nothing and it is what opens groups, events and a Facilitator.
2. Pick the room. The Think Tank takes a booking for a named date; the Millionaires Club takes a written application.
3. Answer the questions before you arrive. The work starts from what you write down, not an introduction round.
4. Keep the one commitment you leave with. That is all either room asks of you between sessions.

Groups, arenas and communities are three different things

Knowing ARC's actual structure saves you looking in the wrong place.

• A community is the broad grouping — business support, wealth creation, founders and startups, grassroots, youth. Each has its own Facilitators, specialists and its own programmes.
• An arena is an industry you work in. Join yours and its events, groups and programmes appear on your profile. Arenas that have not opened can be marked as an interest — they open when enough people are waiting, rather than ARC building rooms nobody asked for.
• A group is the room itself: the recurring meeting, fixed structure, same people.

If what you wanted was one place holding peer groups, workshops and access to specialists rather than three separate subscriptions, that combination is what ARC is built as.

Starting your own group

If the room you want does not exist, apply to start it. The form on this page asks four things: what the group is called, which community it belongs in, what type it is — mastermind, study circle, industry group, club or think tank — and what it is for. When you send it the group is started straight away, with its own group chat, and you are its owner.

How people end up in a group

Any active ARC member can start a group here. ARC does not screen anyone. It asks people to take steps — apply, turn up, contribute, keep contributing — and the steps do the filtering. Nobody is rejected here. The people in a group are the ones who kept going.

The specialist directory sits behind a member sign-in rather than being open to browse, and nobody sifts through it on your behalf. Specialists carry tags for what they do, and people are matched to them by those tags — so what reaches you is what a community actually asked for.

What it does not mean: a guarantee of a result. ARC does not publish outcome figures for its groups, because it has not measured them, and an unmeasured number is worth nothing to you.

Common questions about ARC groups

Can I join a facilitated peer group of business owners facing similar challenges?

Yes. The Founders Think Tank is ARC's open facilitated room and it takes bookings for a named date. It runs on Zoom, so an owner in Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney or Perth sits in the same session — you do not need to be in a particular city.

Can I access group sessions on a specific business topic, with owners at a similar stage to me?

Partly, and it is worth being straight about which part. The Think Tank is built around stage and around whatever the room raises on the day, not around a set topic. Topic workshops are separate: the workshops page shows the formats ARC runs, and bookable dates appear on the events page as they are scheduled.

What does it cost?

The Founders Think Tank is free. Every one of its three fortnightly sessions costs nothing to attend and there is nothing to cancel afterwards. Registering an ARCverse profile is also free, and it is the step that opens groups, events and a Facilitator. Other groups set their own terms: the Millionaires Club is application-only and reviewed personally, so ask before you apply.

How do I run facilitated group sessions for business owners myself?

Apply through the "start a group" form on this page. You bring the purpose and the people; a Facilitator works through the shape of the sessions with you.

I am a consultant or specialist — can I sit in a group as well as be listed?

Yes, and they are different things. Being listed in the specialist directory is about being matched to a community's needs. Sitting in a group is about your own business — specialists get stuck on the same problems as everyone else, and the room does not treat you as a supplier while you are in it.

I need to get my business unstuck — do I want a specialist or a peer group?

A rough rule: if you can name the problem precisely and it needs a skill you do not have, you want a specialist. If you cannot yet name it, or every option looks equally bad, you want a room. An hour in a group is usually the cheaper way to find out which you needed.

What to do next

If you want the room, book the next Think Tank. If the Wealth Creation group is closer to what you are doing, send the application. If neither is the room you are looking for, use the form on this page and tell us what is — that is how the next group starts.