Most weeks, someone tells me that running their business in Malta feels lonely. They may not always use that word, but the meaning is the same - they are tired, carrying every decision themselves and lacking someone to bounce ideas off who understands what their week looks like.

We live in a society travelling on a kind of high-speed train towards loneliness and burnout. Everyone is told they need to do more, work more and buy more. While we talk a lot about the trials of modern working life, we rarely name what often hides beneath it - that running your own business can be an isolating endeavour. Doubts echo louder when you are the only person in the room. And your mum, however supportive she may be, is not always the best person to ask whether your pricing model is sound or if there is data-backed demand for your business idea.

Now more than ever, I believe we all need people around us - and not just across screens and text messages. This was the gap that led FPEI (the Foundation for the Promotion of Entrepreneurial Initiatives) to launch Future Founders Plus. From conversations with entrepreneurs across Malta, and from belonging to other communities myself, I saw there was a need for a group that offered both practical education and networking, rooted in the realities of small business life and reflective of members' experiences of it.

Our role is not to hand down answers, but to create the spaces that bring the right people together. This is where people can ask their questions of others who have been in a similar position, hear honest accounts of what worked (and what did not), and reach their own conclusions. Members provide the common ground, moving the community with the current business environment. Some of the most valuable moments at our sessions come from someone admitting to a setback or a wrong turn. That openness gives others a sense of relief - the realisation that doubts and mistakes are part of every founder's story, not a private failing.

If I had to describe a Future Founders Plus event in one word, it would be 'friendly'. No one is on their A-game or hunting for leads. People come as they are, their presence the only thing asked of them. Between sessions, members stay connected through a closed WhatsApp group that is (by group-chat standards) unusually civilised, with no spam, no flaming, and no egos doing the talking.

Today, Future Founders Plus is around 70 members strong - freelancers, founders, side-hustlers and the curious-but-not-yet-launched, across all ages and sectors, with a good balance of men and women. Membership is open to anyone aged 18 and over, whether they are still exploring an idea, already freelancing, running an established business, or just eager to learn more about the entrepreneurial way of thinking.

"Quality over quantity" is a personal mantra of mine - at home, in business, and (very firmly) at the shops. It runs through how we've built the community, too. I'd rather have a small group of people who turn up and engage than a large one that does not. The members who have really made Future Founders Plus are those who regularly travel over from Gozo for an event, those who tell me privately that they enjoyed the session and found it useful, and those who are brutally honest with me about what works and what doesn't because they know I will take their feedback on board (and not in a personal manner). They are the true ambassadors and the glue of the community.

I am also cautious about the title of 'entrepreneur'. For some, that word feels like a label they have not yet earned, even when their thinking is truly entrepreneurial. For others, it is worn almost as a badge of honour. Future Founders Plus is, in part, an invitation to set the label aside and focus on the human side of business.

For those who remain unsure whether a community like this is for you, my suggestion is to start by looking at our members' directory online - you likely already know someone there and are welcome to attend a session before committing to an annual membership. Nevertheless, we have kept membership fees intentionally affordable, as the bottom line of a small business is not the same as that of a corporation, and we understand why Future Founders Plus exists.

You do not have to do it alone - in fact, we have a Future Founders Plus event coming up in September that will tackle this very topic of leadership and loneliness for founders and freelancers. The hardest parts of business become easier with a supportive, like-minded community by your side, and there is no need to have it all figured out before you walk through the door.

Learn more about Future Founders Plus, join the community and register for upcoming Future Founders Plus events - including one on 15 September at 5pm that focuses on connection strategies for founders and freelancers - at fpei.mt/fpei-future-founders-plus.