You participate in communities numerous times a day, a week a month, from your suppliers, interactions with other local businesses and your own professional and personal interactions within your local and extended communities. You are part of an industry community, a customer community, your local community. The longer you are in business, the more enriched these communities become. They are all interconnected like a solar system.
There is none so important as being part of a community of fellow business owners, where you can bring ideas, concerns and questions that other communities that you participate in need to know nothing about. After all, it is not always plain sailing running a business and it’s easy to think that you are alone in your situation. But that is not the case.
When you are head down focused on work and external things knock you sideways, it might seem that there is no support and no one will see it how you see it. Or you simply don’t have time to raise your eyes above the parapet to breathe, as so much is going on, that’s when a business community can serve you. To help pull you up, see what you don’t see, offer wisdom from a variety of experiences and let you know you are not alone. By chewing the fat and listening to others, there is usually a real gem or word of wisdom that enables you to move forward with an idea or issue. The more time you spend within a business community, the more you grow, you start to be able to impart your own words of wisdom and knowledge and therefore able to help others.
A community’s survival and strength rely on everyone doing their bit. While communities are great spaces of resource and support, everyone needs to put in just as much as they take out. So don’t forget to give back where you can.
“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much” - Helen Keller
And maybe being part of a ‘business community’ is not your thing, preferring to muddle through and not divulge what’s going on in your business. But if COVID has taught us anything during this year no business is an island. We all need to be aware of and participate in the communities that we find ourselves in.
Yours socially
Micala