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Your Village Is a Strategic Business Asset
When you work for yourself, you go from wearing one hat to wearing many hats. You need to know at least a little about a lot in order to succeed. You are now responsible for marketing, branding, sales, accounting, maintenance, and everything in between. From when you wake up until you go to sleep, you may be thinking about your business: how to increase sales, how to increase income, how to get more done, how to handle challenges, how to get more time out of the day. The truth is, no matter how many hats you choose to wear, you can’t wear them all well, and certainly not at the same time. The truth is, it takes a village to build and grow a business…we can’t and shouldn’t do it alone.
As an entrepreneur, you are pretty sure you’ve got everything covered. After all, you had the idea, you wrote it down, you had a plan, you’ve implemented it and voila, your clients should be knocking down your door. Unfortunately, that’s not the way it happens. This may be your baby, but the people on your team and those that you bring in will have just as much of an impact on your company’s success as you do.
If you are smart, you will find the right people to surround yourself with. Remember, you are the sum of the 5 people around you so make sure they are the right ones. You definitely want some positive people that will get you through the rough days and celebrate with you on the great days. Did you know that a 20-year study that was published in 2008 showed that having just one happy person around you increases your chances of becoming happy by 15 percent? I’m pretty sure that we need that more today than we did in 2008.
Now if you’re REALLY smart, you will also find those that have the strengths that you need and make sure you share your brilliance with each other. I know someone that hand selects the members of their Mastermind group with those that have the qualities and skills she is lacking. They all play nicely together and are the solutions to problems for each other.
If you need help, look around. Who’s missing? Make a list of some people that you need in your village. It could be an accountant, someone in technology, a marketing guru if marketing isn’t your strength, an attorney, an insurance agent and your entire network…
To succeed in business today takes the collective genius of everyone in and everything around your village. Your business will move forward much more quickly when you tap into and leverage the power of your connections. We also need more than employees and customers. Your village is your community. And…that community will support you IF they know you need it.
In an article called “Asking for Community Support ‘Cuz I Can’t Do It Alone” by Lisa S. she gave some sage advice… “There was a time when it was difficult for me to ask for help. Like many, I could easily quote, “It’s better to give than to receive,” then one day something occurred to me: If you’re never willing to ask for and receive help, you disrupt the cycle by depriving others of the opportunity to give. I also realized that another way to create community is to invite support.” When I read that I thought we could drop the mic. Have you ever thought about asking for help in that way? Talk about a mindset shift.
Let’s think about our communities a little more…and remember they are there for you.
We all need strong communities because:
They give you support-A strong community is where you can share both your struggles and celebrate your successes. It’s also a place to brainstorm and inspire you to tweak what needs to be tweaked.
They help to promote your business-Word of mouth advertising is one of the best ways to grow your business. This strong community will fully support your business and are willing to tell others why they need to buy your product or your service. They will share you with their friends and family and bring them back for more.
They want to collaborate-Collaboration creates inspiration, better outcomes and some unbelievable ideas. You get to promote your creation together and can support each other when you are outside your comfort zone. Plus…remember that loneliness I mentioned before? Collaboration is many times a solution for that.
Your village is your community, and your community is your team. Teamwork is the fuel that allows common people to produce uncommon results.
As the saying goes, “The older I get the more selective I am of who is in my tribe. I’d rather have four quarters than a hundred pennies.”