Building your business community
Posted on 25th March 2024
When small businesses and self-employed people succeed it’s good for everyone. It’s like being part of a successful team and that’s why we like to bring local businesses together.
Why build a local business community?
There are quite a few really good reasons to meet and work with other local businesses. Here are just seven of them:
Build your reputation. You can improve your business reputation and build your credibility and influence by being seen in the right places. You can speak with people on the same level as your competitors. This is especially helpful if your business is new or you’re looking to enter a new sector. If you have a new idea or product, it’s an ideal opportunity to collect feedback to develop your marketing plans.
Regular updates. Let’s face it, nobody knows everything. You can learn a lot from other business owners. What’s more, there are probably plenty of experts around who can keep you up to date with market changes. They can give you new ideas and tell you about challenges on the horizon.
Planning for the future. There are some things we can’t do alone and there are some where teamwork makes all the difference. For example, your business waste might be valuable to another business. Working with other businesses to share transport or save energy might make a big difference to your sustainability targets too. Together, you might also have more power to get plans and ideas adopted by your local authority or utility companies.
Jobs and skills. Do you need help with certain skills or knowledge? Perhaps you don’t yet have the resources to take on a full time employee. By working with local businesses, you can outsource some work. Alternatively, you could team up with one or more other small businesses to get a talented start-up off the ground.
Win business together. You could discover another complementary business locally. You might both have something to offer a specific niche market. Together you can create opportunities to win larger contracts and minimise your risks at the same time.
Save money. Premises and rates are significant costs for your business. If you rent or own your premises and have unused space you can reduce your costs by sharing with another business. You might also share costs for bookkeeping, administration and cleaning for example. You can also share the energy bills.
Prompt payment. Another option is to team up with a local bookkeeper and an invoice finance company to maintain your cashflow. They can take over the responsibility to make sure payments aren’t missed.
Would you like to join our business community?
These are just some of the ways local businesses can benefit from working more closely together. Our mission is to keep our communities connected. We strive to be part of everyday life in Milton Keynes, Northamptonshire and Bedfordshire, fostering a sense of belonging and togetherness through our work. Your Business Expo events are so popular we believe building a network of local businesses is a great next step.
If you’re interested in being part of a vibrant new local business community we would like to hear from you. Let us know how you could benefit and what would work well for you.
Tagged as: Brand Reputation, Business events
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