Why Women with Small Businesses Should Support Each Other
As a small business owner, you may often find yourself fighting tooth and nail to be seen, heard, and successful. Big corporations continue to expand while small businesses struggle with the challenges of skyrocketing costs and unpredictable markets. As a result, business seems to be all about competition. However, it is crucial to note that fellow small business owners in your community aren't 'the enemy'. In fact, they have the potential to be your allies and friends. This is especially true for women-owned small businesses.
Women who own small businesses should banish the idea of existing in competition with each other. Instead, we should work to raise each other up. We need to recognize each other as allies who can help each other. By collaborating and supporting each other, women entrepreneurs can create a positive network that benefits us all. Small businesses that work together in their local communities reap many benefits. Here are four important benefits:
Create New Opportunities
By working together, women entrepreneurs can create opportunities for their small businesses that would otherwise be out of reach. They can organize shared events, giveaways, and promotions to boost their businesses' visibility both online and in person. They can share contacts, suppliers, and service providers - or even be those things for each other. By collaborating, women entrepreneurs open doors for each other and themselves. Small businesses that work together increase their visibility, share knowledge, create opportunities, and develop more desirable products.
Find Knowledgeable Support
Starting and running your own small business is no small task. Success requires both self-support and outside support from friends, family, and the community. One crucial source of support is from other small business owners. Creating a network of fellow business owners can be the difference between burnout and longevity. Not only is it good for your business, but it is crucial for your mental health.
There are many days when being a small business owner takes everything you have, mentally, physically, and even emotionally. Being a woman in the small business world comes with its own unique challenges on top of that. So, having other women to talk to who know what it's like can be hugely helpful. Women in business can be a source of support, advice, and motivation for each other, celebrating each other's successes and helping each other through challenges. That support can make all the difference in staying motivated and inspired.
Inspire a More Loyal Customer Base
A small business's success depends on the loyalty of its customers, who provide support and patronage as a foundation for future growth. Developing and nurturing relationships with customers and other business owners is the key to long-term success. In a small community, publicly supporting fellow small businesses is one way to create loyal customers. Because a loyal customer is more likely to try a business that has a connection to the company they already trust, sharing customers can help you grow your respective customer base. And, in a small community, when customers feel the camaraderie developed among local small businesses, they will want to participate.
Strengthen Your Community
When small businesses in a community band together, they can change their community's culture. As a woman-owned small business, adopting a 'support your local community' and 'support women entrepreneurs' mindset as part of your brand can inspire your customer base to do the same. Small businesses can foster a culture of unity where more people see the value of shopping locally and taking pride in their local community. This community focus can create a multiplier effect that strengthens your local economy and makes room for more women-owned small businesses.
In conclusion, while big business praises individuality and competition, small businesses find more strength in community and collaboration. Women entrepreneurs should band together to mentor, invest in, and support each other. In doing this, they can create new business opportunities and a more loyal customer base while strengthening their local community's spirit and economy.
—---------------
Community Futures Wild Rose is organizing a group for women entrepreneurs in our area to meet online and in person. “Movers & Shapers” is a walking group for women in business. It aims to create a community and network within Strathmore and the surrounding area to encourage mentorship, collaboration, and healthy lifestyles. We also have a private Facebook group of the same name. In this group, women in business can have conversations, ask questions, share tips and tricks, and ultimately empower each other for success. Join us today! Visit our Facebook to join our group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2674931072645259
