By Lauren Fenthum
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CLICK HEREThe journey of becoming an entrepreneur can be a lonely one. Each entrepreneurial journey is a completely unique experience, and without having someone to share your fears and worries with can be incredibly isolating. As humans we are not meant to be isolated, we have a natural desire to be social and, therefore, we thrive in groups. It can be an idea that you look into joining an association of entrepreneurs who gather to support, motivate and help you to overcome your challenges, leading to a greater level of success both for self and the company at large.
Creating an entrepreneurial community can instantly add value to your work experience and just help with the day to day of tackling different tasks. Because the community is built up of people that are all facing similar situations it creates a hub, and safe space for people to bounce ideas off of, that can be there to support the ups and downs of your business, and ultimately create a forum of intelligence and potential networking opportunities. Majority of these groups are filled with like-minded entrepreneurs who have a thirst for learning, and through the various forums, you are able to take that knowledge and apply it to your business as well as everyday mundane activities. Together through the group, there is a sense of spirit and growth, allowing entrepreneurs to be able to rebuild and not just recover, giving you the opportunity to make your business better than before.
Creating unity in community, creates the sense of one brand one culture. This means that everyone is a part of something for a bigger cause and can ensure the longevity of a company, by ensuring that the community is invested in it for generations to come. Creating entrepreneurship further encourages economic development and allows communities to be able to adapt to new realities that they could potentially face. Ultimately this type of strategy would allow your business to retain competitive advantage, as well as an increasing flow of external resources. Traditionally we saw economic development rooted in the post- World War II era where subsidizing firms located employment within communities based on cheap labour, land, national-scale competition and low-skilled based workers. But in today's society, cheap land and labour are no longer what is being sold. Rather businesses are looking at investing in knowledge and creating a culture of innovation and creativity. This allows entrepreneurs to possess enough assets, whilst competing and supporting new, existing and emerging businesses in the markets. Creating an entrepreneurial community is important because it broadens your networks and innovative capabilities, and encourages a community to come together for the better of everyone else in the environment in which the business operates.
