Small Businesses Build Sustainable Communities
By Blaine Arnot
It is clear that we are embarking on a Brave New World of doing business. When Aldous Huxley wrote his famous book, he could not have imagined the current economic and environmental crises we humans collectively face.
Rather than infinite horizons, our world has hit a wall, and is now facing the difficult task of retracing steps to figure out how it all went wrong, as well as produce a sustainable roadmap for the future.
Safe to say, that whatever happens, the future will not be anything like the past!
This article is advocating for the creative collaboration between small business owners and not for profit groups to build sustainable communities. It goes without saying, strong communities grow out of the participation and collaboration of those with the most at stake: the people that live there!
The challenge for not for profit groups is looking beyond the traditional sources of funding, like government grants or sponsorship from large corporations, to other alternatives. The challenge for small business owners is to create viable businesses that serve the needs of their community.
Small business owners and non profit groups need each other because they have a vested interest in building strong self reliant communities.
With definite downsizing, and budget shortfalls across the board, there are limits to what any government body, be it at a local or federal level, can do. If the current crisis of the our commerce system has taught us anything, it is that everything: countries, economies, people are inexplicably linked. For better or worse!
I believe a necessary change needs to occur which goes like this: The age of faceless big business is loosing ground and is being replaced by a more accountable small, face friendly business model, operating at a more grassroots level.
Collectively, we are slowly, but steadily modifying attitudes, like get rich quick, and replacing it with get rich slowly, steadily and sustainably. This quasi socialist concept is an alternative that just might benefit small business, non profit groups and ultimately society as a whole. I am not talking about the end of free enterprise, but a reworking of the concept allowing for more inclusiveness.
So what are the exact benefits for public / private partnerships?
It goes without saying, not for profit organizations need money in order to fulfill their mandate, but simply asking for a donation may not be as effective in the future as it has been in the past. Competition amongst charitable groups for an ever shrinking public pot is bound to be fierce.
What Does Small Business Bring to the Table?
In a word, small business owners know a thing or two about ingenuity. To be successful, business owners rely on instincts, urgency, and a can do attitude. This attitude could be harnessed to serve the needs of public organisations seeking solutions to funding woes.
One should not underestimate a small business owners ability to think laterally or outside the box for answers!
Business owners can be selective in lending their expertise and resources to a charitable group to create a good fit. Allowing small business the opportunity to align their core beliefs to a specific nonprofit interest in a tangible way is good for everyone. Small enterprises generally grow out of a need within a community for a particular product or service. These same small businesses, by giving back to the community that gave rise to them, creates a mutually beneficial virtuous circle.
What does the Business Owner Get?
What small business owners need is exposure and involvement in their communities is meaningful exposure for all the right reasons
Small businesses, generally speaking, have next to no marketing budget. For those that do, I would wager that they probably have no effective way to measure the success of marketing efforts. An ad in the local phone directory may not be enough to tell prospective clients what you are really about and why they should call you.
So what are some of the specifics you ask?
You could, for instance, be a local catering company with an interest in sustainability and the environment. So, why not join your local food policy council and offer to develop a product for sale at farmers markets. Or, it could be that you have a surplus of delivery vehicles your company doesn’t need. Why not donate them to a group that wants to take surplus food from restaurants and deliver it to those in need? It maybe a little goofy, but I think you get my point: there is no end to the possibilities.
Blaine Arnot runs a socially responsible catering business in Vancouver Canada. Find out more.
