In the second episode of our new show, The Small Business Show for Rogers tv in Waterloo Region, Linda interviewed a valued guest, Jackie Lauer of Heart of Culture, about business mentoring. Jackie is a well-respected mentor for many businesses. She raised the analogy that resonates very strongly in our community; the Mennonite tradition of raising a barn. As with many of the articles I have written, it struck a cord with me and went on to my list of future topics to write about. In this case, it was written sooner rather than later.
Raising a barn carries a very strong message that is applicable to the small business community. It is a practice popularized by the Amish and Mennonites. It accomplishes several things. Most obviously, it quickly creates a barn where one hadn’t stood before. Less obviously, but perhaps more importantly, it leverages community intelligence to produce the best barn design possible, and creates and reinforces collaborative connections crucial for success in farming communities.
At the end of the process, the family that initiates the activity not only has a new barn to use, with the wisdom and insights of the broader community born into the design, it also has new and stronger ties to the community that will help ensure its future activities are fruitful. Such lessons are directly applicable to our business and entrepreneurial communities.
Barn-raising can serve as a model for successful new value creation for small businesses in today’s connected world. Begin by reaching out to diverse members of your business’s ecosystem such as mentors, lawyers, accountants, and peers. Include them in a co-creation process from the outset, and prioritize the growth of your business community as you cultivate the growth of your business itself. Following a process like this not only leads you to the most viable solutions, it also builds out the channels and connections you will need for sustained growth of your business.
Let’s consider an example. Consider Kickstarter.
To the outsider, the site is about crowdsourcing the funds necessary to kick off a new venture. But it’s much more than that. Ask people who have participated in the platform, and they will tell you that the business community they built in the process of Kickstarting turned out to be more valuable than the financing they received. The Kickstarter ecosystem brings together makers, backers, and early adopters as well as business building experts, videographers, and storytellers.
This community comes together to help refine ideas, confirm that there is a market, hone messaging, and spread the word to early adopters, on top of providing the resources necessary to get the idea off the ground. All before there’s even a real business to speak of. It is a barn-raising model that has enabled many businesses to create and launch new ventures in the span of a few years.
The barn-raising approach purposely and actively elevates business community, connection, and a diversity of viewpoints above ideas and individuals. Too often, new businesses are developed through a series of inward-facing brainstorming sessions, which are designed to capture the thinking on the subject. Too often, proposals that look great on paper turn out to be unappealing, unhelpful, or unworkable to the people whom the success of an idea ultimately depends. Financial institutions particularly come to mind when the concept requires the approval and grating of financing. Further, even when brainstorming business initiatives succeed in launching, those in charge of executing the initiative must build out external channels and support systems from scratch.
Pitfalls like these can largely be avoided with a simple business community focused approach, such as farming communities know when raising barns. All it requires are a few steps anyone can follow.
Curate. Deliberately seek out different perspectives and actively explore them. In your curating, recruit the people who will be affected by your new business, and pay special attention to second order and even third order stakeholders. These stakeholders represent those who provide support services or add-ons to your products or services. This will help to ensure your perspective is community based. Having the right people in your business community is more important than having the right idea.
Convene. Consider bringing your business peers and supporters together, in person or virtually, to connect, share ideas, share perspectives, and contribute their input to your business initiative.
Commit. Ask peers to commit something toward the initiative. You never know what kind of support is out there until you ask. This could be something as small as a bit of their time and attention. It could be introductions. It could be expertise. It could even be resources, partnerships, or funding. What each participant contributes will give you information on how they perceive your business’s effectiveness.
Cultivate. After the convening, continue to cultivate relationships with those who have contributed and committed to your business. They represent your initial community.
Repeat. Once you’ve raised and launched your business, periodically check back in with the community by hosting other barn-raising events. Its like giving back. As you do so, your business will grow, and its community and connections will grow with it.
By adapting a business community mindset, you will capture more than ideas. You will bind the necessary people, networks, and resources together. And if you get those elements right, your business will have a better chance of being successful. Getting it right is part of Keeping Life Current.
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