When it comes to business development, things change pretty quickly. Take technology for an example. Today, we live and breathe artificial intelligence (AI), automation, and the Internet of Things (IoT). These systems were widely obscure a couple of years ago but they now serve as the modern drivers of business growth. 

Like many other elements of business development, technologies are subject to change, giving way to a new innovative solution. The one single element of business development that is relatively permanent is the community within which the business operates. Follow us as we analyze the role of community in business development and show just how important this one element is. 

Definition of Community

A community refers to a close group of people who share common interests, values, and goals; often living near each other and interacting frequently. In the social sphere, a community can be made up of as little as a few groups of families - made up of individuals sharing ties of blood, marriage, or adoption. 

Any one individual within this small circle of families can inspire economic development by starting and running a business. Here, it is easy to see that such a business would service the community. What is also clear in this is the influence of the community in shaping and sustaining the business. 

The Role of Community In Business Development

Businesses need community more than most business owners realize or care to accept. In this section, we expose the depth of positivity that comes from maintaining an astute business-community relationship.  

Mitigating Risks

As with most relationships, risks are shared between engaging parties or simply reduced through the contribution of a partner. The latter occurs in the case of business and community relationships. Much of it is that the community can provide warnings on economic trends, weather situations, and other hazards - mitigating risk to business equipment and personnel. In addition, the community can help reduce the risk of bankruptcy by offering financial assistance to businesses in hard times. 

Building Consumer Trust and Loyalty 

Local communities patronize local businesses. In many cases, they are also a great source of referrals, even for companies that serve foreign markets. But customers won’t just buy that. The evolution of the business world has got today’s buyers looking to see that the brand they patronize cares about the community they exist in. 

Customers gauge the relationship between a business and the community. They want to know if the business recognizes its Corporate Social Responsibility and what it is doing to that effect. The only businesses that pass this arbitrary assessment, of course, are those diligent enough to build a good community rapport. 

This goes a long way toward determining how customers perceive the brand, their loyalty and commitment to it, and their willingness to introduce the brand/business to others.  

Earning Community Engagement and Feedback 

A strong community presence increases the nature and quality of engagement that a business receives from members of the community. This begins with brands earning free and voluntary advocacy. An instance is where well-served customers refer their friends or family to a particular service through word-of-mouth marketing [hyperlink the article on word-of-mouth marketing]. 

Similar to this, businesses with good community ties will easily receive product innovation ideas and feedback on their existing deliverables. There’s more from where that came from. Businesses earn engagement from the community they serve, including voluntary assistance with projects - such as those concerning community development, and help with fulfilling business operations.   

Decisions on Corporate Social Responsibility

Businesses are obligated to demonstrate social responsibility towards the communities in which they exist or operate, and community members are in the best position to describe what form of engagement would be most beneficial to them. Maintaining a relationship with the community will help businesses realize priority projects. For example, the building of a healthcare center over a school, or a school over a market complex. Developing community-chosen projects goes beyond fulfilling a responsibility to solving a need and bringing true value. 

Innovation and Diversity

The local community is often the prime focus of any business venture. Maintaining a relationship with this group, therefore, helps provide an understanding of the very people who make up prospects and active customers. Accurate customer personas could be developed (from behavior and preferences, as well as age, gender, and other characteristics), and business products and services could be tailored to cover the diversity uncovered in the process. 

On a different note, a sturdy relationship paves the way for feedback and suggestions from a community. This could bestow ideas for product updates and innovative new designs, filling the gap in customer needs. 

Market Understanding 

Community relations give businesses a feel of the local market dynamics; talking about fluctuations in supply and demand, changes in regulations, the presence of new competition, the impact of technology, and much more. Summarily, businesses can analyze present market conditions, forecast future trends, and make sound decisions about their products and services.  

Achieving market understanding in any specific niche could serve as a springboard for venturing into new markets. This is so because the lessons and patterns from one market would always prove relevant - in some way - for a different market. 

New Business Opportunities 

A typical community is home to several categories of people, including investors, potential employees, and owners of different businesses. The community not only plays a crucial role in hosting entrepreneurs, it also helps foster business growth and partnerships by creating opportunities for businessmen and women to meet and exchange ideas, or for business owners to meet with change-makers such as workers and innovators. 

Businesses that work in isolation from their local community have fewer chances of making this crucial connection with potentials within their AO. Most often, they are left in the dark about shared opportunities and commonly encountered challenges.  

Policy Development and Support 

Policy formation cannot be done right if the vast majority of people who would be influenced by it do not have an input. Having said that, business policies are of different types but a good number of them cover the relations between businesses and customers or the community at large. It is the responsibility of a business to ensure that the community is carried along in its policy processes including development and execution.  

The role of the community here is to serve as a guide, ensuring that business policies align with those of the community. This gesture is often reciprocated with immense support towards the business, ensuring that both parties enjoy mutual benefits. 

‍Employee Satisfaction and Retention

Employees will derive higher satisfaction with their jobs when they understand the business to be supportive of its community and see themselves as contributors. The community, therefore, plays a role in impacting employee emotions and well-being. 

Challenges of Community-Business Relations

The two major barriers to community-business relations are communication and engagement. These issues serve as a huge challenge to the collaborative effort between both parties and the level of productivity they attain. Some of the distinct challenges to communication are: 

Lack of Clear Communication Channels:

Unclear communication channels within a business can lead to communication overload, misinformation, or delays in the time it takes for details to reach community representatives. 

Language or Culture Barriers:

Difficulties with the language or culture of a community might make it challenging for businesses to partner with them. 

Some of the challenges to business-community engagement are:

Inadequate Feeback Mechanisms:

Precise details on user or community responses to a business product, service, or activity make up what is known as feedback. If the mechanisms for receiving this information are inadequate, the business in question becomes isolated from the community. 

Conclusion

The trend these days has more to do with digital marketing and artificial intelligence (AI). While technologies have their unique role, businesses should also pay attention to communities as they present an important element to development. The benefits uncovered in this article are sure to bring up the topic of community relations in your next business meeting. We hope this helps reshape your plans and objections, aligning them with your corporate social responsibilities. 

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