Is community important for you and your business?

[JCBrown]

This month at UKBF, we want to focus on the importance of community for an individual and for a business.

We've heard the quote "No man is an island" and I'm sure there are other well-coined phrases that are similar to that.

But I wanted to know your thoughts ... is community important to you?

Here what @Ozzy's thoughts are on community ?

 

[Mark T Jones]

I wonder how you are defining community?

To some extent I use and enjoy the community of this platform & LinkedIn - the reasons and outcomes are different.

I have a small group of business associates who I mix with, which helps with knowledges & keeping up to speed.

So those things definitely add some value.

 

[JCBrown]

I wonder how you are defining community?

To some extent I use and enjoy the community of this platform & LinkedIn - the reasons and outcomes are different.

I have a small group of business associates who I mix with, which helps with knowledges & keeping up to speed.

So those things definitely add some value.

I would define community as a group of people around you who want to see you do well with no strings attached.

This could be friends, mentors, family, sound council ... etc

 

[fisicx]

If that’s how you define a community then it’s of zero importance to me. I don’t discuss business with friends and family.

If I consider the people I know here on UKBF again it’s of no relevance.

Everyone has different community groups. Family is one, friends another. There may be a gaming or sport community, social group and business network. They rarely overlap except at the edges which means most are unimportant to business well being.

 

[JCBrown]

If that’s how you define a community then it’s of zero importance to me. I don’t discuss business with friends and family.

If I consider the people I know here on UKBF again it’s of no relevance.

Everyone has different community groups. Family is one, friends another. There may be a gaming or sport community, social group and business network. They rarely overlap except at the edges which means most are unimportant to business well being.

Exactly! Everyone has different community groups and defines these differently.

Speaking away from business, are those communities you've touched on important for you personally as an individual?

 

[fisicx]

Speaking away from business, are those communities you've touched on important for you personally as an individual?

Not really. Over the last 60 years I’ve moved between communities as life and my interests changed. I suspect there will be more changes in the future. Which means no one community is that important to me. Others may have a different opinion.

 

[Fagin2021]

This month at UKBF, we want to focus on the importance of community for an individual and for a business.

We've heard the quote "No man is an island" and I'm sure there are other well-coined phrases that are similar to that

Updated...
And therefore never send to know for whom
the taxman comes; he comes for thee.

 

[Deleted member 335660]

It is interesting to see the discussion between @fisicx and @JCBrown and I think this is at the heart of the matter.

We often value these things in terms of the benefit to the business, but community is a two way concept and we should also be considering how the people in the community can benefit from our business. After all, our business could be impacting on them. Our delivery lorries blocking their road, our waste adding to their problems, our alarms going off in the middle of the night.

There is another term that has become quite popular lately “social responsibility “ and this is linked to community but the emphasis is on the responsibility of business to the society it operates in.

We are a retailer and yes the people in our town are important to us, but we know that not all of the population will use us. We hope though, that even these people will appreciate we are socially responsible and respect us for it. We have a few collection boxes in the shop. We have a community area with information from local organisations and we sponsor or give prizes for local events.

My final point is that we never know when things can go wrong and it is then that we may need the help of the communities we work in, hence the two way point. We have had several small situations where our community has helped us with an issue.

So gentlemen perhaps another Quote from JFK

“Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country,”

 

[fisicx]

I don’t think of things in terms of community. If I need help with the car I know people with the right skills. I wouldn’t regard them as part of a community. If someone need help with a website I’m happy to lend a hand. That doesn’t make them a community member.

Maybe rather than define things in terms of community we should just think in terms of society. Be nice, smile and look after people.

 

[Ozzy]

We often value these things in terms of the benefit to the business, but community is a two way concept and we should also be considering how the people in the community can benefit from our business.

^^ This, I like it.

All my friends in my friendship circle I have met through work/business. I have almost no family (yes I hear the violins). When I need a job doing I ask my friends who they know, or I ask someone I have met myself if I know it's what they do. They are my friends and they are also my business contacts, there is no difference. I've known them through my different business cycles, I've kept contact, we socialise.
So for me it is all one. My friendship circle is my business circle is my family, I often refer to my colleagues around this office as my extended family.
So that is my community, it is all one and the same. It is my social life, my support network, my business relationships, and more. They are all one and the same. Even in my own home my wife runs her own business, we talk about business. My daughter runs her own business, we talk about business. My brother runs his own business, we talk about business.
To be fair, I think I'm just the go to family business support adviser ?

“Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country,”

Which then extends to this. When I went to meet Duane to interview I was filled with joy at seeing how well he's done, My wife asked me if I felt jealous when I saw Duane's house and not a cell in my body was, I get genuine joy out seeing other people's success and achievements.
That is why the podcast (out soon) is going to be what it is, and if I can ever help someone else achieve their dreams that it's what I want to do.
My community, my social life, my family life, everything is centric around business so to me what is the difference? Like in any community I like to see those around me succeed and be happy.

Maybe rather than define things in terms of community we should just think in terms of society. Be nice, smile and look after people.

My first immediate thought on this comment was I felt they are one and the same,I don't see much of a difference. To be a part of society you play a part in the community; but I guess it depends on your definition of society.
To me society is is the community in which we live, and my feelings towards it are no different.

 

[fisicx]

So that is my community, it is all one and the same. It is my social life, my support network, my business relationships, and more. They are all one and the same.

For me it's almost the opposite. Very little overlap between each group, network, community, club, family, friendship.

I expect everyone will have their own pattern and structure. Some need a close knit support group, others less so. Some keep business and pleasure apart from each other, for others it's one and the same.

Trying to define 'community' is always going to be difficult as everyone sees it differently. My old school mates I see every 6 months in London aren't part of my community any more than the postman I say good morning to is part of my community. But I do have some close friends who I can rely on who I could regard as being a community. Except I don't think of it as being a community.

Everyone is different and long may it continue to be so.

If the thread title was 'Is friendship important for you and your business?' I'd have a totally different answer.

 

[Deleted member 59730]

No one has mentioned professional groups, joining committees and campaigning to improve one's work environment. If it hadn't been for photographers and other artists putting in the effort over the years our Copyright Laws would be very different,

 

[ChrisGoodfellow]

My business community includes probably half a dozen other business owners that I speak to regularly and share what's going on in a really frank way. Beyond that, there's a number of people that we've worked with in one way or another that I speak to sporadically and help with bits of advice. In that way, my business "community" looks a lot like another friendship circle and, these days, some of them feel a lot more like regular friends rather than business contacts!

The business wouldn't have made it without them and the whole process would be a lot less enjoyable.

Which then extends to this. When I went to meet Duane to interview I was filled with joy at seeing how well he's done, My wife asked me if I felt jealous when I saw Duane's house and not a cell in my body was, I get genuine joy out seeing other people's success and achievements.

This is really important. It's easy to slip into comparing yourself to other people's success, particularly when you're starting out, and comparison is the thief of joy. When people do this, they often fail to realise just how much of an outlier someone like Duane is and underestimate how much they have achieved!