It Takes A Village To Build A Business

Photo by William White on Unsplash

Register for Free Weekly Workshops on Personal & Business Branding. Signup for Fireworkshop

How Communities Help Build Businesses

I recently became a father and it’s definitely one of the highlights of my adult years yet. Besides the joyful experience of witnessing the miracle of life mature every day before my eyes, is also the sharing this experience with my immediate and extended family, friends and well-wishers and seeing them support my wife and I. The discipline of raising a child in Africa is communal. Most tribes or ethnic groups never abandon the journey of childraising to the parents alone. People try to be part of the process by offering help and support in any way possible. Like the African proverb goes “it takes a village to raise a child”. I’m a witness to this. I also believe this to be true when it comes to building a brand or business.

Building a business in 2022 is not just about building and delivering products and services off the assembly line and hoping customers will find you and give you money. In today’s world, you’ll have to find ways to cut through the noise, to stand out. As I’ve written in my newsletters before, storytelling is what will set your business brand apart. To build a great business brand you must tell great stories. Stories help your brand establish authority and trust. Authority and trust are lacking in today’s world and that’s what the customers needs.

However, it’s still not enough to just tell stories, you’ll have to convert the attention you’ve gotten into building a community. Many brands have built communities around their businesses and in turn, these communities help them build their businesses. Essentially, these brands/businesses build villages.

Build a Village, Build a Community

Typically, a village is a settlement of people with a shared language, beliefs, customs, traditions and values. I teach my clients to think of building communities like they’re building villages. First, you have to find your tribe (audience) and then build a village (community). You must turn your audience into a community.

Companies like RedBull, Nike, Apple, Lego, Airbnb, Reddit and more have built immersive communities that offer feedback, knowledge-sharing and oftentimes co-create with the brands, especially brands like Lego and its customers.

To build a village around your business brand, you should:

• Outline the vision: Ask the question, why are we coming together? What’s the purpose of our gathering? When you answer that and outline it, people will gather around a vision and your village will start forming.
• Reward and incentivise loyal customers: that make significant contributions by offering discounts, free products and more. This fosters a sense of community and belonging.
• Knowledge-Sharing: Allow customers to educate others about your brand and its offerings.
• Encourage and empower members of the community: by giving them roles in the community. Every village has some form of hierarchy. Platform community members that benefit the village and the business. And try not to intercede, rather trust that the village can on its own. Seek to nurture rather than interfere. If you’re constantly interfering, your trust reservoir amongst the village members will deplete slowly.

“The future of business is a more open, connected, engaging one, and communities are going to change the nature of how we interact with brands, products, and other people.” — HBR.

Bonus:

• I help build brands and businesses tell their stories so they can get the attention they deserve. Send me an email (jesse@fireworks.com.ng), let’s work together.
• Sign up to be a member of the Campfire Community, a community of creatives and entrepreneurs.
• Listen to my weekly podcast, The Fireworks Podcast on Spotify or Apple, where I share stories and insights on entrepreneurship, the creator economy and branding.
• Sign up for FiredUP, a 5-week BootCamp for people looking to build their brands and businesses and want community, accountability and education.
• If you enjoyed reading this post, then share it with someone. Let’s all grow together.