Unlikely Connections: A key part of starting a business
Dear SJ,
Do you know a key part of starting a business that I am confident they don’t talk about a lot in MBA programs?
Being registered to vote.
And then doing the voting — every year, every election, no matter how small. (Yes, there’s usually elections every year, even if it’s only a single referendum posed by your school board.)
Of course they don’t teach this. This is something you do in your private life, not something to consider in business operations.
I’d argue that’s actually not true because everything is part of a system. When you vote for a single referendum posted by your local school district, you’re influencing outcomes in the schools…which graduate students…who become entry level workers…who may become job seekers applying to your business.
Here’s another example that’s a little more direct: when you vote for your county commissioner, you’re voting for the person who (among many responsibilities) allocates resources to support business owners and upskill adult workers. The comissioner can make the process of doing business easier or harder. You definitely want to have a say in who does this job. Vote.
⭐ Key action: Look up four key people who play a role in shaping the policies that influence how you do business:
- your city’s mayor
- your county’s commissioner
- your state senator
- your state representative
▶️ How to do it: You can google “who is my mayor” or “who is the mayor of [insert your city here]” and repeat for each role, or you can use this official United States government website that does all the searches in one place. You’ll either input your address to get a list of all elected officials at each level, or you can use the links under the local and state elected officials sections to look them up.
💭 Think about it: Look around online for more information about each person (or ask ChatGPT). This could include looking at their social media accounts. What are you finding? What impression is this information giving you about the individual? What can you find about the changes they’ve made or influenced while in government? How much of what you find is from that person directly versus about them?
