How Local Business Owners Can Step Up As Community Leaders

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How Local Business Owners Can Step Up As Community Leaders

As a small business owner, you know what it’s like to lead. Each and every day, you lead your employees to work together and achieve success. But are you taking the same initiative you use at work and applying it to your community?

The leadership skills that serve entrepreneurs in the workplace are also an asset to the community where they do business. Just like businesses, communities need leaders who are committed to making the community a better place to live and work. And with their creative vision and can-do attitude, local business owners are the perfect candidates to take the helm. Here’s some advice to get started.

4 Leadership Traits Business Owners Bring to the Table

Unsure if you’re cut out to be a community leader? While not every business owner is a natural-born leader, years of running a business teaches every entrepreneur valuable traits like these:

● Integrity commands respect both in business and community. Leaders who act with integrity are more effective at motivating others towards a common goal.

● Along with integrity comes openness, or a willingness to be accessible, compassionate, and generous.

● Business leaders also have to be vigilant, or constantly adapting and adjusting their strategy to ensure its effectiveness.

● Starting a business requires stepping outside your comfort zone, and running a company calls for the courage to make pivotal decisions every day.

How Business Owners Can Build Community Relationships

Before business owners can take on the role of community leadership, they need to branch out to build relationships with fellow leaders and the members of their local community. Luckily, local outreach pays back in increased visibility for your business. Here are a few ways to do it:

● High school and college internship programs offer valuable experience to the younger generation while creating a pipeline for your business.

● You might also teach a local course for young or new entrepreneurs. It’s a good idea to get specific - for example, help local up and comers understand the more difficult sides of running a business, such as local compliance and legal issues or tax law.

● Partnering with local influencers is also a great way to get your business’s name out there, but first, you need to give influencers something worth sharing.

4 Ways to Become an Agent of Change in Your Community

Becoming a community leader is about more than gaining recognition. It’s about putting the same energy into bettering your community that you put into bettering your business. To that end, here are three ways you can become an agent of change in your community — and why it’s worthwhile.

● Make volunteerism part of your company culture. By incorporating it into your mission and vision, you raise morale and build your team.

● Giving back can be part of your business model; for instance, you can donate a portion of all profits to a charity.

● Commit to sourcing supplies locally, thereby putting your dollars into other area businesses.

Community Leadership: Good for Business

Ultimately, becoming a community leader isn’t just great for your city, it’s good for business too. If you’re not sure whether you have the bandwidth to be a leader in business andcommunity, here are a few ways that community leadership benefits businesses.

● Being more involved in your community ensures that consumers get more familiar with your brand.

● Redesign your logo to show your commitment to your community—using a free logo maker is the easiest and most cost-effective way to create a customized logo.

● Whether you’re searching for a new supplier or need a contact in city council, getting involved in the community is the best way to make the local connections your business needs.

● Finally, business owners who are community leaders also gain the loyalty of their employees and encourage a more cohesive company culture.

 Whether you want to grow your business’s brand, become a more socially responsible company, or simply improve the place where you live and work, stepping up as a community leader is a smart move. Not only does the community benefit when entrepreneurs bring business acumen to the table, but businesses have a lot to gain when they get involved with the community.