Advocacy and making changes in the local community are often vitally important to entrepreneurs. However, finding the time and resources to get involved can be a struggle.
In a recent interview, Adi Klevit of Business Success Consulting Group talked to Heidi Ganahl, serial entrepreneur, Founder, and CEO of SheFactor, about her involvement in politics and how she has managed to build influence and advocacy beyond simply casting a vote.
Include These Six Steps when Creating a System That Will Make an Impact In Your Community
No matter what is going on in your community, it is likely that larger businesses with lobbying departments have an outsized influence on policy that affects you, your business, and your employees.
In their discussion, Heidi shared six steps entrepreneurs can take to build networks of influence in their community – providing a voice for smaller businesses and entrepreneurs. None of these require a lobbying arm to be built or millions of dollars to be spent.
1. Start local.
Attend city council, board, and committee meetings. Your local municipalities have many boards, commissions, and committees – including your local chamber of commerce. Attend public meetings and become part of the conversation.
2. Talk with your local politicians.
Local politicians want to meet business owners in the community. Give the county commissioner’s office or your local city council a call. Meet them at networking or one of the above council meetings. See if you can sit down with them for a coffee or lunch meeting. Give them a tour of your business. Provide an opportunity for them to speak with employees and hear from them. All of this gives you and your employees a greater voice in what is happening locally.
3. Join national advocacy groups.
You can find national and local advocacy groups with connections with politicians and those rising in the political ranks. These groups provide networking opportunities at conferences, meetings, seminars, and more.
4. Join industry associations.
You are in an industry, and it likely has an association. Join that group and stay up-to-date with policies that affect you and the industry as a whole. Find out what lobbying the association has done and connect with other industry leaders to become a force for positive change.
5. Educate your employees
Employees are passionate about your industry and can also work toward positive change. Keep them up-to-date about the latest changes in your community and industry so they can stay engaged as well.
6. Raise your voice.
We all get busy with our businesses, but that doesn’t mean we should stop reaching out. If a subject is affecting you, your employees, and your business, then you need to speak out. In fact, creating a system may be an excellent way to reach local committees continuously.
For example, if a particular method of taxing your business affects how much you can pay employees, you and your employees would likely want to change this tax. Building a system of outreach that includes networking, calling offices, and attending committees, may result in getting that tax modified to help you, your employees, and other entrepreneurs as you continue to scale your business.
Creating your own system for connecting with local politicians will help your business – and it’s something you can use to help other companies and sole proprietors advocate for themselves. At Business Success Consulting Group, we work with business owners to help them determine the steps they must take to build processes and procedures within their companies. Once this is done, there is even more room within the business to take that newly acquired systematization knowledge and apply it to passion projects and networking.
Take the first step by contacting Business Success Consulting Group today.
