During a recent panel discussion, I was asked about collaboration.
My fellow panelists represented several organisations that support business owners in different ways, including Rotary, BNI, a Local Business Association, and an organisation that helps start-ups develop their business plans.
At first glance, you might assume that organisations operating within the same broader business community would naturally be competitors. After all, we may serve some of the same people, attend the same events and share similar goals.
But that wasn’t how I saw the panel, or our relationship with one another.
My answer was simple…we are all highly collaborative.
One organisation does not necessarily have to compete against another. In fact, we often achieve far more for our members, clients and communities when we recognise how our different strengths complement one another.
Asentiv is not a networking group. We are a consulting and training company that helps business owners develop the skills, strategies and relationships required to build stronger businesses through referral-based growth. In short, we show you how to use your Network to grow your business.
Our role is not to replace organisations such as BNI, Rotary, local chambers of commerce or business associations. Our role is to help people become more effective when they participate in those environments.
We train our clients and community to build meaningful professional relationships, communicate their value clearly, develop trust and create opportunities for others. These are the skills that help someone excel within a networking organisation or business community.
When people become better networkers, everybody benefits.
The individual achieves stronger results. The organisation gains a more engaged and valuable member. Other members receive better support and more relevant opportunities. The wider business community becomes more connected.
That is collaboration in action.
True collaboration begins with recognising that different organisations can solve different parts of a person’s problem.
A start-up may need help writing a business plan. It may then benefit from joining a local business association, developing relationships through Rotary or participating in a structured referral organisation such as BNI. Along the way, Asentiv can help that business owner develop the relationship-building skills and referral strategy needed to make the most of those communities.
Each organisation contributes something valuable.
When we understand our respective roles, we can confidently refer people to the organisation best equipped to help them at that moment. We stop trying to be everything to everyone and begin creating a stronger ecosystem of support.
The traditional approach to business often tells us to protect our territory, guard our ideas, viewing similar organisations as threats.
That way of thinking is increasingly outdated.
Im not saying that healthy competition does not have its place. It can encourage innovation, improve service and give customers more choice. But treating every other organisation as an opponent limits what we can accomplish.
A competitive mindset asks:
“What can I protect?”
A collaborative mindset asks:
“What can we create together?”
Collaboration creates room for shared events, introductions, education, referrals and community initiatives. It allows organisations to combine their strengths without losing their individual identities.
Most importantly, it produces better outcomes for the people we are all here to serve.
A collaborative approach comes from abundance rather than scarcity.
It recognises that no single organisation can meet every need and that another organisation’s success does not automatically diminish our own. In many cases, their success strengthens the environment in which we all operate.
When business associations, networking organisations, educators, consultants and community groups work together, they create more opportunities, not fewer.
They help business owners find the right support sooner. They make knowledge and relationships more accessible. They build communities in which people genuinely want one another to succeed.
That is particularly important for small-business owners, who can easily feel isolated. A connected ecosystem gives them access to different kinds of guidance at different stages of their journey.
My experience on the panel reinforced something I strongly believe. Our communities are better when we see one another as collaborators rather than automatic competitors.
Rotary, BNI, chambers of commerce, local business associations, start-up advisers and organisations such as Asentiv all have distinct roles to play. We do not need to compete for ownership of the business community. We can contribute our particular strengths and help people connect with the support that is right for them.
The future of business belongs to those who can build trusted relationships and recognise complementary strengths.
The world becomes a better place when we stop asking how we can win at someone else’s expense, and start asking how we can help one another succeed.
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