Community involvment

Community forms a great basis for commerce. Commercial interests common among a people is one basic building block of any community, and in any enterprise you have to know your 'Cs', Community, Constituents, Customers, and Competition. Without solid knowledge of these your enterprise will be vulnerable and weak.

Churches, benevolent organizations, community coops and other organizations that are now acronymed NGOs are some of the foundations of a common trust and have been the basis for community for years. I prefer to do business with those I trust whether I am the buyer or the seller. Through sincere involvement in a community through these organizations I can assess the good and the bad in the people I serve.

Through sincere and intimate involvement organizations like these I can also assess resources of talent - e.g. who would be good help - when business is good. This also holds me accountable in my dealings when business contracts.

If I hire my pastors daughter to be my receptionist, the treasurer of my Cub Scout pack to keep my books, or the son of the bartender at the Eagle’s lodge to make deliveries for me, I have an additional layer of personal accountability to them. From there it is more likely I will conduct business in a more conservative and prudent manner – I don’t want to have to lay them off. This means by my fundamental decisions sustainability is a key concept in my decision landscape.

If I am active in my community, I am more likely to know what unmet needs exist there and how best to meet it. That forms a good basis for establishing a customer base. In The Music Man (Willson, Meredith, 1957, filmed in 1962) a memorable line from the train scene with all of the salesmen chanting rhythmically - 'you gotta know the territory'. The more active I am in my territory, the more I will know it.

And if I am active in my community, I am more likely to know who else is monitoring the situation, and how best to either compete with them, or to ally with them.