As a business owner running a successful firm in your locality, it’s your responsibility to give back to the people who helped bring your business to where it is now—whenever possible. Remember, your business wouldn’t be anywhere without its loyal customers, and your locality won’t thrive without the assistance of the community members.
That’s why whenever you have the means to give back and help your community out, do it. You and your team can make a massive difference in assisting those around you.
Here are seven ways you can support your local community and give back as a business.
Offer Services for Free
A successful business doesn’t happen without the support of your community. Even if you’re a barber, grocery store owner, doctor, or a starting lawyer, offering free services or advice can be a good thing. For instance, if you’re an attorney and are doing well for yourself, you can volunteer to represent more minor cases, such as becoming a lawyer for someone who had a bicycle accident and help them get the proper compensation they deserve.
Assist Other Local Businesses
Although most larger businesses can stay afloat during economic downturns, smaller firms often get hit the hardest as they often depend on their communities to make a profit, build a customer base, and thrive. They’re also ideal for the economy, making them deserve a chance to succeed along with the more prominent names in the industry. That’s why you should promote them.
If your business is doing good, set an example and boost your reputation by helping other local businesses within your community. Many smaller firms create mission and value statements that they aim to help out their communities. However, when it comes to it, they never do anything. Prove the people wrong and let them see that businesses can work in harmony by proactively promoting and assisting other local brands within your area that deserve it.
Offer Free Courses
As a business owner who runs operations, maintenance, and inspections every day, you’ll likely have a lot of knowledge that most aspiring business owners would love to learn. The most dedicated would jump at the opportunity to learn from a person in their industry with plenty of firsthand experience, guiding them in the right direction. Essentially, you can give back to the community by providing your expertise and knowledge through free courses.
However, if you can’t teach in-person nor real-time, you can always make and upload pre-recorded videos online that people can access anytime.
Hold Contests
An efficient way to urge your employees to have fun while helping people is by holding a contest, where each work can pick a local charity, where instead of prizes—the money the winner snags will go to the charity of their choice. It’s one of the most successful and preferred ways businesses give back to their communities.
Do Local Charity Work
One of the best ways to give back to your community is by doing local charity work. When getting started, an easy yet effective way to do this is by making a monetary donation, which you can do by allocating a portion of your profits. You can do this by allowing your customers to round up their total bills, place a collection jar on the check-out counters, or add a button on your website giving customers the option to donate alongside their purchase. Then, you can distribute the proceeds to a local charity.
Become a Sponsor
When it comes to sponsorship opportunities, most businesses have unlimited choices. Regardless of what kind of business you run and the industry you’re in, you can always sponsor different sports teams, festivals, marathons, or community gardens. These mainly rely on assistance from sponsors, keeping costs down and spirits up. The best part is, if you’re sponsoring a charity event, you won’t be only helping people out—you’ll get a much-needed tax-break.
Find an organization within your locality that you’re passionate about and see if they’re offering sponsorship opportunities.
Encourage Employee Volunteerism
Many local businesses are now urging employees to volunteer in local events by offering paid time off. Any local business can show its support for the community by assigning workers a specified amount of time every month, quarter, or year for volunteering, boosting morale among your team while increasing your business’s community involvement.
Remember that even the simplest gesture can leave a significant impact on your community. So when you have the means to do so, make it a habit to take care of the people helping your business thrive—and try doing any of the things mentioned to give back.