A movement is budding in the small business sector. Driven by limited resources, such as time and money, small business entrepreneurs are discovering the power of collaboration on the growth of their businesses. In fact, collaboration is the new way to grow your business more quickly.
The prevalent method for business growth through the years is one ruled by domination, winning at all costs, and crushing the competition. Along with those “lovely” attributes, the business landscape is pockmarked with rivalry as businesses in the same industry struggle to gain control over what is perceived to be limited customers. Businesses routinely worked in silos to safeguard their piece of the market.
At long last, a new story is being written; one infused with communal wisdom and collective action. This fresh and innovative approach to business growth embraces mutual benefit, shared learning and knowledge, and cooperation toward a shared goal. It accelerates learning of necessary skills, promotes resource sharing, inspires action, challenges assumptions, and elevates the collective to achieve more.
The Collaboration Mindset
If you search for trends in collaboration, you’ll discover a plethora of collaboration “tools”. Sparked by technology, open source software is part of our everyday world. Think Wikipedia.
Formerly launched in January 2001, Wikipedia is collective work of information that includes 30.5 million articles in 287 languages that have been written by over 44 million users.
Collaboration, however, is more than a set of tools or a process; it’s a mindset. It’s an approach of “what can I contribute (rather than take).” It fosters a willingness to share. Collaboration cultivates an attitude of abundance where there is plenty for everyone, which means you don’t have to protect your turf – or work in solos – or grow your business alone.
Collaboration plays a vital role in small business growth. It’s the ideal approach for small business to accelerate growth and scale their business within their current resources. After all, little grows in a vacuum!
