In my early years as a believer in business, I knew we were to do business differently from the way of the world, but I still struggled to open myself up to partnering with other businesses. I fell into the lie of lack and worried whether or not other businesses would steal “my clients” or be too much hassle to worry with. As the Lord worked on me through the years I have now done a complete 180 degree turn and have fully embraced the power of doing business with other believers. Today I am going to share with you 3 powerful reasons to build business in community. I think these are reasons ALL believers in business should focus on!
Reason #1: It’s a Biblical Truth
If you are serious about growing your business in a way that honors the Lord and serves Him in a big way, then I’m sure you turn to your Bible fairly often for wisdom and insight. While there are hundreds, if not thousands, of scriptures that can be beneficial to growing a business God’s way, I want to focus today on two in particular.
The first of these scriptures is Romans 12: 4-5. “Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ, we who are many form one body and each member belongs to all the others.” The second set of scriptures we will reference is 1 Corinthians Chapter 12. The entire chapter is a must-read concerning this topic, but let’s narrow it in a bit to verse 27: “Now you are the body of Christ and each one of you is a part of it.” There is so much more goodness to dig into concerning theses verses, but let’s take a minute and focus in on the idea of us being a member of a body.
In the scriptures above we are given a mental picture of how we are just one piece of the larger body of Christ. We are told that we do not all have the same function, and as such, should form together in a way that we all belong to each other. When it comes to business, I for one know that I do not have all of the functions necessary to run a successful business in the way it needs to be ran. I have many gifts, but tech, organizing emails and schedules, and keeping up with all the book-keeping aspects are not my gifts in life. Even if I was gifted in all areas, I certainly wouldn’t have the time to do them all well!
This is where the power of looking at our business as one part of the body comes into play! If I step back and acknowledge my gifts and strengths and commit to utilizing them to the best of my abilities, then that frees me up to reach out to another part of the body who is strong where I am weak! In turn, they can then refer others to me based off of my strengths and we all grow stronger together. Kingdom partnerships are incredibly transformative and have the potential to remove so much time and stress off your plate!
Reason #2: It’s Just Good Business
If you’ve been in business anytime at all you know that the best way to gain new, loyal customers is through genuine referrals. While you can incentivize referrals with a program or such, true referrals are a gift than can be neither bought or manipulated, but must be earned.
Partnering with other believers in business creates genuine connections and relationships that naturally lead to mutually beneficial referrals when done correctly. I have received clients from referrals from past clients, referrals from employees (past and present), referrals from other professionals I have worked with, and even from other coaches! What all of these referrals have in common is that we had a real and beneficial relationship in place first.
When you start showing up with open hands, start looking for opportunities to give value to others, and start building real relationships with people, you will see your business start to grow in ways you cannot measure. We all have a pretty strong inner radar for genuineness and it doesn’t take much to set off our “all-about-me” radar. Be sensitive not to present “opportunities” that are really just self-serving attempts to promote yourself. Growing your business while benefitting other businesses truly is a win-win for everyone and can result in those valuable referrals that just keep coming!
Reason #3: We Will Need Community in the Days to Come
It doesn’t take a specially trained analyst to look at the news from the past year or so to come to the conclusion that our world is headed into uncertain times. Whether political, social, economical, or a combination of all three, we are going to need to buckle up our seat belts and be ready for some wild roads ahead.
Navigating unknown scenarios is challenging at best, but it does become easier and at least less lonely when done in community. When the 2020 Pandemic hit fever-pitch, knowing that I had a community of fellow believers in business that I could reach out to for support, ideas, wisdom, and empathy made the months to come much more bearable. Who are your people? Do you have a community of other business owners that you can reach out to when life throws its curve balls? If not, I highly recommend making it a priority to build business in community today!
To learn more about How to Build Your Business in Community, check out the podcast.
If you are looking for a community of fellow believers in business, I invite you to come and check out our free Facebook community Christian Women Business Builders or go deeper in one of our private coaching communities!
