You, your business, you’re part of a bigger eco-system. You rely on having good peers, mentors and advisors, you always need good people, you need networks, and you need to be heard and talked about. And you have a whole lot that can help others around you.
So what is the fabric that weaves these needs together? Communities.
My ‘Local’ Web & Hi-tech Community - Silicon Welly
I spend plenty of time in the US, where most of our customers are, where our product gets reviewed, where we launch on stage, and a growing number of our peers are, but I also have a home here in New Zealand where most of our core team work from. After years of doing business between the US and New Zealand, seamlessly, can see both the opportunity for New Zealand and the Valley with what we can do connecting both ends of the pacific ocean, and I run a site to help connect and raise the bar in the community called Silicon Welly, its helps the community, and it helps me.
While New Zealands web community here is significantly small compared with the valley, its a spoke on the wheel, and there is an opportunity to build a healthy web and Startup community. If you take a macro view, as an individual, an entrepreneur, you can work to the strengths and advantages of the a small but cool country like New Zealand, you can make a difference and take that difference to the world. The lifestyle, small business culture, low cost base and need to always think global since the local market is too small are all opportunities. I find playing an active part in building a solid community here a way to build on the strengths we and others can take this into our product experience, and to our customers around the world.
I’ve used these factors when building PlanHQ. We understand small business, we run a tight ship, we think about how we can solve the problems of small businesses everywhere in the world, and we keep an open mind and think laterally. Being surrounded by Ocean helps the last one I find, as does swimming in it regularly.
Our PlanHQ - Make it Happen Community
I spend lots thinking about communities, how to build one around the business, as our customers are people who get where we’re coming from, think in a similar way, so we all want to stay close. So far to acknowledge and help connect this community, we’ve done some of the basics as we’ve been building the business up an going from a Startup to an early stage business. We run this blog make it happen, and have a handful of hundred daily readers, and we speak at events all over the show about entrepreneurship, raising money and other topics on growing the business. This is the small tip of a very big iceberg that will become clearer over the next few months.
I’m interested in other peoples community endevours, and how you weave them into your business development - feel free to share!
