Community can come with a lot of meanings, connotations, and associations today. Have you ever stopped to ponder what the word means, and what value it carries? Are you part of a community? Would you like to be part of one? We’re going to look at this time old concept a little closer.

Community: the joining of people sharing common values, interests, and goals. More than that, community is a network of people who can be reached either virtually or physically when you need them, constituting a support base with resource availability to help you know you are not alone.

Although a community can be large or small, generally, they are small enough where you personally know other members of that community. You come to trust the entity altogether, helping you to feel like you and your business can take on the unknown with a team backing you up.

Why Do We Need Community?

Countless psychological studies have confirmed that humans need to be joined with other humans to feel happy, sustained, and supported. We are a social animal, and therefore, need to be able to share ideas, spaces, and practices with others. Simply stated: community is part of the fabric of our very biological being. We have a mouth with conversational ability for a reason.

Unfortunately, with the rise of technology, we are seeing a breakdown in this kind of traditional community. People don’t need to join hand in hand anymore to access a product or service that they need. Consumers are disappearing into the fabric of the global economy, and as a result, they are losing their identity along the way.

When that happens, people, places, and businesses lose out on:

· Encouragement:

We need people every so often to tell us good job. It’s part of our psyche. We need someone else to know what we are doing and tell us it is the right thing. This kind of encouragement inspires businesses to go above and beyond, try out new products, expand their services, and so forth — no matter how scary Amazon or Walmart might be.

· Ideas:

How are we to know about the other compatible ideas in our industry if we remain as isolated agents? With no community building, we are unable to pair with other industry leaders and form valuable partnerships that will take SMEs to the next level.

· Comradery:

Most importantly: we miss out on support and friendship. Without it, we are lacking in natural self esteem and courage to really go out on a limb.