If you’re an entrepreneur trying to drum up sales and get contracts, you could say that the world is your oyster.  The advantages of technology and the internet have created a global market, making it easy to connect with customers and clients all around the world with just one click. 

For instance, a Florida-based contracting company might conduct business with a core client base in England. The same holds true for US-based entrepreneurs landing contracting supplies and resources overseas.

While it’s remarkable that an entrepreneur has the whole world at his or her fingertips when building their business – in many cases, it’s the people in their own backyards that can make the most profound impact on business.  

Here are a few insights as to why local communities can be an entrepreneur’s best ally and ways entrepreneurs can utilize communities to win loyalty, land contracts, and gain better results in business.

Why Bother With Local Communities?

Many entrepreneurs may target big overseas markets, or focus their attention on mega cities such as New York or Dallas to win sales contracts.  Depending upon the business model or offerings, this might be a viable strategy.  However, it would be foolish to overlook the power of the local community.

There’s something extraordinarily motivating when a community bands together to support a local business entrepreneur.  The reality is, that a township or community is more willing to support local contractors, and that equates to significant potential sales, marketing outlets, access to untapped resources, and more. In fact, over 80% of local community members are more inclined to support local businesses because they know it contributes to the local economy as well as supports the neighborhood. 

Advantages of Connecting Locally

As an entrepreneur, you’re probably driven to hustle to land contracts and gain more exposure for your business. You’re constantly seeking contacts, customers, and ways to land sales. But when you begin to tap into your local market, you should realize you have a goldmine of connections more easily accessible than in other marketplaces. 

You might also discover that you may not have to hustle as much with your neighbors as you would with a faceless market in Japan or NYC.  In other words, you can more easily build a community around your contract business that is loyal, supportive, and offers a myriad of opportunities, as opposed to cold-calling strangers all over the world.

Aligning Your Business With the Community

With this in mind, it’s important to nurture relationships within the community. Because these are your neighbors, reaching out to these people requires a more “down-home” approach.  Therefore, you’ll want to develop personality within your brand and message when connecting your business with members of the community. 

This can be done by meeting people face to face to share your offerings with the community.  Or, you can start a fundraiser for a neighborhood cause while promoting your business. You may also start a grassroots marketing campaign by scheduling lunch dates with prominent leaders in the community. In this way, you can discuss potential contracts, designs, and business partnerships that can help further local projects.

Pay Attention and Be a Good Neighbor When Sealing the Deal

There are many ways to build a local reputation, get more contracts and scale your business by connecting with your community.  However, it’s important to know that doing so isn’t a matter of mass emailing or soulless social networking.  No. Bonding your contracting business with a community means investing heart, soul, time, and attention to what the people need, and understanding how you can meet those local needs.

This means you should keep tabs on members of the community.  In other words, listen to what locals are saying, record what their needs are, ask questions – really get involved with the people you encounter because these are the folks who can potentially be the lifeblood of your entrepreneurial endeavors. 

Managing Your Business in The Community

You can more easily connect and keep track of contacts as well as stay on top of serving your local customers by using contract management solutions. This allows you to keep an ongoing record of how your work is progressing from start to finish. A contract management solution can also provide your neighborhood clients with total transparency, giving them the ability to see all the risks, details, and fine print in any contract you draw up for them before work is performed.

In conclusion, cultivating relationships within your local community is an entrepreneur’s best bet to winning contracts, landing business deals, and generating loyalty.  Additionally, while building your business in the community you are effectively uniting the neighborhood, which is always a classic and powerful way to build any business.