Your business is your life. It affects other lives, and can make so many other lives better. As you grow your business, you will have two kinds of skills: Those that your business is built on and those you have conquered to stay in business. Both can be helpful to others. And helping others is why we’re here.
Key Takeaways:
- Business owners who volunteer their time and skills find they learn new skills that help their business and find personal fulfillment.
- Inventory your skills that can help another business or people in need.
- Find the right place to apply them.
Helping Others is Why We’re Here
Helping others is a fundamental part of our existence. Giving of ourselves to others is not just philosophical or moral. I have found that tangible benefits come from helping others by sharing my experience. Volunteering your skills and time not only has a big impact on those you help, but also enhances your own personal and professional growth.
After years in business, we earn a wide assortment of skills and expertise that have value to others — sometimes in surprising ways. You may have had help from someone else when you began your business —whether it was where to get your business license to how to find someone to set up your website. When you’re ready to pay it forward and share what you’ve learned, here are some suggestions for getting started.
Identify Skills You Have
The first step in offering help to someone else is understanding the skills you possess. Think of these two ways: specific skills and general skills. Specific skills are technical or specialized abilities that focus on an individual task, such as knowing how to create a pivot table in Microsoft Excel. General skills are broader and can be helpful in multiple ways (for instance, being a good listener).
Five Specific Skills You Can Share (And Ideas For Many More)
Look at the things you do every working day — or even from your hobbies — and how well you do them, and how you learned to do them. These can be valuable to people starting out in the business world.
Here are some examples:
- Writing A Business Plan. Someone starting a business may be trying to do too many things and not able to convert a great business concept into the checklist of tasks that will get them started. If you’ve written a successful business plan that got your business funded, you can provide help.
- Computers and Technology. If you’re in the IT business, helping a new business get started takes away anxiety and may even lead to future business for you.
- Education and Literacy. Not everyone can read, read well, or read in English. A helping hand to a non-native speaker can turn them into a better businessperson and member of the community.
- Resume Writing and Job Preparation. Few people succeed at business without hiring people or training people. Lending assistance to those seeking jobs — even if you’re not hiring — can lead them to work while creating a connection that may last and prove fruitful for years.
- Business Banking and Bookkeeping. Mentoring a fledgling enterprise in establishing a business account, obtaining the required paperwork, explaining the value of an employer ID number (EIN), and showing how to conduct business using digital tools such as Wave, Zelle, and Venmo. These can take a small amount of your time, but be huge for a novice sole proprietor.
The more you think about what you do, the more ways you can think of to help a young business: buying advertising, participating in community events, securing a website, packaging items to be shipped, preparing grant proposals, making social media posts, or even providing your expertise as a hair stylist, dentist, or car mechanic in pay-what-you-can events.
Five General Skills You Can Share (And Ideas For Many More)
Not every business task requires specific knowledge. Every business person has learned a lesson the hard way and wished somebody had given them a heads up beforehand. These general skills are also highly valuable.
Here are some examples:
- Public Speaking and Communication. Everyone needs to find the way that works best for them, but a programmer who wants to open a restaurant may need some pointers and encouragement in learning life beyond the keyboard.
- Time Management. Most successful businesspeople say this is important. How you manage your time may be helpful to someone who has never been as distracted as a small business owner is.
- Leadership. Someone who needs to add staff or hire employees who never has can benefit from the years of experience of a businessperson who has.
- Dressing For Business. Business is conducted differently in different parts of the country and the world, and how you learned to dress for your business can help others dress for theirs.
- Compassion and Empathy. One of the forgotten skills in the business world is the perspective of others. If you’ve managed to succeed while connecting personally with clients and customers, this could be the most valuable thing you can share.
As you think of general skills that have helped you prosper, you’ll probably uncover more soft skills you can share to help a young business, especially if you’ve mastered how to build a strong work-life balance.
Identifying Skills Others Needs
Once you’ve conducted an inventory of the skills you can offer and have resolved to share them, the next step is finding places to do so. Look to see what skills are most wanted or needed and which ones match yours.
Stay Alert for Opportunities
Small businesses often need help with tasks outside their core competencies. You can use search engines or Google Alerts to set up notifications for local organizations seeking volunteers.
Networking can lead to volunteering opportunities at places you frequent, like swim clubs, schools, churches, or libraries. Finally, belonging to a service club such as Rotary, Kiwanis, or Lions Club provides a great opportunity to deliver help to people in the community who need your skills while connecting with others who feel the same. Check online places like SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives), Taproot Foundation, and Catchafire.
Additional Benefits
Helping others can provide a wealth of positive effects on you and your business. It builds your business brand, which helps attract customers — and employees when your business needs to hire. Grateful recipients of your efforts often become recommenders. You may find your own mental health improving. It did for me. I felt happier, and even felt less stress in my own job. There’s value in connecting with others. It’s part of why we’re here. Volunteering was part of how I put down roots. I became a better communicator, learned to participate in teams, and doubled up on problem-solving abilities.
Not every action a business takes should be directly tied to the bottom line. The intangible benefits I’ve mentioned provide a unique form of return on investment beyond any potential financial gains. By making a difference in the lives of others, you enrich your own life in immeasurable ways. At least, that’s how it worked for me.
