Why Community is Important for Startups

What exactly do we mean by community in the context of small, startup companies, specifically in the tech and ecommerce scenes?

“The art and science of business is about generating value at its core, and community is one of the most valuable things to humankind as a whole,” said Melissa Rhodes, CEO of Psychics 1on1. “It comes from the evolutionary need to form mutually beneficial connections with others and ensure peace and prosperity for the long term. Once you see the power of community on every level, from within the business to the customers and partners, it becomes more clear why this should be a priority.”

Knowing the “why” behind the community will give us the framework needed to succeed in these initiatives.

“Every community offers something a bit different to people within the organization and the market at large,” said Ryan Rockefeller, Co-founder of Cleared. “For some, the goal is creating hype and exclusivity, like we see with a lot of modern fashion and lifestyle brands. For others, inclusivity and acceptance are the keys, especially in industries that help with personal finance, insurance, and security. The community aspect is never a cookie-cutter thing – you need to carve it out of stone and make it your own.”

If you aren’t sure where to start building your brand community, outline your top three objectives and identify the steps that will take you in that direction.

Company Community

Before you set your sights on world peace and other lofty goals, start by simply focusing on company culture and variables within your control from day to day.

“Too many brands start with overly ambitious community-building goals, and meanwhile they’re struggling to finish daily task lists or get everyone into a conference call,” said Kevin Miller, Founder of Kevinmiller.com. “It’s a classic example of biting off more than you can chew. Community starts with the interactions you have with people in your immediate surroundings, and builds outward from there. Set a strong precedent for communication, respectful dialogue, and timely task completion, and this forms the foundation of your community.”

When a startup is firing on all cylinders and a thriving small community at the core, it’s only a matter of time before recruitment and expansion take place.

“Top talent is always going to seek out the best communities to work with, and they may even be willing to take less cash compensation to get in early,” said Jeremy Gardner, CEO of MadeMan. “This is a good deal for everyone involved, but it also means that execs need to be super selective about who they bring into the mix staff-wise. Culture can only exist and improve if people share the same values and put community first over personal issues and insecurities. Always vet new employees for strong character traits in addition to skills and abilities.”

Customer Community

When customers and clients start getting involved in the community aspect of your startup, you know that you’re on the right track as a business.

“Community building might be the greatest marketing tactic of the 21^st century, especially with the unprecedented influence of social media right now,” said Fred Gerantabee, Chief Experience Officer at Foster Grant. “Do everything in your power to generate that excitement online and create content that gets the message out to new people all the time. Leverage ambassadors, evangelists, influencers, and whoever else can amplify and broadcast your brand to the far reaches of the web.”

Hype will only take a startup so far, of course. A company needs to follow through on its reputation by supporting customers with the assistance and appreciation they expect.

“A lot of brands are paper tigers, meaning that they talk a big game, but don’t actually give customers what they want in terms of service, support, and the other business fundamentals that make companies great,” said Chris Hetherington, Founder and CEO of Peels. “Don’t let this be you, because word spreads fast on the internet and every piece of bad feedback on record. When you look out for your community of customers from the start, that’s going to come back around in so many positive ways – including profit.”

Quickly list your favorite brands and ask what makes their communities so strong, then see how you can apply these concepts to your own startup moving forward.

Startup Community

Although we often point to Silicon Valley and New York as the two main hubs of tech innovation and entrepreneurship in the US, the startup community exists on a much broader scale thanks to remote connectivity and a culture of innovation.

“Looking at the idea of community in the broadest sense, successful startups are able to tap into all the resources available in their cities, their countries, and beyond,” said Tavis Lochhead, Co-founder of Looria. “It’s not just about recruiting smart developers and salespeople, but also making connections in media, securing funding for new projects, and generally contributing to the healthy competition that pushes everyone to a higher level of performance.”

In a way, we’re all involved in the startup community with the choices we make every day and how we interact with others in real life and online.

“For entrepreneurs, communities are not only a great way to sell products but also a valuable resource when it comes to answering questions like what features to build first, is the product helping you as the buyer/user, what do you think of the name, integrations, etc,” said Entrepreneur and DeveloperRitika Mehta. “It’s a way to connect with your audience and your audience to connect with each other in the form of a community and ultimately the community helping you build your future product.”

Growing and Scaling

Communities are meant to grow, but this must be done organically and paced correctly so that a company doesn’t lose sight of its priorities and the core identity that made it unique.

“When we hear about companies ‘losing their souls’ or ‘selling out’, that’s not a statement about how much revenue they’re bringing in – it’s about identity and values,” said Riley Burke, Growth Marketing Manager at Ohza. “Communities around startups have a sort of collective consciousness that is sensitive to things like authenticity and integrity. If a brand compromises on these things to chase trends or get involved in issues that don’t concern them, it’s going to have a negative ripple effect throughout the community.

Growth is absolutely attainable through evolution or pivots, but these must be done with the benefit of the people in mind, not strictly based on short-term gains.

“The business is expecting to grow its client base from 300 at the beginning of 2022 to 1,000 by the end of the year, saidHELM Life Founder and CEO Elize Shirdel. “Our evolution serves as an example of how, in order to survive and thrive, startups need to listen to their customers and be willing to evolve, even if it means fundamentally changing their business model multiple times.”

Giving Back

When a brand is able to give back time and money to the community at large, it has achieved the highest state of recognition and respect in the startup space.

“People dedicate their lives to startups to enrich themselves first, but the truly successful entrepreneurs always have some degree of involvement in charities or causes that they deem important,” said Haim Medine, Creative Director of Mark Henry Jewelry. “Maybe it’s the environment, maybe it’s academic or economic achievement for a certain group. This brings a company from being seen as a profit machine into a new realm as a pillar of the community. Ultimately, this generates even more media and market attention, and it becomes a self-sustaining machine for many years to come.”

It's no surprise that many entrepreneurs end up becoming angel investors or getting into the venture capital gain after one or two hits with startups and exits. When money continues to move throughout the startup environment, it benefits everyone, including the next generation of innovators that have yet to enter the arena.

“We talk so much about charity and giving, and while those things are important, the big difference-makers are those who reinvest money into small companies and keep pushing the envelope of advancement and improvement,” said Max Schwartzapfel, CMO of Fighting For You. “If a smaller, more dynamic company comes along and grabs some market share, who cares? The result benefits everyone and now the bar is higher for society and people in general.”

Despite all the changes happening with technology and the world as a whole, the community will always be at the center of every startup’s success story.