Your Business Story
Your business story is not necessarily the same as your origin story . It is about how your business came about, whilst your origin story is about you. Sometimes they are the same; you need to tell your origin story to explain your business story or else they are independent stories.
If the two seem independent, ask why that is. Has your business story no relationship with the event you believe to be central to your personal story?
Sometimes the story of your business is less interesting than your origin story. It can be about the daily graft out of which a business slowly emerged. But this does not mean the story is without value. You were patient and stuck with it until the business worked. Working out how to tell a story is just as important as finding the right story to tell.
My Business Story
I was made redundant a few years ago and found the lifestyle of self-employment attractive but I didn’t know what I could offer. I retrained as a web designer and discovered most web design agencies do not offer the support people need, particularly for the voluntary sector and local independent businesses. Technology has moved on and today it is possible to do for yourself work for which you previously paid agencies thousands of pounds. The problems groups encounter online are similar to real life problems pre-Internet and today! Lack of strategic insight is very common online just as it is offline; and many groups do not co-ordinate their online and offline work. Anxiety about the technology still distracts from the human arrangements behind the website!
As a development worker I’ve learned how to support key people using situation analysis, project development, participatory methods, soft systems as well as dealing with challenging issues and the inevitable disasters! So, I am bringing together three insights:
- The need to build and sustain working relationships is the primary goal of any developmental work. My origin story tells how I discovered this as many do, through experience.
- My experience of dependence on grants and how they undermine community development has led me to new ideas of a radical agora or marketplace as foundational for any local sense of community
- Understanding online activity is no longer a technical issue (if it ever was) but is an essential strategic dimension to most organisation’s plans. Whilst most people are able to learn how to run their online activities; it is unchartered territory for many and so they will need a guide.
The idea of “Community Development Online” has been growing over the last couple of years. It is still under development and includes these elements:
- It is online in the sense the support I offer is likely to be delivered online, with the possible exception of local clients. This may seem the most trivial sense but it has profound implications for my business and possibly the future of community development work. I’m finding there are several advantages to working online.
- Twenty years ago I shared tools with local people as we developed community businesses and other activities. I still do that but these days significant tools are available online. Other development workers, community activists and local business owners need to understand not so much the technical details but how and when to use the most appropriate tools.
- Learning and sharing information and insights was always a part of community development and remains a major purpose of my website.
Community development online is complex and as I researched it, I saw the need for vision and not just an offer for technical support. I particularly want to help groups seeking sustainable local economies. The idea of social entrepreneur is just as valid online as off and so my focus is helping individuals and groups who want to build this approach.
Conclusion
My business story as it stands is not as dramatic as my origin story! One reason I place the business story in a less important light than my origin story is that it is still under development. It is harder to tell a story when I am so close to it and I don’t know how it ends! Will it be a story of success?
It’s possible I will experience something that makes a good story. At that point I would make my business story more prominent on my website.
The main point to take away is the difference between a business story and an origin story. Perhaps the business story is essential in the sense that it may answer questions in the mind of site visitors and potential customers. However, I agree with many others the origin story is important because it is an opportunity for site visitors to get to know you as a person. It stands in for your personal presence (as far as it is possible).
Many people designing their site go overboard describing their business or organisation, presenting masses of detail about their mission, aims and objectives and the products and services they offer. Whilst there is a need for some of this material, it is so easy to forget the human story behind your offer. How do you get the balance right?
Do you have examples of origin and business stories? It would be interesting to see some examples. Why not put a url into comments and say why you think it’s a good example (or a bad example if that’s what it is)?