Why Business Owners Should Volunteer

If you could find the time in your busy schedule to volunteer, would you?

If you had 5 hours in your week in which you didn’t need the down time, you weren’t finishing up payroll (it’s already done), every email was sent and responded to, every customer was satisfied and smiling, every order was made, every client seen to– okay, maybe I’m asking for a perfect world, in which I know I’m reaching here.  But, if you could find the time to volunteer, would you?

It sounds ridiculous to some that a business owner would have time to volunteer on something that wasn’t pulling up their business.  Heck, some of us barely have time to work on the marriage, or bond with the children, or meet friends we keep promising to see.  Why in the world would we give the specious little time we do have to someone else?

Think about when you started your business.  You probably didn’t have the money right away and you most likely were working for someone else.  But you found the time to build the dream, right?  You can say that starting your own business was something you really wanted to do so you found the time.  But what if volunteering could help you, help your business, would you find the time then?

Get past the fact that volunteering is working without pay, giving up your time.  Yes, it’s something noble and charitable, but it’s even a little deeper than that.  Volunteering is a well-hidden business opportunity or enhancement, if you squint your eyes and look at it in a different light.  When you volunteer, you are trading your time and talent and energy to help someone in a greater need.  As business owner, you provide a service or product for a particular consumer to fit their needs and lifestyle.  Let’s be honest, there are some overlapping similarities.  In either case, whether for profit or for not, you are filling a need.  You do that all day long as a business owner, why would you not for the sake of doing something good?

“I’m not in the business of charity”… FINE.  Then look at like this.  It is an opportunity, a business opportunity, to fill other needs that can shape people’s lifestyles for the better.   Needs in which you can profit from.  How?  Look at the environment in which you’re serving.   Those organizations are businesses too, just not-for-profit.  They still have to buy supplies and equipment from someone, not everything’s donated.  I’m not saying take advantage here, but open the line of communication and see how and where they get the means to do what they do.  If you can provide their service or product at a more cost effective but profitable mean, then you maybe onto something.  They probably know other organizations they can refer you to.  Sounds likes a B2B opportunity, and think, you were going to toss it aside because it took up valuable time.

You can look at it like volunteering, or you can look at it like an investment.  Either way, there’s much to be reaped when you take time to volunteer

 

[photo source: freedigitialphoto.com, by basketman]