Episode 8 - Stronger Together - Serving Your Community and Your Customers

What do you do when your sales vanish overnight? The answer may not be in your warehouse - it may be in your neighborhood.

In this episode, I share a powerful real-world story of how collaboration saved multiple small businesses during a crisis. From there, we dig into why community relationships aren’t just feel-good extras, they’re a core part of your business resilience strategy.

If you’ve ever thought, “I don’t have time for community-building,” this episode will change your mind (and give you a roadmap that won’t overwhelm your calendar).

🧠 What You’ll Learn

• Why community ties are actually a risk mitigation strategy
• The 3-layer Community-Customer Connection framework
• The 3 Ps of authentic engagement: Purpose, Partnership, Persistence
• How to map your ecosystem and find the relationships you already have
• Simple ways to build reputation resilience (even in a big city)

🔍 This Week’s Quick Action List

• Map your  community connections
• Reach out to one community organization just to listen
• Ask three regular customers what they care about locally
• Attend one local business or community event
• Offer help - no strings attached - to one group in your area

 📆 Your 30-60-90 Day Plan 

30 Days:
→ Map your ecosystem
→ Have three meaningful community conversations
→ Identify one aligned need

60 Days:
→ Start one small initiative or partnership
→ Create one customer community touchpoint
→ Join one local business group

90 Days:
→ Evaluate impact
→ Gather feedback
→ Integrate into your business strategy

💌 Questions? Feedback?
Reach out at anca@3pimpactconsulting.com - I’d love to hear from you.

🎧 Listen now - and take the first step toward a more resilient business.

I am the founder of 3P Impact Consulting and I help small businesses build long-term resilience through sustainable practices. I adapt tools used by big corporations to fit the reality of purpose-driven small business owners - so they can grow with confidence, even in uncertain times. 

💻 Learn more about my work at www.3pimpactconsulting.com/services
📬 Subscribe to my blog and newsletter at www.3pimpactconsulting.com/resources

Transcript

Stronger Together - Serving Your Community and Your Customers

David runs a small specialty food manufacturing company in Brooklyn. In 2020 his customer base was split between local restaurants in his area, a few specialty food stores in Manhattan, and online sales across the country.

When COVID hit, David watched his restaurant orders disappear overnight. His Manhattan retail partners closed temporarily or drastically reduced orders, and shipping costs for online sales skyrocketed. He had about six weeks of cash flow left, and his industrial neighborhood felt like a ghost town.

But David had something many businesses didn't - he knew his neighbors. Over the years, he'd built relationships with the other small manufacturers in his area: a craft brewery, a small bakery, and an artisan pasta maker.

Instead of panicking, David reached out to his network. They started brainstorming together. The brewery was struggling too, but they had delivery infrastructure. The bakery had loyal customers but needed more products to make delivery worthwhile. The pasta maker had similar challenges.

So they created what they called "Your Neighborhood Box" - curated packages featuring products from all of them, delivered within a five-mile radius. David provided the hot sauces, the brewery contributed their craft beer, the bakery added fresh bread and pastries, and the pasta maker included fresh pasta and pasta sauces. They cross-promoted to all their customer lists and split the delivery costs.

You guess what happened… Not only did they all survive, but they discovered customers loved the variety and the story. People felt good about supporting a group of small Brooklyn businesses working together. David gained new customers who found him through the other businesses. When restaurants started reopening, several of his collaborators introduced him to their restaurant contacts.

David told me that this collaboration saved his business and taught him that community isn't just about geography - it's about finding your people and figuring out how to help each other succeed.

That's what we're talking about today - how building genuine community relationships creates business resilience that you can't buy with any marketing budget. Don’t go anywhere, I’ll be right back.

[intro]

[Why This Actually Matters for Your Business]

Now, I know what some of you might be thinking: "Anca, community involvement sounds nice, but I'm in a city of millions. I'm barely keeping up with my day-to-day operations. I don't have time for networking events and charity work."

And I get it. I really do. In a big city, it's easy to feel anonymous, like you're just another business among thousands. But please understand that this is about creating a support system.

Remember Ana from Episode 6? When her packaging supplier went bankrupt, she was scrambling to find alternatives at five times the cost. But what if she had built relationships with other local suppliers? What if her customers felt so connected to her business that they were willing to wait an extra week for their orders rather than switch to a competitor?

Community relationships are risk mitigation. They're your backup plan when things go wrong. During natural disasters, economic downturns, supply chain disruptions - businesses with strong community ties recover faster.

But it's more than just crisis management. Local customers become your brand ambassadors. They refer friends, they defend you on social media, they choose you over competitors even when you're not the cheapest option. Local networks create backup supplier options, partnership opportunities, and collaborative solutions to shared challenges.

And here's another aspect - reputation resilience. When you have genuine community goodwill, it gives you a buffer against negative events. A bad online review doesn't sink you when dozens of community members know your character.

Small businesses actually have huge advantages here that big corporations can't match. You can respond quickly to community needs. You can build real, personal relationships instead of managing everything through corporate bureaucracy. You can make decisions fast and pivot when you see opportunities.

[The Community-Customer Connection Framework]

Alright, so how do you actually do this without it feeling forced or taking over your life? I have a framework for you - the Community-Customer Connection approach.

 Think of it in three layers.

[Layer 1: Know Your Ecosystem]

First, you need to understand your ecosystem. And this is bigger than you might think. It includes your immediate community, your larger community and your extended network.

Your immediate community includes your neighbors, other local businesses, your suppliers. These are the people who see your business every day, who might refer customers or become customers themselves.

Then there is your larger community - that’s your regular customers, your online followers, and even your industry peers. These are people who already have a relationship with your business in some way.

And then there’s your extended network, which includes local organizations, schools, nonprofits, maybe local government. These are groups that might not buy from you directly, but they influence the environment where your business operates.

Here's your first action step - take 15 minutes and map out your ecosystem. Write down everyone you can think of in these three categories. Don't worry about whether the relationships are strong or weak right now. Just get them on paper.

I bet you'll be surprised by how many connections you already have, and how many gaps you can identify.

[Layer 2: The 3 P's of Community Engagement]

Once you know your ecosystem, you can start building stronger relationships using the 3 P's: Purpose Alignment, Partnership Approach, and Persistent Engagement.

P1 Purpose Alignment is about finding the overlap between what your community cares about and what your business values. You don't have to care about everything, but you do need to care about something that matters to the people around you.

Maybe your community is focused on environmental issues, education, health, or economic development. The key is to find authentic connections, not just jump on whatever trend is popular.

I know a bakery that started donating day-old bread to a local food bank. It solved their waste problem, supported families in need, and connected them with a whole network of community volunteers who became loyal customers. 

And there’s a small restaurant in my neighborhood that offers "pay-it-forward" meals - customers can buy an extra meal for someone in need. It started as a way to help during tough economic times, but it's become part of their identity. The restaurant has built incredible loyalty through this simple program.

That's purpose alignment.

Ok. P2 Partnership Approach.  Not Charity. This is about looking for mutually beneficial relationships instead of writing checks or donating leftover products.

A local school partnership might include an internship program that gives you a workforce pipeline while giving students real experience. Supplier collaboration could mean joint sustainability initiatives that reduce costs for everyone. Cross-promotion with complementary businesses - like a coffee shop and a bookstore sharing customer lists or hosting joint events.

The best community relationships feel like partnerships where everyone wins.
And lastly P3 Persistent Engagement means showing up consistently, not just when you need something. This is where a lot of businesses get it wrong. They only engage with the community when they're launching a new product or dealing with a crisis.

Instead, attend community events regularly. Join local business groups. Be a resource - share your expertise, offer your meeting space for community groups, mentor other business owners. When you're genuinely present in your community, people notice.

[Layer 3: Customer Community Building]

Now let's talk about building your customer community, because this is where community engagement directly drives business results.

Think beyond transactions. Create experiences that bring customers together. Share customer stories and successes. Build platforms for customer connection - maybe that's a social media group, maybe it's monthly events, maybe it's featuring customers in your newsletter.

I met a small manufacturer that hosts quarterly "behind the scenes" tours for customers. People love seeing how their products are made, they bring friends, and those tours consistently generate new customers and strengthen relationships with existing ones.

Values-based marketing means communicating your community involvement authentically and letting customers participate in your community efforts. That restaurant I mentioned with the "pay-it-forward" meals? Customers love being part of something bigger than just buying dinner.

Create feedback loops with your community. Have regular check-ins about community priorities. Maybe form an informal customer advisory group. Use community input to guide business decisions. When people feel heard, they become invested in your success.

[What to Watch Out For]

Now, if you are doing something and it’s not working, or you want to make sure you avoid common pitfalls, pay attention. I'm talking about this next.

Warning signs or reasons why your community engagement isn't working: 

● it feels forced or un-authentic, 
● you're only reaching out when you need something, 
● you're promising more than you can deliver, 
● you're ignoring community feedback and concerns.

Here are the big 4 pitfalls to avoid:
1. Performative engagement - posting about community involvement on social media without real commitment. People can smell fake from a mile away.
2. Over-commitment - saying yes to everything and delivering on nothing. It's better to do one thing really well than five things poorly.
3. One-size-fits-all approach - what works in one community might not work in another. You have to understand your specific community's values and needs.
4. Neglecting existing relationships - chasing new connections while ignoring the community partners you already have.

Remember, authenticity beats perfection every time. People would rather see you genuinely try and occasionally stumble than perfectly execute something that feels calculated.

[Your 30-60-90 Day Plan]

OK, we got to the 30-60-90 day plan section. Let me give you a practical timeline for getting started, because I know you need actionable steps, not just concepts.

In the next 30 days: Complete that community ecosystem mapping I mentioned, as in depth as you can. Have three real conversations with community leaders or long-term customers - ask them what they're working on, what challenges they're facing, what they're excited about. Attend one local business or community event, even if it feels uncomfortable. And identify one community need that aligns with your business capabilities.

In the next 60 days: Start one small community partnership or initiative. Maybe it's sponsoring a local sports team or hosting a networking breakfast for other business owners. Join one local business organization or community group. Create one customer community touchpoint - it can be featuring a customer story in your newsletter, starting a social media group, or hosting a small customer appreciation event. And document what's working and what isn't.

And in the next 90 days: Assess the impact of your community efforts, both business benefits and community benefits. Gather feedback from customers and community partners - what do they value? What could be improved? Plan longer-term community initiatives based on what you've learned. And most importantly, integrate community engagement into your regular business planning process.

[This Week's Action Items]

Here are five specific things you can do this week:

1. Map your community - list 10 current community connections across those three categories we talked about (immediate community, larger community and extended network).

2. Reach out - contact one community organization to learn about their current needs. Not to pitch anything, just to listen and understand.

3. Listen - ask three regular customers what community issues they care about. This can be as simple as a casual conversation or adding a question to your next customer interaction.

4. Show up - attend one local event or meeting this week. Chamber of Commerce, city council meeting, community festival, local business networking event.

5. Give first - offer help, expertise, or resources to one community organization with no strings attached. A few ideas: sharing their event on social media, offering your meeting space, or providing your professional expertise to help them solve a problem.

The key is to start with giving, not getting.

[Recap and Your Challenge]

Let me recap what we covered today, because this was a lot of information.
Community relationships are business resilience tools, not just nice-to-have activities. They provide risk mitigation, customer loyalty, talent pipelines, supplier relationships, and reputation protection.

The 3 P's framework helps you build authentic community connections: Purpose alignment, Partnership approach, and Persistent engagement.

Small businesses have unique advantages in community building because you can be agile, personal, and authentic in ways that big corporations can't match.

Start small, be consistent, and focus on mutual benefit rather than just what you can get from the relationship.

Here's my challenge for you: Pick ONE community connection to strengthen this week. Make it personal, make it genuine, and focus on how you can help them first.

And because I know mapping your community connections and planning engagement can feel overwhelming, I've put together a free Community Connection Toolkit that includes everything we talked about today. You'll get the ecosystem mapping template, the 3 P's assessment checklist, ready-to-use engagement ideas organized by time commitment, and a simple impact tracker to measure your results. I'll put the link in the show notes, but if I don't get to do it by the time you need it, reach out to me directly. I have my email address in the show notes.

[Next Episode Preview and Closing]

One thing I love about community building is how it creates unexpected benefits. When David started collaborating with those Brooklyn businesses, he wasn't thinking about environmental impact - he was just trying to survive. But those neighborhood deliveries cut his shipping costs dramatically, and sharing resources with other businesses reduced waste across the board. Which brings us perfectly to our next episode.

Episode 9 is "Money Down the Drain - How Resource Waste is Killing Your Profits" We're going to explore how reducing waste and improving resource efficiency cuts costs while helping the environment. I'll show you simple changes that deliver immediate business benefits and how to build climate resilience into your operations without breaking the budget.

Building a resilient business isn't just about what happens inside your four walls. It's about creating a web of relationships and support that helps everyone succeed together. When you serve your community well, your community serves you back.

Thanks for listening today. I can't wait to hear about the community connections you build. Until next time, remember - small steps lead to big impact, and resilience isn't just about surviving, it's about thriving.

See you next time!

[Outro]