In the last few months, I’ve been reflecting on how grateful I should always be for the opportunity to have my own business and this has made me realise a few things.
In an area that you’ve chosen to study, people have often helped you when you’re coming up in your role and starting out.
Giving back in business shouldn’t always be about PR.
I feel like in some businesses, there is an exhausting culture on constantly driving sales and desperately scooping up every possible lead like a fish out of water.
A few reflections from my career when I was starting out.
My first internship helped me by:
- Paying for some driving lessons to help me have less of a commute to work
- Giving me relevant training for my role, as well as for my personal development within my career
Involving me in ventures outside the company.
Because of that, I worked there for 5 years, enjoyed working there and worked hard for the company in return.
A few things that I’m doing at the moment or in the future to give back
- I’ve been involved with The University of Nottingham in giving a student a chance to work with
me on some paid social media consultancy work. This will hopefully lead to some good work
experience for them, and future work opportunities - Gave another designer that isn’t truly happy with the work in their role some paid design work.
Why is giving back as a business important?
“We don’t have time, and are too busy with our business to organise things like this.”
Perhaps you are, but these opportunities provide a lot of insight and help you to step back a bit. You might even realise a few things about your business that you didn’t realise before. And if nothing else you will get some help in one way or another and help someone else.
So to sum up:
- Giving back shouldn’t be for just PR
- Giving back a bit too someone that’s just starting out will go a long way
- Giving back will provide some insight into your own business.