HOW TO OPEN A BUSINESSES THAT HELPS THE COMMUNITY

Looking for business ideas for your local community? Here’s why opening a business that helps people is essential for your town and your success as a business owner.

FINDING PURPOSE IN DOING GOOD

There’s a difference in the types of businesses that help the community as their main endeavor and others that give back through charitable endeavors, outreach service, and other forms of engagement, and each brings its own reciprocal value to the community. Depending on the size and needs of any given community, a business’ ability to help may manifest in different ways.

Businesses within the home services industry work to improve the safety and functionality of people’s homes, thereby positively impacting the lives of individuals within their communities. Restaurants and other service industry businesses create jobs and stimulate the local economy, while larger corporations may partner with nonprofit organizations to boost opportunities and quality of life within the communities they serve.

In an increasingly socially and environmentally conscious world, nearly every type of business can find a way to contribute to their community in a positive and meaningful way. The question for business owners is how intrinsic helping the community is to your mission and services.

ADDRESSING YOUR COMMUNITY’S NEEDS

Before deciding on a business that helps the community, it’s important to understand the different types of needs you might be facing. Beyond the universal needs of food, clean water, and safety, your business may be able to provide — or at least support — access to resources that address other essential needs, such as education and healthcare. When you assess the needs of your community, you stand better equipped to focus your business toward addressing those needs and becoming an essential provider for those you serve.

HEALTHCARE: MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER

Community needs vary due to a range of fixed elements, including size, location, and demographics, but they can also change as the result of natural disasters, economic crises, or global pandemics.

Across almost every industry, many businesses were forced to close amidst the COVID-19 crisis due to capacity limitations, worker shortages, financial issues, and other factors. This created a simultaneous dearth of services and increase in the need for those services. At the same time, the void begged the emergence (or resurgence) of businesses that were ready and able to provide for their communities.

As our country and the world continue to address the challenges that the COVID-19 pandemic has meant for us all, the need for affordable, accessible, high-quality healthcare has become more important than ever. And within our global “neighborhood,” different types of communities face different hurdles in dealing with not only the pandemic, but other ongoing and emergent health issues.

Multiple types of healthcare facilities were forced to close within the first year of COVID-19, including nursing homes, hospitals, and other types of care centers. This left a scarcity of resources in some of the most underserved communities around the country, particularly rural areas.

URGENT CARE FOR URGENT NEEDS

That’s where urgent care centers have been able to step in. American Family Care has been serving the healthcare needs of a broad spectrum of communities since being founded in 1982, focused on providing top-notch health services for anyone who may need it, particularly in areas that are lacking affordable or convenient access to hospitals or specialty care. Since it began franchising in 2008, AFC has been regarded as a leading name in the U.S., thanks to its innovation, accessibility, attention to community needs, and opportunities for business owners seeking to do good.