Small Business Associations
If your small business is fairly well-established and stabilized, it may be worth your while considering memberships with some small business associations.
There are two viable options: The one is joining a Chamber of Commerce that includes a sub-group for small business owners. The other is joining one of the several small business associations purposely organized with small business owners in mind. This focus makes the latter the preferred option for many small business owners.
Small business associations offer a variety of tangible benefits to their members for a nominal fee:
- Business and personal insurance: Being a member allows you to buy insurance at group rates. This includes health-, business-, life- and car insurance.
- Products and services: You may get special group rates on travel, car rentals, dining and other related services. Products for businesses are sometimes offered at a discounted price.
- Legislative clout:Small business associations often act as lobbying groups to press Congress for legislation that benefit home-based and small businesses. An example is liberalized tax rules for home office write-offs.
- Communications: Membership may entitle you to special rates with some long-distance carriers and cheap online access to the Internet. Newsletters are published, offering regular updates on issues affecting small businesses in general.
The greatest benefits to be derived from small business associations are indirect though. By joining one of these small business associations, you will meet other small business owners with entrepreneurial spirits like yourself. You will gain access to new ideas and different approaches to the challenges the market presents. It is not uncommon for members of small business associations to collaborate in pursuing larger opportunities - those that would have been too much for a single small business to tackle on its own.
So, whilst the direct benefits offered by small business associations make membership worthwhile, it is the indirect benefit of networking that could well turn out to be the most significant of all.