Are you interested in volunteering if it would positively impact your business? Yes? OK, then, now is the time to volunteer. We all know it is a great thing. We help our communities and our country, and it benefits us too.
Volunteering means rendering service by choice or free will, either formally or informally, for the benefit of the broader community by an individual, group, or institution without necessarily expecting monetary gain, but with the full knowledge and appreciation of being a volunteer.
Why do people volunteer?
Individuals may volunteer for various reasons, but financial gain is not one of them, though other kinds of non-financial rewards may exist. The majority of individuals volunteer because the benefits outweigh the sacrifices. They feel good about themselves and, most often, learn self-expression, meet new people, make new friends, learn new skills, network, and rub elbows with community leaders they might not otherwise meet.
As an aspiring entrepreneur, you can master the art of entrepreneurship through volunteering, mainly if you are dedicated to giving back, learning, and honing your people as well as professional skills.
What can volunteering teach you about entrepreneurship?
- Focus: You will learn to prepare, influence, and motivate your team.
- Leadership Skills: Through volunteering, you can acquire leadership skills and put key competencies such as collaboration, communication, and self-awareness into practice.
- Professional Skills: Working in challenging environments with diverse groups of people helps build both professional and people skills.
- Innovation: In business, change happens quickly. Volunteering helps you learn how to create new solutions to complex, unfamiliar problems.
- Broaden Your Business Network: You can establish critical connections for future job opportunities, partnerships, clients, contract work, or even friendships.
- Teamwork: You will learn to set the course, motivate people, and deliver value to your clients.
- Brand: It sheds a positive light on your brand.
Are You Ready to Volunteer?
During this pandemic, volunteers are turning to remote volunteer programs like UN Remote Volunteer, Career Village, and other websites like Catchafire and Do-it, making it easy to browse volunteer roles in your locality – handy, right?
A simple Google search for volunteering will also reveal some local sites. Or you could visit the website of the organization you have in mind or connect with members of the organization on social media to seek more information about volunteering with them. Skills-based volunteering overseas is so good for your business that it has even been called “the next entrepreneurs’ training ground” by successful entrepreneurs.
Conclusion
Volunteering culture is not usually encouraged or promoted in Nigeria, likely due to the country’s socio-economic climate. Regardless of where you focus your volunteering efforts, you can use what you learn to work with your employees by honing the critical lessons you gain as a volunteer. And those lessons may take your business to the next level.
