Find your community: the importance of community for early-stage startups
The life of an entrepreneur can be challenging, especially when starting out with your first venture. It’s a steep learning curve with questions and hurdles at every turn along the way - and that can be overwhelming at times. But if there’s one piece of advice we can give you, it’s to surround yourself with like-minded people setting up businesses in the same sector.
With over a decade of building climate tech startups, we’ve learned that community changes everything. We set up our first coworking space back in 2015 with the goal of bringing together like-minded entrepreneurs in the sustainability space. Surrounding ourselves with other purpose-driven founders meant sharing knowledge, experiences and contacts, as well as our goals and aspirations for the future of sustainability. Since then, we’ve developed four consecutive coworking spaces across London, culminating in our County Hall HQ which now houses Europe’s largest cluster of climate tech businesses.
The benefits of being co-located with other sustainable businesses go far beyond just sharing office space. For founders, and their teams, there are huge benefits to sharing a space with those working on similar climate challenges and dedicating their time to building solutions. As well as networking and collaboration opportunities, these businesses are also part of our wider ecosystem of over 500 climate-focused organisations. If you’re still undecided about whether a community is the right place for you and your startup, we’ve pulled together a few considerations, along with some real-life examples from our ecosystem here in London.
An entrepreneurial support network - Startup communities are spaces to share knowledge, advice and support one another. Particularly in the early days, you might not have an office, be working odd hours and working on things alone or with a co-founder or two. By joining a community, your support network is suddenly amplified, with people that are working on similar problems and facing similar challenges.
The startups in our community share advice on anything from how to prevent burnout to the sustainable accountants or pension schemes that they’ve used. Some startups share lab facilities and everyone is always up for a catch up over coffee.
Top tip: select a community that reflects your mission and your work. Whether you go for a sector specific workspace or an online group, surrounding yourself with people that understand your work will benefit you most.“Working amongst like-minded sustainable businesses really fosters a sense of community, as we know that despite running different companies, we're all pushing in the same direction.”
Celia, Co-founder at DAMECollaboration opportunities are everywhere - communities breed collaboration, particularly in the world of sustainability where everyone is working towards a common goal. Actively seek collaboration and you’ll be surprised how often people are willing to pitch in and work on collaborative projects.
We’ve seen organisations collaborate and cross-sell in countless ways; co-creating seasonal drinks, sharing market research and leveraging collective action on campaigns and policy making. Our B2C companies are particularly great for gifting products for fellow members to use in speaking engagements and events - shout out to DAME & Divine Chocolate.
Top tip: the most unexpected collaborations are often the most successful. Just because you work in heating technology and your neighbour works in sustainable packaging solutions, it doesn’t mean you won’t have things in common. Particularly in the climate space, you’ll often find crossover - be it with your investor base or your supply chain. Reach out and connect with as many people in the community as you can and see what sticks!
Knowledge is power - Learn from other people who have been where you are at. You can avoid obstacles that your fellow entrepreneurs have already faced, helping you to grow your business faster with less bumps along the road.
As part of a community, we are able to bring together and share knowledge to enable all of our businesses to scale faster. We’ve seen established organisations amplify early stage teams in the same sector, sharing knowledge on their investor-base and connections within the industry.
Top tip: Get involved in community networking events. This is a great chance to meet people from the community in an informal setting. You’ll be pleasantly surprised by the connections you make and how many people you already know in the space.
“We love the community ethos behind SV and the opportunity to engage with other business who all share the same sustainability objectives, but with a variety of backgrounds and experiences, is really valuable.”
Andrew, Founder & CEO at TripShift
Words by Hannah Robinson
Hannah is the Membership Manager at our County Hall workspace. Prior to joining our team at Sustainable Ventures, Hannah worked in the charity sector, supporting refugees and asylum seekers through community projects and educational programmes.