This Friday will be the beginning of the Paris Summer Olympics and we are excited! Living in South Florida, it’s easier to connect with summer sports than winter ones. Personally, I can feel the rushing of water into my nose and the racing of my heart when I see the athletes swim, in a way that I cannot feel or understand when I see athletes sliding down a snowy mountain on skis.
While we wait for the big games to start, we decided to watch a movie called “The Boys in the Boat”, based on the US’s 1936 rowing team. The movie follows the rowing team of the University of Washington and the many struggles they had to make it to the Olympic games in Berlin. Taking place during the Great Depression, the film does a great job at illustrating the economic difficulties these students had and their willingness to work hard.
Because of the financial situation the US was in at the time, the Olympic Committee could not finance the teams going to Berlin. This was a major setback for the UW students, but they immediately began fundraising. There’s a scene in the movie, where the coach for the rival team of University of California writes a check for $300, completing the total $5,000 of the fundraiser.
In our business, we too have lived moments of collaboration with rivals and our competition. As small businesses, one of our characteristics is having limited resources. I mean, we all have a limit in resources, but as small businesses, this is especially felt when BIG orders come in or BIG opportunities are opening up. Without collaboration and the ability to reach out and ask for help from other small businesses, we will lose.
That’s the beautiful part of the scene when the coach of UC helps the UW students make it to the Olympics. Spoiler: they win first place for the US. When we help and ask for help, even from our rivals, everyone wins. Our clients win by getting their needs met, we win the trust of our clients and a good profit, and our competition wins profit and the confidence to ask the same from us in the future.
If you’re a small business owner or are thinking of starting a business, don’t be afraid to help and ask for help from others, you could win first place.