This article is sponsored by Anderson Insurance Agency.
As a leader in the community, a partner of local small businesses, and the owner of a small business herself, Ann Anderson of Anderson Insurance Agency has a passion for entrepreneurs and their role in the community’s business landscape.
When I sat down with Anderson to discuss the role and future of entrepreneurship and small business ownership in the face of tumultuous times, she didn’t hesitate to dive into her personal journey to business ownership.
Anderson’s journey to entrepreneurship didn’t sizzle with the Silicon Valley glow of edgy glamour.
“I was a great employee,” Anderson said. “I was a really committed employee. I worked hard; I went above and beyond to do my absolute best. And you know what? My unemployment letter looked like everyone else’s.”
“It was a huge wakeup call,” Anderson admits. “In that moment, when I was let go after years of dedication, I realized I had two choices. I thought, ‘Ann, you’re going to brush that resume off and go to look for another job – another place where you will pour your heart into something and still be dispensable…or you’re finally going to start this.’”
Anderson took the dive into entrepreneurship and hasn’t looked back. Now, of course, in addition to being the owner of a small business in Frisco, she’s a passionate advocate of other entrepreneurs and, especially, these six ways that entrepreneurs are contributing to our community.
Entrepreneurs are leaders in their communities.
Anderson leads by example in this area as an active member of the Frisco Chamber of Commerce, a passionate advocate for the needs of local small businesses, and a guardian of local small business owners’ needs through her insurance agency. Entrepreneurs might act as mentors in their community or as advocates for important causes such as zoning changes or tax code alterations.
Entrepreneurs add to their community’s economies.
By hiring locally and paying local rent and taxes, entrepreneurs add revenue streams to their communities. These revenue streams strengthen local economies and have a positive cyclical effect by creating a resilient local economy that then emboldens other budding entrepreneurs.
Entrepreneurs give back with heart.
Entrepreneurs give back to their communities in a personal and tangible way that only members of the community can do. By organizing fundraisers for local needs, donating to local causes, and banding together with other small local businesses to solve local crises, entrepreneurs see and respond to local needs with their hearts, heads, and hands.
Entrepreneurs creatively use mutually beneficial partnerships to solve local needs.
Local businesses are best suited to address community needs in ways that benefit everyone, without creating a chronic or unfair burden on any particular group. For instance, a local business might organize a fundraiser where new companies can gain exposure and new relationships for their efforts.
Entrepreneurs create local job growth even in difficult times.
Small businesses on Main Street are continually planted, even in economically turbulent times. These small businesses become lifelines for their communities as places of employment sheltered from larger trends and downturns. Armed with innovative spirits and the ability to quickly pivot, entrepreneurial endeavors are better equipped to handle changes in the economy and more invested in protecting all of their employees.
Entrepreneurs are more efficient for communities economically.
Small businesses on Main Street produce a substantial portion of the tax base for a community, although their environmental demand on an area as well as their need for support from city planners is substantially less than large corporations. They give back proportionately far more to a community than a much larger business.
For these, and other reasons, Anderson truly believes that “Entrepreneurs will Save the World,” to use the language of Michael Hyatt’s new release about which she raves. And while the entrepreneurs of the community are doing that, Anderson Insurance Agency will be doing its job, protecting those entrepreneurs from the unknown.
