In nature, ecosystems are defined as being a physical environment in which organisms interact with each other. In business, the overall concept of the term “ecosystem” is more or less the same as in nature. In business, creating an ecosystem with which employees, partners, and customers alike all interact in a productive fashion can be a form of go-to-community strategy and can be very conducive to the success of a company. An ecosystem in the business sense of the word has many moving parts. There are the investors who, besides the entrepreneurs themselves, will be the first ones to see the vision of the company and help with funding and acquiring resources. There are mentors who will come in and help by sharing their wisdom and experience to make the company and the community in which it exists more efficient and successful. Having strong corporate partners will also be very significant for the synergy within the ecosystem. There will be the need for ecosystem builders and what is referred to as “cheerleaders.” “An ecosystem builder is a champion for others… Whether they’re referred to as cheerleaders or champions, many of the unsung heroes we interviewed believe that singing the praises of others and amplifying the voices of others in the system is central to being an ecosystem builder” (link to source). There will also be ecosystem support organizations, venture capital firms, angel networks and funds, first employees, advisors, and professional service providers. To summarize, a business ecosystem requires a multitude of different people and organizations to be functionally efficient and thriving.
Just like an entrepreneur can be viewed in many different modes, ecosystem building can be very multi-faceted and exhibit different qualities. At the core of community ecosystem building, like community software (link to blog post on community software) is the objective of creating and maintaining healthy and loyal human relationships. This in turn can help any company keep loyal customers and is overall very beneficial for the long-term health and prosperity of the company. Ecosystem building as it relates to go-to-community strategy is not about the physical environment, rather it is about “focusing on building consistent, collaborative human engagement (link to source).
Ecosystem builders are obviously an essential part of ecosystem building, but they are also pioneers of go-to-community strategy (link to post on go-to-community strategy) Ecosystem builders realized early on, when not many in the industry did, that cultivating an ecosystem that their company exists and thrives in is actually a much more conducive way to create loyal customers, a reputable brand, and have a positive impact on the community in which they are in.
A company attempting to cultivate a business ecosystem can be quite challenging, but the rewards are worth the effort. There are some helpful tips that can make building solid community and business ecosystems a lot easier and less intimidating. The first is to start off with a solid leadership base. Community ecosystem builders should be creative and have an entrepreneurial mindset. This is because these types of leaders are always thinking outside of the box and thinking ways to make everyone in their ecosystem’s lives better and more efficient. The next to inspire hope and ingenuity by having an inclusive feel to your ecosystem. This is where community software can play a part to understand trends and tendencies of the members in the ecosystem so that everyone can fully utilize it. Building off this idea of inclusiveness is that relationships should be top-down and vice versa. This means that regardless of economic or social status, all people should feel connected. The last and likely most important tip is to stay patient and consistent. For a business to create a vibrant and efficient ecosystem it takes time.
Although ecosystem building is very rewarding, it does not come without a mountain of challenges. It can often be very hard to understand, manage, and measure. Part of this is due to the fact that there are, relative to the business industry as a whole, quite few models and data to draw on. The platforms and systems that are in place are not equipped to link Twitter followers to Slack channels or Customer Relationship Management channels to email newsletters and other databases.
Even though there are many challenges in this field, there is a lot to be excited about. More and more softwares and systems are being developed to help foster ecosystems and employ go-to-community strategies. One of the leaders in this field is Patrick Woods, CEO of Orbit, whose mission is to help start-up companies create these ecosystems and gather and analyze the data that they need (link to blog post on community software). Woods, a native of Memphis, is doing a great service to the ecosystem building community with his software program. Countless numbers of ecosystems will benefit from the one of a kind programming that Orbit offers.
To summarize, ecosystem building in a community is a go-to-community strategy in business. By building an ecosystem, a company is essentially setting up a loyal customer base through the connectivity that it has fostered. A truly efficient and productive ecosystem is quite difficult and time-consuming to create because of all the moving parts, but there are several ways to make the process less stressful and demanding. Some of these include having entrepreneurs as leaders and connecting members regardless of status. Overall, ecosystem building is more about the process than the end result. Ecosystem building will likely become a large focus for companies in the years to come.
To learn more about community ecosystems and its relation to go-to-community strategy, visit these links:
Importance of ecosystems: https://platformprofessional.substack.com/p/strategic-importance-of-ecosystem?s=r
Social impact strategy: https://blog.submittable.com/social-impact-strategy/
Helpful guides in ecosystem building: https://www.kauffman.org/ecosystem-playbook-draft-3/create/ and https://www.business2community.com/social-business/8-actions-to-creating-a-social-impact-strategy-for-your-business-02308869 and https://higherlogicdownload.s3.amazonaws.com/NMSC/390e0055-2395-4d3b-af60-81b53974430d/UploadedImages/Resource_Center/EE/EE_Community_Guide_f.pdf
Advice and significant quotes from actual ecosystem builders: https://ecosystembuilderhub.com/what-is-an-ecosystem-builder/