The Quiet Revolution - how micro businesses are rebuilding community & trust.

I read somewhere recently that we're finally nearing the end of the dopamine revolution, the endless numbing need to scroll, distract & seek perfection in favour of something far more real, authentic & connecting. Yay to that. This topic plays out in so many of my conversations with business & organisation owners & leaders as they try to navigate ways to make that connection and be seen and heard.

In a world of faceless mega corporations, algorithm driven marketing & a declining trust in institutions, we're all craving more connection.

So it's exciting to see that micro businesses, small businesses with 0-9 employees, are leading the way by rebuilding communities, trust & faith in the power of human connection & real conversations.

In my lifetime and as long as most of us can remember, commercial focus has been centred on efficiency and the pursuit of profit over high quality relationships. Nothing wrong with efficiency or profit of course, but the balance has been out for some time - think toxic cultures, burnout, customers reduced to data points & algorithm driven transactions. The fallout has been an ever increasing distrust in what we see, hear and experience in life. Imagine then, a world where we do business in such a way that feels more human, perhaps more localised and certainly values led. Imagine a world where huge scale wasn't always the answer and we took our lead from small business.

Small business, particularly those micro in size, are thriving precisely because of their lack of scale. Every transaction feels personal, achieved through relationship building and trust. Decision making is values driven where a business mantra is about the 'right thing to do' over pressure from stakeholders or shareholders. And of course, this lack of scale provides a responsiveness like no other to the needs and desires of a community of customers and those they serve.

We often talk about the power of spending as a vote for what we really want to see in the world, but let's also think about community as a currency too. Micro businesses are woven into the very fabric of local communities, embedded in such a way to support local supply chains and build real life, 'live' relationships with customers. Micro businesses are becoming hubs of connections for those around them, whether in a local high street or online, which is clearly proving to be a winning formula for success (see Instagram's latest algorithm tweak in response to what their users crave, that's rewarding real, unpolished & less curated content).

Of course there is a clear ripple effect to this relationship, community & trust building activity and that's the emergence of greater resilience in local economies, the return of algorithm free publications & communication tools, and a 'ground up' movement of communities and businesses to make a difference before they make a profit. Only last night, I attended a local community event to celebrate the city of Stoke-on-Trent's Centenary at a launch event of a new city centre mural. An 18 month project that brought together 1000s of people, business owners & local organisations, using local artists, benefactors and champions to realise a new hope and direction for a community that has previously been decimated by global economic rollercoasters. Micro business is at the heart of these kinds of positive ripples and new cultures of trust and confidence.

Perhaps now is the ideal time to notice this quiet revolution on your own doorstep, taking time to pick up on where community, trust, small micro business & local activity is coming together where you are. Perhaps now is a great time to support those small micro businesses who don't have scale to shout about, but have values, integrity & a focus to build authentic connections that last.

Simply Great Britain is helping to transform more lives with micro business through our membership community for micros, Simply Club, & by advocating for Britain that does business better for people, places & planet.