Doing or running a business by oneself can be incomprehensible, as business owners have to worry about many things, such as brand visibility, the evolution of technology, a lack of network, and so on. However, joining business associations is perhaps one of the most effective ways for your business to grow, as it brings together business owners and managers from various industries. Business associations are membership organizations that engage in promoting the business interests of their members along with activities such as lobbying, information gathering, research, and setting standards (inc. n.d.). Moreover, the business associations work in a unionized way, combining their voices under one banner in order for their voice and action to be heard, establish a strong presence, and protect their interests. There are notable business associations in Cambodia, namely the Cambodia Chamber of Commerce, the Cambodia Women Business Federation, Khmer Enterprise, and much more. These business associations are ready to help and prepare entrepreneurs who are ready to start their own business by offering valuable training and information that they need in order to grow.
There are 4 advantages of joining a Business Association:
1. Enhances the visibility of your brand: by joining an association, the business brand name will be promoted among the members of the association and the public in several ways, which makes your brand more visible among others. For example, including your company name in their directories could help increase your brand visibility by allowing your company and customers to connect to find goods and services related to your company.
2. Gaining access to market statistics: Following market trends is important for every business owner in order for them to innovate themselves and keep the company growing. Market information and statistics are very important; however, gaining access to them might be a different ordeal as some information might not be updated, redundant, or concealed due to high competition between businesses, which can affect your time. However, by being a member of a specific association, you might be able to access market statistics that you could not have gathered by yourself because most business associations mostly share their research or useful information with their members. So, with all of this useful information, launching a new product or service would be a walk in the park for every business owner.
3. Faster technology implementation: even though business owners might find it difficult to adopt new technology, business associations are there to help implement the latest technology more efficiently. Some small business organizations invite experts from different fields to help and provide guidance to their members by training them on how technology can change the ways of doing business and ensuring they adopt modern technology quickly, which can enable them to stay on top of technology.
4. Provide networking opportunities: networking is not only for professionals but can also be used in business as well as helping business owners grow their companies. The best way to network with other business owners is by joining associations, as they provide avenues or a place for business owners to meet and share helpful information and ideas. Moreover, you can use this opportunity to receive referrals for services such as marketing, management, etc.
Written by: Yuth Hangsoley
Reference:
Business blogs. (November 3, 2023). 7 key advantages of joining business associations. Retrieved from: https://www.businessblogshub.com/2023/11/7-key-advantages-of-joining-business-associations/
Inc. (n.d.). Business associations. Retrieved from: https://www.inc.com/encyclopedia/business-associations.html
