It has been difficult for small business owners to come forward and compete head-to-head with their much larger counterparts. The MPI Independent/Small Business Owners Community (ISBO) was created to provide a supportive space to discuss the challenges of starting, surviving and succeeding in your own business. We help build connections, foster innovation and share best practices for independents, freelancers and entrepreneurs through discussion and education focused on business development. We estimate that close to 3,000 people within the MPI global membership are part of this community.
Our online community activity began two years ago with 50 MPI members identifying themselves either as small business owners or independent planners on the members-only MyMPI online forum. The growth in year one was somewhat slow but as events evolved at the end of December and continuing into 2020, ISBO’s online community began to grow from 50 to well over 300 members. ISBO’s MyMPI Community is the place for independent planners and small business owners to meet, express themselves, discuss issues of importance and lean on each other for support.
MPI Independent/Small Business Owners Community: A Supportive Space
And do we ever need support. The hotels that many of our suppliers have worked in for years have either furloughed or laid off most employees, with the remaining staff struggling to keep the doors of the properties open. The economic effects of COVID-19 will result in some properties never reopening their doors and some employees will not return to their former positions. Air travel is problematic, both from a fear factor on the part of customers and the economic problem of flying empty aircraft. From a health standpoint, venues battle to implement new sanitizing standards, hoping to see their vacancy numbers rise. From a planner perspective, the meetings that began at the beginning of 2020 have progressively been pushed to later in the year and then finally either ended up being produced virtually, postponed until 2021 (at the very earliest) or cancelled. Support services, including event technology, general service contractors, DMCs, et cetera, are in similar economic miseries, with no ray of light to be seen. Surveys on when the industry will rebound are plentiful and all say the same things:
· 2020 business is pretty much gone
· 2021 business may come back but barriers to reopening remain
· Some surveys indicate business will not return to strength until 2024
Yet rays of light are on the horizon, with potential vaccines being ready as early as September but not available for distribution until 2021. Here in the U.S., states that may have moved up the stages of reopening too quickly are now reverting
So how can the ISBO help you? Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the ISBO has provided current information on a variety of topics, particularly those where members need information—the SBA loans, how to work remotely, how to help colleagues who have been laid off, how to hone skills for additional competencies for those seeking new employment and so many other, relevant pieces of information. Step into our community and make use of the collected information, engage in discussions on topics of interest to the community and so much more—just so long as you remember to abide by MPI’s “no self-promotion” rule. Your ISBO Advisory Board wants to hear from you as to how we can continue to provide you with valuable information and hope to soon have some exciting news about things we are working on for your benefit. Stick with us and tell us what you need. That is why we are here.
This article was written on behalf of all members of the ISBO Advisory board, each of whom stands ready to help its members return to prosperity. For more information on our community and the resources MPI offers, click here. If you’re interested in serving on our advisory board, MPI members can apply to serve in September (bookmark this page).
Independent & Small Business Owner Community Sponsor
