Community Builders Speak Series: A Strong Community Contributes to the Sustainability and Survivability of our Businesses

This Community Builders Speak Series was inspired by the first article I wrote a couple of weeks back on The What, Why and How of Community Building. I have had the privilege to meet amazing people in the fitness and wellness space in the last two years and I wanted to highlight what these self-employed individuals understood as Community Building and how they were building Community in their respective businesses.

I am hoping that by speaking to these entrepreneurs/business owners and sharing their story, it can bring greater relevance to others, and will inspire and motivate others to understand the true meaning of Community Building, from a non-social services and non-sales angled approach.

Many are already building Community with their client and follower base, but they do not even know it! This series is for you to learn from different individuals in different practices, and apply it to our own situations, and hopefully reap the benefits from it.

Jaden Lim – Physiotherapist and Business Owner

Today I speak to Jaden Lim who is a Physiotherapist and the Founder of Rehab & Beyond Physiotherapy Services.

So here it is below… our conversation with some edits has been transcribed for you. 

Tell me more about yourself

I am a Physiotherapist by training, and I am also the Founder of Rehab & Beyond Pte Ltd.

I specialize in sports injuries, as well as back and neck pain. I am also a pioneer in the area of cancer rehab where I am not just a therapist but also an educator to junior therapists and other therapists who might not have been exposed to cancer rehab patients before. My role is to empower other physios to be more confident in handling such cases.

I spent around ten years in public and private hospitals before leaving and starting my own company. I help patients safely and progressively increase their intensity and frequency of exercise to that they will be able to function back to their pre-injury status, and in some cases, to be even better than pre-injury status. By working closely with other experts like dieticians, nutritionists, exercise physiologists, psychotherapists and others, I am able to provide the best rehabilitation plan for my patients.

Why did you decide to brand yourself as Rehab & Beyond, and not Jaden Lim?

I still ask myself that question sometimes as well! Having been practicing for more than a decade, my personal branding is certainly stronger than the company’s branding. While the business owner’s personal values may be transferred onto the company, the company and its employees need to grow its own brand identity.

Rehab & Beyond exists to be an extension of traditional rehab after patients are discharged or self-discharged. The concept of completing your rehab is important and we aim to offer a little more to help our patients achieve superior health status or physical performance. This requires a full suite of services that complement our physiotherapy services. We are able to not just provide physical therapy but everything that is involved in the rehab process by referring patients to relevant professionals. This is the reason why our tagline is “Go Beyond Rehab”.

I made the decision to go with Rehab & Beyond to project/reflect the company’s philosophy, values, and mission. Whether in social media, interviews or conferences, the communication must be well executed. This will inadvertently help to attract like-minded medical or allied healthcare professionals who share the same values. These professionals will therefore be helping Rehab & Beyond as associates to add more value to my patients.

Do you see yourself as a Community Builder?

The goal of the business has always been to build a robust and comprehensive team all under one roof. But financially it was not possible to have everyone under the company’s payroll. In the early months of my company set-up, I managed to connect with several like-minded professionals to develop our expertise under the same umbrella. This meant that we were referring patients accordingly based on the needs and care requirement of patients that came through our hands.

This created a win-win-win situation for the other professional, the patient, and of course myself. It was providing credible referrals to experts in their respective fields. These professionals who provided quality service included psychotherapists, dieticians, nutritionists, exercise physiologists, fitness instructors and others.

So yes… I am a Community Builder with professionals who will not just be adding value to my business, but more importantly, adding value to my patients’ wellbeing and needs. My Community of wellness and fitness professionals serves our patients to return them to optimal health and enjoy their pre-injury lifestyle again.

Who is your Community?

I stumbled upon the concept of Core Collective, which is a fitness and wellness cosharing facility. I am also currently operating my business out this facility. My Community is a collection of different professionals and experts in their own field, residing under one roof, helping each other as and when needed.

I also had the opportunity to be introduced to Business Network International (BNI) and I felt this was an extension of what Core Collective was able to provide for my business. As a physiotherapist and first-time business owner, I am not a natural “business person”, so BNI allowed for me to be provided quality referrals not just from healthcare practitioners, but also allowed me to expand my network and gain access to other business support functions that were critical for my business growth. This included corporate secretariat services, legal counsel, accounting, marketing, design services and many more.

My Community is my BNI network. I have progressed from being a greenhorn to a key contributor in my chapter. My chapter (BNI Affinity) even has a health and wellness focus group! My BNI Community helps to propagate the Rehab & Beyond brand. It is also another reliable source of referral. Therapy services are very personalized. The word-of-mouth referral has proven to be the most effective mode of client conversion.

Regular meetings with my BNI Community has allowed for all within the Community to get to know each other better, and what each member’s business is, his ideal customer, understand his Unique Selling Proposition and how he typically handles the customer. It takes weeks and months to understand the member in the Community and our regular meet-ups help facilitate this. In doing so, we are able to provide the right referrals whenever the need calls for it.

I know that the Community is here for me for the long term, and it definitely contributes to the strength of business relationships.

The over-aching principle of BNI is not to expect financial gain, but to refer and not to expect anything in return. With everyone having the “Giver’s gain” mindset, we believe that eventually what goes around comes around. It is a win-win situation for all in the Community of professionals. We are able to receive continuous support from our Community. Building relationships with fellow business owners is ingrained into the BNI Community and we are all accountable to one another.

How do you measure Community?

As the saying goes “Whatever gets measured gets done!”.

We give due recognition to what the member in the Community has done for another and their business. The BNI platform allows us to input these details for the generating of statistics. Giving testimonials is also something that is part and parcel of what the Community does, and this includes a description or narrative of how another member of the Community has made a difference to me and my business.

We also measure the number of sessions we as members have met and track conversion of qualified referrals received. Statistics and history show that the more meetings there are between members, the more revenue is generated.

How do you engage your Community?

We have regular meet-ups as a chapter and Community leaders/facilitators make this possible. There are also smaller cells within the chapter that meet more regularly outside of these structured sessions. At the moment, all meet-ups are done online to maintain safe distancing.

How do you decide what is the right BNI chapter to join? 

The chapter I am a part of now has a very strong health and wellness contact sphere alongside a team of business support professionals. This is how I decided would be best for my business growth and relevance.

Finding the chemistry that fits you and your business is important so make sure you are comfortable with the chapter before you join. The BNI platforms and processes have already been put in place so that will be similar regardless of which chapter you decide to join.

Do you have any Community success stories to share?

Even before the circuit breaker started in Singapore, my BNI Community was already meeting outside of the regular meet-ups. We had a focused group session every Friday and one of the discussions was on how to bring our respective businesses online. We talked about the sort of support we each needed, brainstormed for ideas and shared relevant experiences in overcoming similar challenges. It was indeed the kind of peer support much needed during the circuit breaker to keep members going.

Many of those who joined our weekly Community focused group sessions were not a part of the BNI Community, but we had 90% of them join as new members after the circuit breaker and they have continued to contribute.

The strain of uncertainty that came with Covid-19 was better withstood because by sticking together and strengthening the Community, it contributes to the sustainability and survivability of our businesses.

What would you recommend for a self-starter? Where should they start with Community Building? 

It is important to identify what the key elements of the Community are. What sets it apart from another Community. And why will people want to join you?

Identify your niche or maybe you want it to be a generic/open Community but is bonded by a strong set of values.

Identify your Community values, because that translates into a strong culture for Community that others will be able to relate to and want to join you for.

As a business owner, I have identified that my Community is my professional network. I know that I have to build relationships and build trust with my Community because it is only when someone knows you and “likes” you, that he/she will be comfortable to refer a customer to you.

As a business owner and upholder of your own brand, you will need to watch your online and offline conduct. The content you roll out online will have to be consistent with your professional values. This is to ensure that those you work with can identify with your values. You will also need to follow up regularly to maintain credibility.

Parting Words for the Solopreneur and Self-Starter

Being an entrepreneur can be lonely. Sometimes the struggles you face might not be understood by your spouse or partner. So it will be good to find a Community of like-minded business owners who are also in the same stage of business trajectory as you are. This peer support will allow room to talk about relevant challenges and issues faced along the way. 

Also, if you have the resources, it will be useful to have a mentor to guide you in this journey.

About Alex Loh

I am a business and life coach, business owner, loving husband and doting father.

My compass is guided by the desire to help people. I coach individuals and business owners to find purpose. Together we unlock fruitful solutions, experience growth and achieve targeted success. Having successfully built and maintained communities over the years, my focus is to help businesses and organisations harness community as the vehicle to connect, and build credibility, trust and authentic relationships.

Come speak to me about Finding Purpose, Building Communities and/or in Optimising your Life!

Photos from www.unsplash.com.

Find out more about Jaden at https://gobeyondrehab.sg/.