Ep 40. Your Voice at the Table — Why Lobbying Isn't Just for Big Corporates

And now the better SMB.

So industry associations, they're out there and they represent SME interests in Wellington.

You kind of touched on this a little bit before around, well, your views may not be mirrored by the groupthink of the industry association.

Map out a little bit of what a business owner could do for themselves from going, ah, crap, the whatever industry that I'm part of is doing this and I want it this way.

So I will always advocate for businesses that stand by their work and want to be good, great or exemplary to be part of an industry organisation or an association because they tend to attract people who don't just do the bare minimum.

They are striving for being better and being the best.

It is a good low cost way of getting information to understand what may be coming down the pipeline.

Because remember, it's a reciprocal relationship for many of these associations and organizations is that they will get an inside run on policy that's coming down the line as well so that then they can disseminate it amongst people.

Do that as well as then using the foundations of their advocacy efforts to inform yours.

There is nothing wrong with that.

Many of these organisations will publicly publish what they're submitting on, how they've submitted, where their arguments have landed, because that's a part of advocacy, is sharing publicly what your view is.

It creates a chain of understanding about how issues have developed and then at what point in time an organization or association has said what.

But use that resource to then allow yourself to have your own organization or business submission.

Because there will be things that you will fundamentally agree with, and there's nothing wrong with using that to inform how you may present it from your business lens.

That is, you could have an issue and then share 90% of the views and say, we stand by our association's view on this, this, this, and this.

Where we diverge, however, is on this point.

And it's important to share that because of this reason.

That's a completely legitimate way to share a view that supports the majority in one way, but also signals what you're experiencing in another way.

And those things can sit alongside.

And that is how you balance that stuff because it can't be done the other way.

An association can never be held to have every single view on the record, every single organizations under their purview, their view on the record, because they'd never get anything done.

They have to make calls and they have to advocate for positions.