It’s been interesting to see how the economy of the past two years has caused paradigm shifts in the way business is working.

Even two years ago, companies seemed focused on merely surviving in the sandbox, full of staunch competitors.  Entrepreneurs, account folks and business developers were forced to wear smiles, sign NDAs and keep secrets from one another, all the while planning how they would capitalize on the first failure of their sandbox playmates.  Some of us called these business folks “opportunists.” Others called them “back-stabbers.”

Enter the idea of the Happy Sandbox.

Driven by limited client budgets, fallen shingles and the pressures of a race-paced, complex, adaptive business environment, learning how to play nicely together in the Happy Sandbox has become a crucial element of business survival.  Simply put, the Happy Sandbox is synergy defined: a group of entrepreneurs all realizing that the sum of the whole will always be greater than the value of each individual part.

Synergistic and friendly relationships that produce real mutual benefit is what I believe to be one of the core foundations in this whole Human Business movement.

I like it this way.  Are you with me?

A Happy Sandbox Example to Watch

If you’ve read this blog for a while, you probably know I’m into SaaS tools.  As an independent consultant, I have to be.  Without good-working and cheap tools, my overhead goes up and available time goes down.  Both ends of that equation lead directly to my bottom line.  It’s a mission-critical situation.

Now, thinking about that, take a look at this:

What you see is a screenshot from inside my BatchBook SCRM account.  I’ve written about some of these tools before, but what’s most impressive to me is how well each SaaS company plays together with each other in the partners in same Sandbox.  Playing nice equals a Happy Sandbox.

From the customer end, open API’s allow me select the services I need, click a few times and enter a few passwords.  The Happy Sandbox destroys any information silos that limit my productivity.  And guess what?  Each individual SaaS makes their fair cut, with my monthly cost staying relatively low.

Advantages of Playing in a Happy Sandbox

The advantages of playing nice in the Happy Sandbox are so simple that the explanation only requires a couple brief bullet points:

• Increased lead generation opportunities through complimentary partnerships
• Each business stays focused on their core niche
• Each business becomes more valuable in terms of offering
• Very happy customers stay on board and tell their friends
• Strategically-combined marketing platforms generate greater audience and community reach

Neal Roberts can see this type of application in co-working spaces.  I agree with him.  What complimentary services could inhabit a co-working space, play nice and offer compliments to the members?

Some of my clients and a few other folks in Columbus can see how the Happy Sandbox might apply to our work.  It’s worth looking into a bit deeper.

What about your business?  Who could play in your Happy Sandbox?

nateriggs

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