If you identify as a Small or Medium Sized Enterprise and value your local community, then you’ve no doubt thought about ways to start giving back in business – so what are your options?

Fundamentally, small businesses have big impacts on their community. People have come to know the products and services on offer and when actioned well, your brand is a respected, valued and prized contributor to your local economy. Small and Medium Sized Enterprises often don’t have the budget for large scale marketing campaigns, so in smaller towns and communities, things like word of mouth and local recommendations are almost invaluable. 

Regardless of your industry, sector, products or services, giving back in business simply benefits everyone involved. If this is something that’s been on your mind for a while now but you aren’t quite sure where or how to start, the good news is that the process is often a lot easier than most initially think. 

A Beginner’s Guide To Giving Back In Business 

While there’s many small to medium businesses that have certainly done it tough over the last few years, there’s no denying that many of us have started shopping locally as a conscious effort to support the members of our community. 

For many brands, your customers also double as local business owners, so it’s never been more important to extend support throughout your network whenever possible. However, many brands stop short of making the effort out of concern that they don’t have the time, resources or cash flow to donate, so how can the average  Small or Medium Sized Enterprise start giving back in business without costing themselves a pretty penny?

• Sponsor a youth sports team
• Donate the use of a delivery vehicle or other resources for a local function
• When relevant, offer your brand’s products or services 
• Get involved in local community events 
• Have coin donation boxes or sell tickets for a charity event at your business locations
• Donate a portion of your sales to a charity on a particular day or designated time frame 
• Use your premises as a free meeting or workspace for local charities or groups 
• Offer employment or training to those from disadvantaged backgrounds 
• Become an advocate for a social cause that hits home for your sector or staff 

Hiking the Kokoda Track in 2016 was a life changing event for Emergency Services Property Advisors founder, Luke Lawlor. Although already armed with over twenty years experience in the real estate industry, getting to know his fellow adventurers while he was completing the track really got the wheels turning, as many of them were in fact emergency service workers themselves.

As such, he founded his business on the back of the emergency services community, as there were no other real estate advisory services operating to cater just for them. With strong ties to the Victorian police force, ambulance service and firefighting sectors, Luke actively ensures that as a business, he contributes both his time and money to ensure that the sector receives the same support that they have provided him with.

“Our business couldn’t survive without the support of the Victorian emergency services community. As such, we regularly and consciously make an effort to fundraise and donate to causes that both our staff and our clients have strong ties to, such as industry charities like the Victoria Police Legacy, the Blue Ribbon Foundation, and Police Veterans Victoria. While our service is free to our clients, we receive a fee from real estate agents. Of this fee, 20% is then donated by the team at ESPA to an industry charity of their client’s choice.”

While Luke and the team at ESPA believe in giving back in business on an everyday basis, there are also major fundraising events that they also facilitate as a means to give these charities the extra boost that they desperately need to keep supporting the emergency services community. So much so that in 2023, Luke is heading back to the Kokoda Trail, with the aim being to raise $96,000 – or $1,000 per kilometre of the mighty track itself. 

Although not every business is in the position to jump on a plane for the cause of their choice, giving back in business is all about starting small, and making a conscious effort to support those who have no doubt done the same for you. After all, what goes around really does come back around, and it’s never too late to quite literally be the change that you want to see in the world. 

Hike The Kokoda Trail With Luke In 2023

The ESPA Kokoda 2023 Charity Trek Challenge will be limited to twenty attendees, designed to deliver an intimate experience to get to know your fellow trekkers, along with the locals. In fact, the porters on the trek are direct descendants of the “Fuzzy Wuzzy” angels that saved many Australian lives during World War II in Papua New Guinea, and have a wealth of knowledge when it comes to the track’s history plus the physical trek itself.

If you are a current or retired emergency services member that has always wanted to tick the Kokoda Track off your bucket list, there’s never been a more perfect opportunity to do so whilst supporting industry charities that give much more than they ever take back.

Emergency Services Property Advisers provide property advisor services to Police, Fire, Ambulance and S.E.S personnel and their families right across Victoria. If you are looking to get more information about the ESPA Kokoda Charity Trek, or even potentially buy or sell property in the near or distant future, please get in touch with Luke today.