A business needs chain of relationships for day to day execution of tasks that lead to the attainment of set goals and objectives. Study successful entrepreneurs and you’ll find out that they are very good at building and establishing positive business relationships with different stakeholders that contribute directly or indirectly to the continued survival of their business.

Business survival is not only dependent on creativity, innovative products, good advertising strategies and competitive pricing; you also need effective communication, top-torch team and loyal and trusted customers. These can’t be achieved without fostering a myriad of healthy relationships. Here are 5 vital business relationships your business needs to build and nurture for survival;

• Employees

Some organizations are still adopting the classical management style (seeing workers as mere instruments that can be used and dumped) in relating with their employees. This is not good and the end results are usually disastrous. If the classical management theories were excellent, there wouldn’t have been attempts to adopt human relations approach to dealing with employees.

Employees are like ambassadors; if you treat them well and give them the necessary tools and freedom in workplace, they can surpass your imagination. These days, every organization is looking for employees with creative imagination and the mental and physical strength to go the extra miles and achieve stated goals. When you don’t adequately cater and motivate them, be rest assured that they may constitute a cog in the wheels of your business success. Read more about employee engagement.

• Suppliers and Vendors

Depending on the type of business you run, suppliers and vendors are critical stakeholders you don’t want to mess with. Your vendors and suppliers have priorities and deals with their clients according to the level of relationships

You need to engage them to be willing to go the extra miles to satisfy your business needs. This can be inform of effective communication, calling them to tell them how effective they are and sometimes giving them branded gifts to show appreciation for job well done.

You need great prices and supplies from them to help your business

• Customers

Customers are the end users of what our businesses deal with. In fact, they are why we are in business. Hence much attention should be focus on how to adequately engage them from passive to loyal customers.

According to Nathan Yeung, Digital Strategist at Find Your Audience, “Since we live in a customer-centric era, e-commerce business has to do their best to discover the trends in customers’ expectations, if they want to succeed in this oversaturated and volatile market. Building a detailed buyer and negative personas for your business is simply not enough. You have to engage in conversation with your customers and prospects, use the latest web technologies, like advanced live chat software and analytics, to identify trends and to custom tailor the experience for each shopper individually”.

Customers shouldn’t be forgotten after the have patronized your business, you should make effort to reach out to them and asked them to share their experiences on areas they may want your organization to improve on. Remember, customers are great marketers, treat them nicely and the whole world we hear about you and vice versa. Read more about customer relations management.

• Peers and Competitors

The people you hang out with can be one of your greatest referrals. The truth is your peers already know what you do and one day, their organizations may require your service. Guess what? You could be the first person that comes to their mind. This will be possible if you keep a positive relationship with them.

With regards to business competition, some entrepreneurs get it wrong when the see every competitor as their enemies. If you’re in this category, your mind becomes conditioned on how to outsmart them (though not a bad move) instead of seeing a positive way to relate with them and make the best deals from such collaboration.

Although not every competitor is qualified to be a collaborator, but you need to identify the good ones, collaborate with them and achieve unimaginable goals together.

• Mentors

Do not overlook the need to get in touch with people who are more successful than you and who can provide guidance and direction to help you in your business. Mentors have the ability to capacitate, announce and introduce you to other people. Getting these benefits necessitate that you position yourself and engage them in a way that they can empower your business for great exploits.

The way we treat people goes a long way to determine how the engage our businesses.