The keys to collaboration

How to build a stronger entrepreneurial ecosystem

Across New Hampshire, the success of small business owners depends not only on their individual determination but on the strength of the ecosystem that surrounds them.

As the business landscape evolves, the organizations that support entrepreneurs — nonprofits, public agencies, funders, lenders, colleges, chambers and private-sector partners — are being asked to collaborate in deeper and more intentional ways. This moment calls for shared language, aligned purpose and openness to working together differently.

At Collective Agency, we see how business owners benefit when the ecosystem around them feels coordinated instead of piecemeal. Entrepreneurs navigate many systems at once, often juggling financial planning, operations, marketing, staffing and their own well-being. When business support organizations (BSOs) operate in silos or without clarity about how their roles connect, gaps widen and duplication increases. Entrepreneurs end up stitching together support on their own, often with limited time and high emotional strain.

Collaboration is most effective when partners share an understanding of the problem they want to address and who they are addressing it for. Too often, partnerships start with “let’s work together” before confirming they’re speaking the same language. Alignment isn’t about conformity; it means every partner can see where they fit, how their unique expertise contributes, and where others are better positioned to lead.

It’s common for organizations supporting business owners to feel stretched between operational demands and the emotional weight of urgent requests. Staff do their best to respond, but without a system for identifying who is best positioned to take on each need, burnout rises and the entrepreneur’s path becomes confusing. A small amount of coordination internally and across partners can lower that emotional load and make the work feel more manageable for everyone involved.

These cross-sector collaborations acknowledge that the needs of today’s small business owners exceed the capacity of any single institution. A connected ecosystem depends on leveraging each partner’s strengths.

Nonprofits bring trusted relationships and deep community knowledge. Public agencies and funders offer statewide reach and essential resources. For-profit BSOs contribute flexible expertise, technical capacity and the ability to adapt rapidly. Together, these assets create more responsive support for entrepreneurs at every stage.

What makes such partnerships work goes beyond good intentions — it’s clarity. When partners invest time in developing shared language, aligning around shared values and clarifying the problems they aim to solve, collaboration becomes not only possible but generative. At Collective Agency, we support this work through a process we call applied transformation, guiding partners through simple structured alignment processes individually and in groups.

As roles, goals and connection points become clear, the ecosystem grows more coherent and coordinated, resulting in a network that is more navigable for business owners and more sustainable for the organizations that serve them.

As New Hampshire continues strengthening its entrepreneurial ecosystem, we are committed to working alongside partners exploring new forms of collaboration. Organizations interested in aligned partnership can connect with us to learn more about applied transformation and the tools that make collaborative work feel lighter.

By centering alignment and embracing innovative, cross-sector partnerships, we can build an environment where small business owners, and the organizations that support them, can thrive together.

Collective Agency (our-collective.agency), founded by Tricia Santamaria Utley and Chandra Reber, partners with organizations across New Hampshire’s entrepreneurship and economic development landscape to strengthen collaboration. New Hampshire Businesses for Social Responsibility produces “Sustainability Spotlight” monthly for NH Business Review.