Ever heard of Black Wall Street? An idea conceived out of a need for ownership and self-determination by Ottawa W. Gurley and John the Baptist Stratford later on led to the creation of one of the most successful communities of its time. The reason for its success was none other than group economics.

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Group economics can be defined as a system made up of a group of people who share similar economic interests and work together to see them come to fruition. To paint a picture, imagine your uncles and aunties owning and servicing all the plumbing in your town, your neighbours owning the butchers that supply meat to the surrounding neighbourhoods, and yourself as the local DJ to all the parties. Eventually word of your good works would get around and before you know it your community will be doing business with local and foreign faces too.

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The basic principles are to service as many of the communities’ people within the community, whilst spreading word beyond the communal borders in order to attract more external money, traffic and resources from surrounding areas. The money stays within, and with more of it coming in from surrounding areas, its value grows with each incoming dollar.

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The concept works no matter how big or industrious you envision the community to be. Take your group of friends for example. Each of you within your own unique skill. One a graphic designer, another a marketer, and another an accountant. Each of your brands needs some help from the other, and with the right contract in place and an appropriate amount of synergy, each of your brands can grow to service not just each other, but pull in money from external clients as well. Eventually you will be able to afford an office for three, and possibly launch a business together that will bring in more income and so on, whilst limiting the amount of money that leaves your collective pockets.

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Even just writing about it gives me goosebumps. It could all be so simple, however it requires an earnest, real appreciation and dedication for the collective. It requires sacrificing some of your personal goals for the betterment of the group. It means putting less energy into starting your own practice and focusing more on the family businesses. Sacrificing individual gain and fame for communal prosperity and longevity.

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You see the companies that sell you luxury clothing and jewelry? Those banks, tv networks, tech companies you regularly apply for jobs at. Majority of them are owned by families and close-knit friendship groups that are more inclined to put their own people's needs ahead of yours. Their kin, nieces and nephews, god-children and even neighbors are likely to get put ahead of you, often even if you are more qualified. Is it unfair? Maybe, but that’s just how group economics works. Feeding ourselves first, and occasionally letting others in to grab a slice of our pie.

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These are just a few of the many reasons you should hang back and make it work for you and yours. The work benefits may not measure up to what the more wealthy communities have to offer, hell, the work itself might not be as good, but at least it will be for and with people who actually have your best interests at heart. People who can relate and connect with you on a cultural level. People who understand why all your lunchboxes in the staff kitchen have bright yellow stains in them, and are not threatened by the loud tone of your voice every time you get into a heated debate over something neither of you will remember or care about it in a couple of days.

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Group economics could do us all so much good. The world is getting harder to navigate by the day, there’s barely a handful of reasons to go at it alone. Nations and empires before our time thrived for decades, even centuries, all because the people within them knew the value of combined effort. When the individual regards the whole as more important than the parts that make it, he/she has the opportunity to be a part of something great.

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