The Golden Rule of Business Ownership
In the past thirty-plus years, as a business owner, I have learned many lessons. There are lessons on marketing, lessons on taxes, lessons on saving for emergencies, lessons on communication, and many others that have enabled me to become a better business owner. However, there is one rule that I learned that has skyrocketed my business to the success that I have recently encountered. Yes, even while the rest of the world is complaining about being in a recession, my business income more than doubled!
The simple implementation of one action on my part has changed not only how I do business, but also how I live my life. That is learning that when you freely give of your time and talents to help others you receive more than you ever give.
When was the last time you helped someone? If you are like most business owners you probably spend more time helping yourself out than you even realize. Our days are consumed with promotion, marketing, family, and making a little money on the side-and usually in that order.
What made the difference for me was when, in 2005, I began developing
and in early 2006 founding the WINning Sisters. This was, for me, a labor of love. With a small group of like-minded business owners commitment, we began taking new business owners by the hand and introducing, helping, and teaching them the ways of entrepreneurialism. Much like the Big Sisters of America, we befriend our Little Sisters and help them in whatever way they need to become comfortable in the business of being in business.
Sometimes that means to help them grow as people and sometimes it is more just introducing them to others. Whatever the challenge, we are there to help, inform, and, sometime, just to hold their hand. We also share weekly from our knowledge with a Skype hosted chat that we named the WINning Sisters Networking 101. Usually the forum is open so that those with questions can find answers, but quite often, you will find that there are special guest speakers who freely give of their time to share from their area of expertise. E.g., at a recent chat Charly Leetham shared from her stores of knowledge on the subject of S.E.O. (Search Engine Optimization) and another time Patrysha Korchinski shared for three weeks straight on the topic of Business Branding (available online through our archive).
So, to be perfectly clear, the Golden Rule of Business Ownership is, "You can't out give God!" When you approach your business from the standpoint of, "What can I give," or "How can I help someone today," rather than focusing on receiving you will find others flock to you. In the process, you will see a substantial increase in your profit margin. Why? Because you can't out give GOD! Don't believe me? Give it a try. I guarantee you will be pleasantly surprised.
© 2010 Ginger Marks
Ginger Marks is the author of the 2009 & 2010 Weird & Wacky Holiday Marketing Guide, your business-marketing calendar of ideas available at http://www.HolidayMarketingGuide.com in eBook and quarterly re-brandable booklets. To find out more about the WINning Sisters visit our website at http://www.WINningSisters.org. Feel free to join us for the weekly chats hosted on Skype on Wednesdays 12:30-1:30 p.m. EST. To learn more about Ginger and her businesses visit http://www.DocUmeant.net or http://www.DocUmeantDesigns.com.