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In my experience as a business coach, businesses that focus on making a difference gain bigger rewards in the end. These businesses make helping others, solving problems and bettering their community part of their mission and find success as they follow through with these goals.
When You Help Others, You Help Yourself
Believe it or not, when you work to help others and benefit your market, you are actually helping yourself. Your actions come full circle to bring success to your business so you can make a bigger profit and establish that freedom lifestyle you are looking for.
Build Relationships
When you make a difference in the lives of people in your market and your community, you are building and fostering relationships. In network marketing, relationships are invaluable and as you prove that you are willing to give, not just take, you will multiply and strengthen relationships that will help you grow your business.
Become the go-to Solution
Businesses that give are also building their brand. They are telling their market that they are the go-to solution for whatever they provide. Donations, sponsorships and partnerships help you get your name out there as the business solution in your industry.
Create a Presence in the Community
Becoming a giver also helps you create a presence in your community. Opportunities to give back are also opportunities to expose more people to your business and its value. As you give, people in your community will begin to identify your business with what you do.
Build a Reputation as a Generous Business
A reputation as a generous business is incredibly valuable. Businesses that are seen as conscious of their market’s and community’s needs gain a reputation of being generous which helps them attract more customers and build a stronger relationship with their market.
For example, TOMS shoe company donates one pair of shoes for every pair it sells. This simple idea has become part of the company’s identity and helped it gain a reputation as a generous business. People everywhere see TOMS as a company that has as goal of helping others, not just earning money.
Does the company benefit from this reputation? You bet. The simple fact that when you buy a pair of shoes, you are helping someone else attracts customers who like to feel they are part of a solution to a widespread problem.
How to Make a Difference
So how do you get started? Making a difference to people and your community as a business can be as simple as setting up a sponsorship program or creating an employee volunteer day so all your team members can get out and serve in the community.
The key to finding a way to make a difference is understanding where you fit into your market and community and then finding a way to give in that space. Donating a pair of shoes is a natural choice for TOMS because it sells shoes.
You don’t have to set up a permanent program, but you should find a way to weave giving and your services or products together. Organizing a food drive, donating products to a local nonprofit or even teaming up with an organization to help host a community event are all great ways to give back that will also benefit your own business.
Businesses that let making a difference be their driving force end up winning in the end. They reap all kinds of valuable rewards while at the same time growing their client base and increasing their sales.
How have you seen generous businesses profit? Have you experienced these perks in your business? I’d love to hear how you have found success by giving.
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