I recently found out about a 7-week course focused on building a business that was both profitable, engaging and fun.  I couldn’t resist that combination, so I dropped the company a mail and asked for them to get in touch with me so I could find out more…to see if it would really be something that would address my needs and give me some tools and best practices. I was contacted within the day and the owner asked if we could have a call to talk about it.  I agreed.

When the time for the call came, I was gratified in several ways. First, the owner is someone I highly respect and who is a joy to talk with and a fount of wisdom and experience when it comes to start-ups and small business. We spent the better part of an hour in Q & A about what my business ideas are and he asked several illuminating questions that allowed me to start thinking a bit more creatively about what it is about. He also gave me a TON of great ideas for building up the content on my yet-to-be developed web site, how to reach out to potential customers, and marketing ideas that I was completely unaware of. I was taking copious notes and getting So Much from this call!

And we had not yet touched upon whether his course would be the right thing for me…

In the last 10 minutes of the hour-long call, he brought it up and said that he felt that his course was really aimed at a different business configuration than mine. I agreed, especially based on the deep discussions we’d just had.

What thoroughly impressed me about this time is that he could have sold me the course, despite it not being the right thing, and made some good money. He told me that he could not in good conscience do that, as he is in the business of delivering Hero Experiences to his clients, and it just wouldn’t be that for me.  He still spent an hour of his valuable time acting as a mentor and guide….and was happy to do it.

He provides me with a model for how I feel we need to be in business and as professionals. In my business I am called to do good and ‘bear much fruit’, so to speak. Building a business on giving is not only a terrific way to build customer loyalty for the things you do sell, but singles you out as a real human being who looks beyond bottom lines and how much ‘impact’ you can have in the manner of revenue.  The impact you will have by being generous is much greater and much longer lasting.

Thanks, Earl!