Could Giving be a Way To Business Success?
Many books have formed my values and the way I live. There is one small book that belongs to that category. It is The Go-Giver by Bob Burg and John David Mann.
We have all heard about the importance of giving. I suppose that all of us agree that it is crucial. The fact is that it might be a difficult task especially when you start a new business. You might think that yes, I will give back later when I am successful. I don’t have the time or money right now.
What if this way of thinking is entirely wrong? What if we should start our business by giving?
The power of giving is the essence of the book. When we start by offering something without expecting anything in return, we will get fantastic results.
For some people, the book can feel a bit supernatural, and I understand that. But why not try? There is so much to gain and little to lose. Even if the only win you get is a grateful smile from a person, it is worth the effort. And who knows, you could be hooked for life as it happened to this guy back in the late nineties.
Here is a short story about giving that started on a small island in Norway named Aukra. The guy had moved there because of the work. He was a welder at that time, and they needed more people for the shipping industry in Norway.
He rented a small apartment from an old lady named Astrid. She lived in the other part of the house.
One day he watched Astrid as she was about to cut the grass. He saw that she had pain and it would not be an easy task to do.
He ran out and asked if he could do it instead. It would only be fun as he could listen to all the birds singing in the early spring.
She was so grateful for the offer and the smile she gave that young guy was something he would remember for the rest of his life.
Maybe you already guessed that the guy was me.
That was the day I understood the power of giving.
It almost feels selfish when I compare the good feeling I got for several days, to the small task of cutting the grass in the lovely sunshine. When I write that I got a good feeling for several days, it is a vast understatement. I feel great about it even now when I write about it, 20 years later.
When I later started my journey as an entrepreneur, I realized that the giving philosophy was something I wanted to try in my business.
It was only an idea I had, and as so often in life, important things get forgotten. I think I have lived with a giving philosophy, but I didn’t have any plan for implementing it into my business.
It was only now when I was recommended to read The Go-Giver by my mentor; I remembered Astrid and the power of giving.
This article is not meant to be a comprehensive review of the book. It is short, and you could read it in one or two evenings.
In the book, you meet Joe. He has high ambitions but struggles to find the way to achieve any success. Then he meets an old, successful gentleman, Pindar, who is willing to share his biggest secret. He introduces him to the “Five Laws of Stratospheric Success.”
Try to find ways to give without expecting anything in return, and you will get satisfying results in your business.
Pindar tells Joe that the real secret is giving.
The more successful business owners are, the more they share their secrets with others.
In the whole book, Joe asks interesting questions. Many of them are questions I had made myself, and I suppose that is a part of why I liked it so much.
If you have read Think and Grow Rich you recognize the quote: “You get what you focus on.” You find some ideas from other personal development gurus like Tony Robbins, Wayne W. Dyer, Jack Canfield, Bryan Tracy and Jim Rohn in the story. I don’t see anything negative about that. It is a confirmation of the message.
Joe is skeptical at first. Could it be that simple? You will follow his journey through the five laws.
The laws are:
1. The Law of Value
Your real worth is determined by how much more you give in value than you take in payment. Another way to say this could be: Going the extra mile.
If your business is making marketing videos, the extra value can be explaining how to use the videos for best effect. When you deliver more than your customers expect, then you follow the Law of Value.
2. The Law of Compensation
The number of people you help and the quality of the help will set your income. Find a way to help more people. Being broke and being wealthy are both decisions. And then we are back to focus on the right things.
3. The Law of Influence
Your influence is determined by how abundantly you place other people’s interests first. Watch out for what other people need, help them to 100% with that, and you will get what you need.
Remeber that givers are attractive. They get followers and are great networkers. Without a network, you will not be successful.
4. The Law Authenticity
Be yourself! If you feel that you have a hard time finding something to add to the equation, you have forgotten the most important thing to add, yourself. Make people feel good about themselves. Be a friend, a listener and be yourself.
5. The Law of Receptivity
The key to effective giving is to stay open to receiving. Everything on earth is about giving and receiving, and we might not have understood that. The 5th Law is the one I have to work with personally.
When I started to write this article, I thought I could do it based on my memory. Soon enough, I realized that I had to check some details in the book. There I was reading the complete book once again.
After reading it, I felt that maybe I shouldn’t publish this article at all. There is no way that I possibly could describe how important this book is. The only way to get the real spirit is to read it. Reread it. And after that, follow the five laws.
Remember that the book is all about taking action. It is not enough to understand the concepts. You have to follow the laws.
The main idea is to focus on giving instead of getting. It sounds obvious, but life is often more difficult than that. We forget about the most important details when we rush from day to day.
Try to find ways to give without expecting anything in return, and you will get satisfying results in your business.
I highly recommend The Go-Giver, and you’ll find it on Amazon.
About the author:
Erik Astrand is a Finish entrepreneur living in Sweden. His primary focus is to help other business owners to get better results with the help of internet.
