How To Be Successful In Business By Helping Others
At it’s core, running a successful business is ultimately about helping others. Someone has an issue that is causing them some form of pain and you have the product or service with the solution they need. That’s it.
Despite how incredibly simple this is, I often times get emails from blog readers who are on the verge of a nervous breakdown because they can’t figure out the perfect business model, the perfect niche or the perfect angle. They know they need to figure these things out
Often times this occurs because people are too focused on themselves rather than helping others, or what they can get out of running a business—whether it’s more money or being able to quit their day job. They have yet to realize that running a business isn’t about them at all, it’s about helping others—it’s about easing someone else’s suffering.
By shifting focus from what Gabby Bernstein calls “me-to-we” you’ll come up with the answers to all of the marketing questions you’ve been trying so hard to nail down and answer. You’ll also likely find what you’re passionate about. Once you’ve got this figured out everything else—deciding on a business model, where to find leads, how to market yourself—becomes a whole lot easier.
Furthermore, by shifting your focus to helping others and how you want to serve, people are drawn to what it is you have to offer. You get paid by being of service, and any successful owner of company will tell you the same thing.
Answer the following questions to get clear on where you want your business to go and how you can best serve people.
1. What issue are you passionate about?
Everyone has something that matters a lot to them, usually because they’ve had some firsthand experience with it. That’s why taking a look at what issues you are passionate about is a perfect place to start figuring out how you want to start helping others through your business.
For example, I am passionate about teaching people about entrepreneurship because I found myself without a job during the Great Recession. Entrepreneurship in the form of freelance writing is what helped me through that difficult time. It’s also what helped me see several of the issues that are present within traditional work structures. These are the kinds of issues that many people are trying to get away from and entrepreneurship is the vehicle which allows them to do that.
I also encourage clients to do this all the time.
One of my recent clients shared an incredibly powerful story with me which helped her get clear on who she helps with her business. Several years ago she nearly died as a result of a crash diet. This happened even though she’s been a nurse for decades.
Since then she has been adamant about helping people live healthier lives. She now does this through a blog, nutrition coaching services and as a consultant for Arbonne which is a company that sells eco-friendly products. By tapping into that one powerful story she knows what she is on this earth to do, who she helps and how she helps them—in other words how she is helping others became her main driver. As a bonus she’s also got a great story for marketing purposes.
2. Where do you want to ease someone else’s suffering?
Sometimes we haven’t necessarily experienced something firsthand, but there’s an area in other people’s lives where you may have seen a lot of suffering you’d like to ease. Maybe your friend or a family member is suffering with an issue and that’s why you’re so passionate about easing that particular problem.
For instance, I once spoke to a woman who worked at a facility that conducted therapy for children with ADHD. She realized how difficult it was for families to get the help they needed from school systems or medical facilities and decided to start a company which would help parents through the process of getting help for their child.
She may not have directly experienced this particular problem in her own family, but her job exposed her to it. This exposure then led to her business idea simply because she wanted to help families through this trying time.
3. What are you naturally good at?
People tend to enjoy what they are naturally good at. These gifts can also often times be used to fix someone else’s problem. My virtual team is a perfect example of this.
My accountant loves numbers and can practically solve mathematical equations in his head, so he became a certified public accountant and opened up his own firm. He fixes my problems in the form of bookkeeping and filing taxes.
My web designer loves to design beautiful websites and has an eye for it, so she opened up her own design firm for online entrepreneurs. She fixes my design issues all the time—especially when I break something.
My virtual assistant loves to organize stuff and thinks systems are the best thing since sliced bread, so she started her own VA firm to help entrepreneurs who aren’t all that organized. She helped me build the entire back-end of my business using systems like Infusionsoft and handles my email.
That’s already three examples of people who knew what they were good at (and enjoyed), figured out how they could use it to fix someone else’s problem and created businesses around it.
Final thoughts on helping others
In order to be successful in business you must take the attention off of yourself and instead focus on helping others. By combining this with what you’re naturally good at and enjoy, you’ll have the recipe for success.
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