“We are all students and we are all teachers”
We hear so much about greed today but what the media isn’t focusing on so much and should are the sprinkling of businesses that are doing good in their communities. Below are three stories of businesses that changed their model to incorporate community support. The prize element of doing good applies to entrepreneurship too. Given the quote above, simply by reaching out to mentor or help those coming up behind you is an act that will be remembered and duplicated. Together we may bring about social change; now wouldn’t that make a nice headline?
The first story, demonstrates where we are today while the second abbreviated story illustrates a company that lost its way only to lose clients but then aspired to change its business model. Our third scenario illustrates a thriving new age business model and one that will hopefully be duplicated many times over.
An employee of a bagel shop, located in a major city, was seen dumping their unsold bagels in a garbage pickup bin. To make certain no one was able to grab one to eat, a chemical was dumped on the bagels and then the discarded pile was lit with a match. Instead of contemplating giving the leftovers to the homeless, the shop was more concerned about the possibility of a passerby taking one to eat and then claiming illness afterward only to hire an attorney to sue the shop for monetary gain.
It’s a pity this is the thinking in our society. What may be changed within our systems to enable restaurants and food shops who, at the end of the day, have leftover food but fear its distribution?
This week, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that H&M Clothing, after a stellar beginning, was losing its clientele. They too were destroying leftovers in the form of clothing rather than passing it on to those in need. Taking a look at their business model, they decided to offer clients reward points for bringing in the older styles accumulated in their closets in order to donate it to those in need of clothing. The new model turned around the profitability. Business picked up and many less fortunate people are benefiting too.
The third story is about a community service, Slow Harvest, and Bloomfield Farms combining forces in order to benefit many in the county. The story appeared online by CropMobster. The Slow Harvest team gleaned 256 pounds of organic vegetables from the farm, and delivered the harvest to hunger relief organizations.
Just as we learned to embrace technology and new methods for doing business online, the time has come to find ways to promote goodwill among citizens in our town and our world. How may you change your business model to incorporate one of these ideas?
The more thought we put into conducting an INSPIRED Business the better a legacy will be left for future generations. And when other prospective companies see you working in this capacity, your personal brand will be elevated above all the others in your field.
Incorporating these practices will put you on the wave of the Smooth Sale!
Author:
Elinor Stutz, CEO of Smooth Sale, (800) 704-1499; authored “INSPIRED Business A New View for Building Business and Communities”; “Nice Girls DO Get the Sale: Relationship Building That Gets Results”, and “HIRED! How to Use Sales Techniques to Sell Yourself On Interviews“. Elinor was designated as a “Top 25 Sales Influencer for 2012.”
