Starting A Home Based Business - Are People Really Making Money ?

In today's show, I gave you:

• An idea to help your business to grow - How about giving instead of selling?
  


• An interview with Kathryn Goddard of Boulevard Flowers Flowers make an entrance.
  
  Boulevard offers “Contract Flowers” delivered each week, in traditional or contemporary arrangements, in quality vases, to complement your décor, in your corporate colours. The style, flowers and colours used can be varied each week to provide a welcome to your clients in your reception and public access areas.
  
  You can contact Kathryn by telephone: 01227 264020, fax: 08707 541574 or mobile: 07802 248862. Her web page is www.boulevardflowers.co.uk and her email kathryn@boulevardflowers.co.uk
  

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How about giving instead of selling?

As a business coach, I work with business owners and managers to improve their marketing, boost their sales and grow their profits but I find that many people simply did not believe it was possible for me to increase their profits by 100% or more.

So I decided last year to shift my marketing strategy. I stopped selling and started giving value to everyone - whether they are a client or not. Instead of trying to convince people that I have the knowledge and ability to solve their marketing problems, I give them the knowledge anyway and let them decide for themself. I have switched my focus from what I want to sell to what they want to use.

Try giving value

Why not take this concept, test it in your business for ten days, and see what happens. Decide for the next two weeks that the prime purpose of your business is to add value to the lives of your customers.

Pay attention to their problems, listen to their needs, find ways to make their lives easier, step into their shoes, do whatever you can to enhance the quality of their lives: give them help for free, brighten their day, buy them a coffee, and find ways to show that their well-being is your top priority.

Will a few people treat you badly? Sure but who cares. Most people will be simply stunned at how helpful you are, how different you are from your competitors and how much they enjoy working with you. Your working day will become fun.

Become customer centred

We can be so immersed in increasing sales, in growing our business, in improving our own lives, that we miss the obvious. Ironically, the route to success is to stop worrying about your own success and start thinking about the success of your customers and potential customers.

Have you any idea what it is like to wake up in the morning and know that you are going to make a difference to people's lives? This attitude will totally transform the quality of your working life. Whereas your job might appear mundane or boring, it can become ever-new and exciting: your purpose in working moves from 'paying the mortgage', to enhancing the lives of the people around you.

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Adrian Pepper coaches people through business and personal difficulties, helping companies figure out what to do, how to move forward and what to get organised.

You can contact him at Help 4 You Limited on +44 (0)7773 380133 or email adrian@help4you.ltd.uk. His podcast for small businesses is at feeds.feedburner.com/help4you.