Community Building to Grow Your Business

Good Morning Team – Below is an excerpt from a piece Billionaire Richard Branson wrote on Thursday. Remember you are your brand.

When you’re launching a startup, one of your first tasks is to identify potential customers and learn about their needs.

This may seem very different from the goals I have described in previous columns about defining your business’s greater purpose and helping to tackle some of the big problems our society faces today, but in fact they are related. Getting involved in volunteer efforts may help you to find customers and grow a business with deep roots in the community, which may be integral to its long-term success.

When my friends and I were starting up Virgin Records in the early 1970s, we backed a student advisory center in London close to our headquarters, which provided guidance for young people on everything from dealing with depression to getting a job. This may not have led directly to record sales, but our work there did help us to keep in touch with our audience’s concerns and the problems they faced at a time when the culture was changing very quickly.

Over the years, businesses in the Virgin Group have taken part in a number of local projects, though ”local” now means close to our offices, stores and other locations around the world. Experience has taught us that during our Virgin Records days, we might also have looked at lending some of our equipment, manpower and other resources to local school music programs and other music-focused community groups.

What ideas can you think of for your business? Are there groups in your community in need of support, perhaps in terms of mentorship or equipment? Are there skills you could offer to teach? How would your team like to get involved? Just a few hours a month can make a big difference in people’s lives and help with your company’s development.

The point of such activities is not to make money — although, often times this can be an indirect result. Through the relationships you build by doing such work, your business will become a hub for the community, supporting and fostering the people around it. It will help you to build a stronger culture within your company, better relationships with your customers and staff, and ultimately a more successful business.

Take a look around. What could you and your team do? –RB

Bill’s Note: Volunteering keeps us fresh and humble. Julie and I see it as both a Privilege and a Obligation – and we saw it this way before we became authors, business owners, business coaches and otherwise successful. It can also be a form of Tithing because your time and your talents have an intrinsic Value which is magnified by Serving Others.

Live With Intention,
Dr Bill Toth

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About Dr Bill Toth

Bill’s Background I’m just an average guy who’s learned a few things about Life, Success and Personal Development – thanks to some incredibly good and bad experiences during the past 25+ years. I’ve made many mistakes and have learned to combine down to earth values with a unique ability to distill complex concepts into simple powerful strategies which can be immediately applied to produce measurable results. In short; “I’ve traveled the territory, drawn a few maps and I’m happy to share them” I do not consider myself to be an “expert” and my work is never presented as the definitive doctrine on how you should live your life or what it takes to be successful in your business. I am a work in progress and if you were to you join me on life’s journey by hiring me as your coach or partnering with us in business – our learning will very likely be a two way street. In fact, I expect it to be. “What you know dies with you – what you DO leaves a legacy” I was raised in upstate New York and eastern Pennsylvania. This rural upbringing is strongly reflected in my personal value hierarchy: Faith > Family > Friends > Fitness and Finance. Education and a commitment to continuous improvement are next on the list. All these and more are strongly reflected in my coaching, teaching, writing and speaking. While growing my private practice I also taught Orthopedics and Neurology at both the undergraduate and graduate level, produced a TV show on fitness, appeared on numerous radio and TV programs, authored numerous journal articles, chapters for medical texts, served as vice-president of my state medical association, and started a family. I have had the honor and privilege of consulting with and coaching a diverse population of people from royalty to prisoners, from children to CEO’s, from amateur to professional athletes from 41 countries and people of almost every race, creed, religious belief and nationality. I am passionately committed to contribution and Living With Intention. Part of my philosophy is to think globally while acting locally. I am a very active member of my church, as well as several community organizations. After church, my favorite philanthropy is the Nourish the Children. I have also performed extensive volunteer work for both the Anthony Robbins Foundation, and the Make a Wish Foundation. Why become an Entrepreneur? I became an entrepreneur because after 5 years of Health Care Reform I found I was merely an employee of the various insurance company’s I was interacting with. I became painfully aware I was working more hours for less money and that what I was doing wasn’t working! At the same time my beautiful daughter, Casey, was born. This was the first time in my life I started to think about my future, and of course hers. When children come into your life, your perspective changes from Firebirds and Ferrari’s to Gymnastics, music lessons, horseback riding and so forth. Suddenly, I had to think longterm – was what I was doing going to provide all the things that a father wants for his children? In October of 1998 I started my entrepreneurial endeavors on a very part time basis. Less than 3 months later my New Year’s Resolution was to put my practices up for sale. In May of 1999 I sold them and began to work on my dreams and my fortune on a full time basis. From there, it took me a full five years to get to the point where I could do whatever I wanted to do. Along the way I wrote my first book: “Morning Moments”…as well as learning a few things about money, transitioning careers and happiness. I am happy to share what I know, in short again; “I’ve traveled the territory, drawn a few maps and I’m happy to share them” In summary; Transitioning careers was the hardest challenge I’ve ever taken up and it’s been the most rewarding! In so many ways, this is the very best personal development seminar I’ve ever taken because I met mySelf and my wife in the process…and every perceived adversity was worth it. Today, with my wife Julie, we “get to” pay the gift forward by coaching, mentoring others through the same process. There is no greater pleasure than showing others how to earn their freedom and then observing what good they do with it. Life Will Never Be The Same
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