How many people have you helped lately?

The famous Zig Ziglar said, "You can only get what you want, when you help enough people get what they want".

That seems selfless enough. Find out what other people want, help them get it and mysteriously everything comes together for you.

When a new business is built, one of the first things entrepreneurs are forced to create is the business plan. The plan is comprised of competitive pressures, market size, internal strengths and weaknesses, pricing, promotion, product offering, and etc.

Reviewing the market size, entrepreneurs build an argument to the reasons their business will be successful. Budgets are developed. Number of clients required to satisfy revenues are extrapolated.

Most entrepreneurs dream about what the business will do for them. Instead, they should be asking what the business will do for their clients.

A good salesperson never discusses the cost of his product. He demonstrates how the product can fix a potential client's problems.

When I owned restaurants, my number one competitor was people eating at home. It was an impossible competitor to win against. Most people think the food cooked at home is healthier, cheaper and more natural. The problem with cooking at home is that the cook (primarily Mom) didn't have time to enjoy her family. And by the time she sat down, the kids were already filling their face so they could go play again.  Then there were the dishes and cleanup after the kids left the table.

So in thinking about the weaknesses of the primary competitor, I focussed on delivering excellent service to mothers without the hassles of preparation and clean-up.

Focussing on mothers helped my business to grow every single year we were in operation.  Would it be any surprise that Mother's Day was our busiest day of the year?

Stop selling to people. No one likes to be sold to.

Start helping people. Find out what your target audience needs and fill it with genuine, authentic, honest help.  Give some stuff away for free. Build the relationship. Demonstrate credibility.

People do business with people they like. Be likeable.