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Don’t Just Build a Business – Build a Business With a Heart!

Written by: Payman Lorenzo Sarwari, Executive Contributor

Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.

 

In today’s ever-increasing competitive marketplace, the key to not just survive but to strive is to DIFFERENTIATE. Differentiate both yourself and your business as much as possible. This applies to every line of business, whether you’re a brick and mortar business, a coach, a consultant, an E-Commerce business, or even selling hot dogs and ice creams down the street.


The more you can differentiate your business, the better equipped you will be to succeed. What most people have been doing generally is to make their products or services a little bit better than the rest, or they price things differently or add a little bonus here and there. While this is fine and dandy, it probably won’t cut it anymore in today’s highly fierce business environment.


The good news is that one of the very best ways to really differentiate your business is also one of the easiest to implement to any type of business. Yet surprisingly, not many people are taking advantage of it.


What am I referring to?


ADDING A CAUSE TO YOUR BUSINESS


Being a cause-driven business and not just a purely profit-driven business.


Why is having a cause linked to your business going to differentiate your business?


There are several reasons for that. First and foremost, I firmly believe that as entrepreneurs, it’s our duty and responsibility to do good. Not just because it’s the right thing to do as a human being but also because it’s good for business. People want to do business with people and businesses who care and are making a positive impact in the world.


Most people want to do good, but they either don’t have the money to do so or don’t know where and/or how to start. However, by aligning our businesses with a cause that is dear to our heart and which resonates with our target market, we can empower our customers and clients to do good through the purchase of our products and services.


By doing so, we are transferring the power to do good to them, and in doing so, they will feel good buying from us versus from a purely profit-driven business. Not only that, but they will also share and talk about you with their friends. Effectively, they will become avid, loyal, raving, and even evangelical fans and they will become your ambassadors and ultimately, they will do your marketing for you! Why? Because people want to buy and support businesses that care and that have a positive social impact!


Another powerful reason for that is that, surprisingly, not many people are doing that.

That alone provides us with a tremendous opportunity to stand out and be the first to do so in our niche and industry!


The good news is that there are many ways that each and every single one of us, regardless of our line of business, can add a cause to our business and start having a positive impact around us. My personal favorite model is the Buy One Give One Model. This is a concept where for each sale made, a business would donate a unit of their product and/or of their service to someone who needs it but cannot afford it.


The most popular example of the Buy One Give One model is Toms Shoes by Blake Mycoskie, where for each pair of their shoes they sell, they would donate a pair to an underprivileged child. Using this model, Toms Shoes have been able to donate a staggering 100 million pairs of shoes to kids around the world! In the process, they have built the fastest growing shoe company in the world, without any outside investment, from nothing to half a billion dollars in sales between 2006 to 2011! That right there is the phenomenal power of building a business with a heart! A business that not only makes good quality products but also and most importantly, has a very positive impact in the world.


That is the model that I have implemented in my own business. I am working on launching a brand of physical products through crowdfunding. For each unit of my product sold, I will be donating a pair of eyeglasses to people in a third-world country who needs them but cannot afford them.


The most beautiful part of a business with a heart is that it fulfills you and makes you feel alive like nothing else. I have been an entrepreneur all of my adult life and for the past 20 years, I’ve been involved in multiple businesses around the world and I can say without any hesitation that no business has made me that excited and that passionate as the current one precisely because it’s about helping those less fortunate ones. That feeling is second to none. It’s akin to an orgasm for the soul. It transcends both you and everything around you and everyone involved with it in a very deep and positive way.


HOW CAN WE IMPLEMENT THAT CONCEPT INTO OUR BUSINESSES?


The first thing to do is to identify what cause YOU are passionate about and that resonates with your clients/customers and target market. Depending on what line of business you are in, you could do a lot of things. Here are some examples to get your creative juices flowing:


  • For every product sold, give a unit to someone who needs it but cannot afford it.

  • Plant a tree for every sale made.

  • Feed a homeless for every sale made.

  • For every product sold, provide school supplies to an underprivileged kid.

  • For every product sold, provide one liter of clean drinkable water to people in a remote village in a third world country who don’t have clean water.

  • For every $1,000 worth of sale, build a well in a village in Ethiopia.

  • For every new client signed, provide a micro-loan to a family in Kenya.

  • For every $5,000 of business, set up a school in a remote village in India.

  • For every $5,000 of business, set up a small clinic in a remote village in Guatemala.

  • For every $10,000 of business, set up a school in Afghanistan for kids.


The exciting part is that possibilities are truly endless! It starts with simply identifying a cause that you are deeply passionate about and which resonates with your target market and that makes sense with your business. And then, align that with your business. As simple as that!


THIS IS NOT AN ADDITIONAL EXPENSE!


Do NOT think of the products/services donated as extra/additional costs! Far from it! Because it is not! From a business point of view, they are the best money you can ever spend on advertising and marketing because of the PR and word of mouth and praise and respect it’ll generate among people, your local community and media. Not to mention, it will give your business a whole new level of identity and, most importantly, a purpose!


All of us in here, we have been blessed that we do not have to worry about what to eat today or where to sleep tonight. We now have an incredible opportunity to do good by aligning our business with a cause that is dear to our heart. It is easy to implement and doesn’t add much more to our bottom line in view of the returns it can provide, not only financially but most importantly, in terms of the impact it makes and the inner fulfillment we will feel as a result of having a business with a purpose and being a business with a heart.


In my podcast, Leaders With A Heart, I talk with entrepreneurs who are doing good with their businesses to share their messages and to inspire other entrepreneurs to do good. If you have a business with a heart, I’d love to have you come share your message and vision with me on a future episode in my podcast.


My goal is to inspire other entrepreneurs to build their businesses around IMPACT. If I can inspire just ONE entrepreneur to build an impactful business and that entrepreneur goes on not only build an impactful business but also to inspire another entrepreneur to do the same, and they went onto build a business with a heart and inspire another entrepreneur to do the same and so on and so forth, then before long, we will have a legion of impactful entrepreneurs creating an unstoppable movement around the world. And before long, together, we can make the world a better place. This is my vision, to create an army of Leaders With A Heart.


For more information, follow me on Facebook!

 

Payman Lorenzo Sarwari, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine

Payman is a serial entrepreneur, having lived in 10 countries on 4 continents and speaking 6 languages. He is a strong advocate of building businesses with a heart, a mission and a purpose. He is the founder of the Leaders With A Heart movement and the podcast of the same name. He is on a mission to build a community of Enlightened Entrepreneurs who have a heart of gold so that together we can both create impactful and meaningful businesses as well as inspiring others to do the same.


Payman fully believes that Capitalism can do and be good. And that doing good is not only the right thing to do as a human being but that it also is good for business!


Payman’s area of expertise is E-Commerce. He is launching a Brand of physical products made from sustainable and animal cruelty-free leather. For each unit sold, he will donate a pair of eyeglasses to people who need them but can’t afford them so that they can see clear again.

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