In Part One of this series, we squelched a couple of high-profile myths about this recession when it comes to local businesses so that you’re primed and ready to find out how to fight the current economic funk. In Part Two, we introduced some strategies that will help you to find opportunities that exist only in recession so that you as a local business owner can turn pessimism into optimism. In this final post in the series, we offer up three more strategies for you to try so that you can gain a new loyal client base at times when most of your competitors are just weathering the storm.

More Strategies

4. Make alternative marketing your mainstream practice

Armchair-quarterbacking marketing experts love to slight businesses that cut marketing budgets during recessions. As the theory goes, expanding marketing in a down economy rather than cutting it can raise your revenues above others’ slumping numbers. This approach works great if your competitors are slashing their marketing budgets, essentially doubling your advantage on any new marketing initiatives you decide to launch. But this simply does not make sense if your competitors also take this advice, or even if they simply leave their marketing as-is – then this advantage evaporates. Spending on marketing declines during recessions because revenues are down across all industries, and it is incredibly difficult to justify increasing your spend on costly traditional media advertising. And think about where your money goes for marketing currently: Is there any real way to know what kind of effect a marginal expansion of your current practices will have on business?

Of course, many of these marketing analysts assume that marketers would just expand their current practices to (hopefully) take advantage of reeling competitors. This would be a perfectly fine course of action in a normal economic environment; revenues are stable and growing, the business is flush with cash, and consumers are less choosy and more easily persuaded. During a recession, though, this approach does not make sense. Instead, you should use the recession as an opportunity to both save money and increase your marketing presence by exploring nontraditional marketing.

If you're gonna die, don't be caught dead in this.

Start a blog to establish yourself as the industry expert in your area, and make speaking appearances at trade gatherings or participate in Q&A’s through a local publication. Even submitting your own set of frequently asked questions and corresponding advice to a local news sources can easily find placement, especially if you make it about money-saving. Just remember to keep it current and relevant. Think of a unique event that you could put on to give out some free service in a central area in your community, and distribute a release to news outlets so that consumers are alerted. Even something as simple as canvassing your service area’s community message boards (both online and offline) can be a great way to grow your marketing presence at no additional cost.

Finding yourself with more time and less money makes this marketing more realistic during recessions. If you are successful at it, then it not only allows you to grow your clientele for return business when the economy rises again, but it also makes it easier to participate in alternative marketing strategies in the future to further expand your market share.

5. Get online and develop your customer base of the future

In addition to alternative marketing, e-marketing is another cost effective venue that you may not be participating in like you should. There is perhaps no better time to start engaging consumers on the internet than during a recession, when you potentially have some extra time to work the kinks out of integrating a website into your sales routine. It has been found that local business searches now start online at an almost 2 to 1 margin, and the internet’s share continues to grow steadily. Marketing your business on the internet through a website is perhaps the most effective and least costly option out there. What could possibly make more sense during a recession?

[For an overview of tips on marketing business on the web, please read our white paper, “My Small Business Doesn’t Need a Website, Right?: Why Your Small Business Needs to be on the Internet and a Complete Guide to Marketing
it,” which can be requested from info@tuggl.com. Just type "Internet Marketing White Paper" in the subject line of the e-mail.]

6. Give your marketing money away

Perhaps nothing inspires more customer loyalty than your investment in your local community. Business owners who donate a portion of profits to local charities or partner with them for events may find that their philanthropy brings in more business than traditional marketing efforts ever could. Investing some of your successes in the future
successes of those less fortunate in your community improves conditions for all and positions you and your business more as a neighbor and friend than merely a service provider. Beyond personal fulfillment, aligning with a nonprofit partner can present you with new networks of consumers in a highly sought-after demographic. Nonprofits have publications and hold regular events that business partners can obtain special access to, and this is one venue in which you can be sure your competitors will not be involved. Philanthropy events are regularly covered by news media, so it would not be surprising to see your logo appearing on a local news broadcast or find a special mention in a newspaper article.

87% of Colorado consumers believe that businesses should continue philanthropic giving through a recession, compared with 83% believing individuals should continue.

-Colorado Nonprofit Association Study

One thing we feel we must make clear: If you should choose to partner with a community organization (Bravo!), never participate merely for the company tax break. Disingenuous contributors can be detected by real philanthropists from a mile away. By volunteering alongside others, attending events, and participating in other ways, you will already be generating goodwill and loyalty. Yes, partnering with a nonprofit can be a boon for business, but if you try to take advantage of others’ generosity, you could find yourself losing far more business than you gain. Some big brands spend millions of dollars every year to convince consumers that they are philanthropists. You can do it simply by lending a helping hand. Pick a cause you identify with closely, whether it be local or universal, and you will find the connection to be more beneficial for both your business and your life than any other advertising could have been.

That’s all we’ve got. This list is by no means meant to be fully encompassing of the ways that a local business can capitalize on recessionary conditions, so we invite readers to offer up their own advice and experiences in the comments below or on Twitter @tuggl. Best of luck, and stay tuned as tuggl continues to offer resources for small business as they come up! And if you’re in the Denver/Boulder market, tuggl.com is being offered to businesses there before anywhere else in the world. Be a part of growing our community of socially responsible, local companies, and be rewarded for doing good in your community with more customers. It’s free!

Always feel free to contact me with any questions or comments: josh [at] tuggl [dot] com.

Best,

Josh Clauss, communications guy

In Part One of this series, we squelched a couple of high-profile myths about this recession when it comes to local businesses so that you’re primed and ready to find out how to fight the current economic funk. In this and the next post in the series, we’ll lay out some strategies that will help you to find opportunities that exist only in recession so that you as a local business owner can turn pessimism into optimism.

The Strategies

1. Attack while defenses are down!

Your larger competitors have their advantages, no doubt. But in times of recession, stock market turmoil, and credit tightening, their flaws are exposed more than they will ever be. Additionally, small business advantages become more useful.

Evolve by adapting to fit your environment.

Corporations are hindered by large staffing numbers which they must reduce to cut costs and cover liabilities. Lending rates are too high for expansion needs, and equity shares are plummeting as part of a larger sell-off by institutional investment houses. In other words, corporate competitors are majorly hampered by these conditions.

Local businesses, on the other hand, do not feel the same extreme levels of economic pressure. Moreover, small businesses are inherently less bureaucratic and more nimble. Your business has the ability to change tactics much faster than an institutional competitor, and this means that not only could you respond to changing needs of consumers more rapidly, but you could easily use this opportunity to steal market share away from the major players. Consumers are naturally more suspicious of corporations during times of recession, and there could be no better time to ask people to switch to local businesses for their needs.

2. Avoid recessionary No-Man’s Land

During a recession, bargain outfits win. But, perhaps surprisingly, the businesses with the highest-cost products and services aren’t necessarily the worst-off. Middle-market items are. When consumers decide what they are going to cut back on, they will typically dial down the level of the more frequent purchases they make as opposed to the purchases themselves. For instance, if a consumer or business requires building repairs, economic conditions do not change that need substantially. However, instead of eating at that full-service restaurant for lunch meetings, people are more likely to arrange it at a deli.

The fiercest battlefield of competition during a recession is the mid-market. Do not panic if your business is centered on large purchases. But if your business is largely perceived by consumers to be a mid-market option, consider reinventing your business as either a high-end market competitor, or a low-end, dealoriented competitor while consumer confidence is down. Once people start relaxing their vice on discretionary income, resume reaping the benefits of the mid-market.

3. Get back to basics

Milk your business for all its worth.

This strategy combines some of the other concepts already covered, namely small business flexibility with avoiding the middle of the market. The power behind it lies in your ability to establish what you do that people inherently need accomplished, whether they have an abundance of disposable income or not. It may be bland, and it may have low profit margins, but it’s still necessary nonetheless. Essentially, you need to find your industry’s version of milk. Milk is naturally an inelastic commodity – meaning that over time, even when price levels change, demand for milk stays relatively similar. What product or service that you provide, or that you could provide, is one that provides steady consumer demand? Find it and focus marketing efforts on that product specifically. Because your small business does not have necessarily have a brand stigma like larger businesses do, you are in a position to roll out a marketing campaign quickly and change consumer perception at the same speed.

What is the basic service that your industry provides? For an accountant, it may be tax preparation, but for a homebuilder, perhaps its simple installations. Whatever the case, try to increase numbers of simpler jobs by marketing yourself as the industry’s premier provider of that service. Do not simply reassure consumers that you offer this service, but actually try to sell it to them through your marketing. Ask a question about the last time they had your basic service performed and include relevant contact information. That way, consumers are driven to consider contacting you for service immediately. Once you have booked basic services, you can try to up-sell customers for additional revenue. Even simply asking, “Is there anything else I can do for you,” is a powerful way to unlock hidden demand, supplement your income, and gain loyalty from new clients.

Next week, we’ll post some the last three tips tuggl has for small business owners right here to help you battle through the recession. In the meantime, don’t be shy to offer your own tips or share experiences in the comments below or on Twitter @tuggl.

Best,

Josh Clauss, Communications Guy

“Dear Small Nonprofits:

My name is Kevin White and I am the Acting Executive Director of Denver Gives. We are looking for very small nonprofits to be a part of our charity partnership. Specifically, we are looking to work with five (5) nonprofits that have a yearly budget of under $200,000.

Denver Gives is a new nonprofit within the Denver community. We have only been in operation for four months; however, we do feel we have a lot to offer. Denver Gives is a 501c3, whose charitable purpose is to develop resources for small nonprofits and assist them in becoming stronger more efficient organizations so that they can apply more of their passions into providing for our communities needs.

At this time we are looking for 5 organizations of different types. Those organizations related to the environment, basic needs, and animal care will receive priority.

We are not a “get rich quick” type of an organization, and an active 6 month partnership will be required. This will be on a first come first serve basis, and there are no guarantees, just an opportunity to possibly get some assistance from Denver Gives, its members and its volunteers. If you meet our fiscal criteria and are a purely volunteer driven or single employee organization, we would love to hear from you and see if you are interested in the services we offer.

Thank you for your interest!

Sincerely,

Kevin J. White”

I’ve taken a spin around their website, and it appears that they are a group of younger professionals that throw an event once a month in support of a nascent charity. I don’t know what’s required to become a partner, but it doesn’t look like much. It seems like a great way to get your message out to a younger crowd of people who are already interested in hearing about what you do – while raising a little money and getting a few volunteers at the same time.

It was a little unclear as to how they wanted nonprofits to go about contacting them for this opportunity, but the contact info from the e-mail was the same as that in their Contact Us section of their website. Hopefully this will help some of you struggling nonprofits out there in Denver. Don’t be hesitant if you’re outside the “priority” areas! It would probably be good to start an ongoing relationship with these folks.

Good luck!

-Josh, communcations guy for tuggl.com (josh [at] tuggl [dot] com)

It’s easy to get the impression that an economic recession inevitably leads small business owners to hemorrhage jobs and cash in an almost hopeless attempt to stay afloat. Small business owners are (mostly) buying this grim scenario, as more than half expect to invest less in development this year than they ever have. But does this approach make sense? Are small businesses doomed to bottom out in unison with the greater economy?

We think that’s malarkey. Our research reveals some surprising facts and arguments that lead us to believe that small businesses can actually create a net benefit from a macroeconomic recession. How do you grow your business against the odds, creating revenue that flies in the face of expert predictions? We’ll post our six tips in the weeks to come. We’re going to start by analyzing some of the major concerns coming from small business owners, giving all of you guys a little Tuggl pep talk to keep you optimistic!

The Myths

We’re not taking the recession lightly, and neither should you. But if the picture being painted is overwhelmingly gloomy, perhaps it’s time to look for a second opinion. The truth is seldom as lopsided as it seems through the lens of the media.

Take, for instance, the credit crunch. It may sound like a breakfast cereal spawned by a joint venture of General Mills and American Express, but it is one of the biggest problems facing the economy. The credit crunch was tabbed as the primary reason small businesses would not survive this recession. Banks are increasing lending rates and raising loan qualifications, and the result is supposed to be that small businesses can’t get the loans they need to support their businesses.

Are we crazy, or does this sound like a business that is already going to fail?

Small businesses should not be affected by lending rates, because they are mostly cash enterprises. It’s one of the advantages they hold over large entities, which are more susceptible to changes in lending policies because investors expect them to hold debt in order to maximize returns on the interest rates. Small enterprises, meanwhile, shouldn’t be holding or utilizing such loans unless they are necessary to expand or make large inventory purchases.

Don't come down with shell shock.

Another thing we have a hard time buying is so-called “survival mode.” It seems to advocate that when confronted with problems, you should become a turtle, retreating into your shell by firing employees, trimming benefits, cutting “unnecessary” marketing costs, and selling assets. Cash turnover should always be a concern in a small business. You can make smart decisions about how you are spending your money when orders decline (like putting off a big capital expenditure), but you should not recklessly begin cutting budgets that can help you to capitalize on the recession (we’ll give you tips as to how in later posts).

Your business is always in survival mode. If you weren’t, you wouldn’t survive, would you? In the good times, you work to expand your business. What’s different about a recession? It provides you with different opportunities – that’s all. The businesses that fail in a recession probably weren’t the ones that were experiencing exponential growth during economic boom times. Business success more than anything else, is about one thing: Effort. That doesn’t change depending on the conditions of the greater economy. If you are truly interested in your business surviving a recession – truly passionate about what you do – you will apply yourself in order to make it happen.

The point is that you don’t need to merely survive a recession. Instead, you should focus on trying to increase your business through creative means. Next week, we’ll post some tips here to help you make this happen. In the meantime, feel free to continue this discussion with your recessionary myths in the comments section below or on Twitter @tuggl!

Best,

Josh Clauss, Communications Guy

On Monday night, @TugglMatt and me (yeah, that’s right – “me,” not “I.” Problem?) went to discuss some issues with Denver small business owners and the Mile High Business Alliance at the Tattered Cover on Colfax. This was an eye-opening experience for both of us. We’ve both been reading plenty about small business troubles in the recession, but here was the chance to get the news straight from the horse’s mouth. It’s not good.

Because many of these Denver proprietors are the ones we hope to be helping out with our platform, it was especially heart-wrenching for us to hear exasperated Denver small business owners tell stories of their businesses struggling to get sales into the triple digits in a day.

Tuggl is on the way to help these businesses gain exposure and differentiate themselves from competitors, but until then we’re asking the Denver community to do what they can to spend dollars locally as much as possible. Finances are tightening for everybody, no doubt. But the next time you go shopping, for whatever you’re looking for, try to visit one local shop before going to a big retailer. You might be surprised of the value, and in spending that money locally, you’re helping Colorado’s economy to recover more quickly than it might otherwise. (Plus, imagine not having to wait in line for 20 minutes behind screaming children at a Wal-Mart. Nice, huh?) People often forget that acting doesn’t necessarily mean having to do hard work. You can act with your money, and that’s better than nothing.

In the meantime, Tuggl has written a white paper called “Is there anything that my small business can do about the recession,” and we will be offering the content through a series of blog posts over the next couple of weeks with no commitment necessary. Hopefully, we can lend small businesses advice on how to not only survive this economic downturn, but to actually use it to your advantage and make 2009 your biggest year ever.

And next time we need some cheese for taco night, we’ll head to the nearest local food retailer instead of the supermarket.

-Josh Clauss, Communications Guy

We had a general meet ‘n’ greet, and talked for a little while about Denver/Boulder/Fort Collins’s…’s edition of the ReDirect Guide, which is an awesome resource and much more robust than you expect. Matt’s exact words were, “I was expecting a pamphlet.” This is no pamphlet. It’s a book-bound (and of course recycled and recyclable) “guide” in the truest sense of the term. You can get one at any of these locations around Denver (for FREE), or if you’re far too comfortable on the couch, you can have one sent to you at the cost of shipping alone. Then again, it’s all on the webernets, too, so it might be easier just to do that. Since a new edition of the Guide is released on April 22nd (that’s Earth Day for those of you scoring at home), you might just want to web it up until then.

I think the coolest part about the print edition is the Edu-ma-cate section (“ma” added for dramatic effect), which has all of the reasons why using ReDirect businesses makes you a lot cooler than everyone else you know, and little ways to make yourself a world-saver. I think it’s great coffee-table/bathroom material.

What makes ReDirect Guide so cool? They personally interview every one of the businesses that apply to be in the Guide, and have no problem saying “no dice” to those businesses that aren’t on par with the requirements. Business owners come in and face the firing squad (I’m told by Sarah it’s not that bad, but I like to imagine it’s like an environmental interrogation), and are evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Fortunately for the readers, if everyone there knows even half as much about environmental sustainability as Sarah, then you can trust everything they tell you.

I think there’s a lot of ways Tuggl and ReDirect Guide can work together to improve Denver/Boulder (and Fort Collins, too, if you’re really ambitious like ReDirect). We’ll hopefully have more on this soon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3bW4C2Jg68&feature=related

It starts off by saying: “This is a car commercial but it’s not about cars, it’s about the people who buy them.”  For whatever reason, this opening line piqued my interest enough to partially tune in.  What I heard next was something I don’t think ever heard before from a company:

“By a new Hyundai, and if in the next year you lose your income, we’ll let you return it.”

Hyundai calls this their Assurance Program, I call it one of the best moves I’ve seen a company make in a long time.  Is there a better way a company can relate to the hardships their customers are having than to say “If you lose your job, you can bring back our product no questions asked”?  Thinking about some of the larger companies I buy products from, it’s laughable to think they would care about the circumstances that would lead me to be unable to continue paying for their product or service.  I’d love to hear the response from my cell phone service provider if I said I had to cancel my contract because I lost my job and then asked if they wouldn’t dock me the dozen or so fees associated with canceling service.

What an incredible (and unique) position Hyundai is taking: “We care.”  As they put it later on in the commercial:

“We’re all on this together, and we’ll all get through it together.”

They care because they are us.  And no one is coming through these tough economic times unscathed.  We are all affected, and Hyundai is making it clear to anyone who is listening that a car maker cares about more than the products they’re putting on the road, they care about the customers driving those cars.

I don’t follow market shares for the various car manufacturers, but I’d be willing to bet Hyundai’s offer will resonate in today’s market and lead to greater market share.  More importantly, I bet Hyundai doesn’t just sell some cars but also picks up a few customers for life along the way.

“MAJOR PROBLEMS: User development”

That was the beginning and end of the list. All of us here at Tuggl, above everything else, believe that we have a fantastic idea with incredible potential. Unfortunately, there have been plenty of great ideas that have come and gone without working out (for a good case study, Google WebTV, and then read what everyone was talking about at CES last week). In order to make sure Tuggl lives up to its potential, we have to make sure that we find a way to solve the web’s quintessential “chicken-and-egg” problem: Getting people to generate content when the reason they would come in the first place…is content.

It’s no secret that the way most sites handle this is by “convincing” consumers to write reviews with “money.” But is bribery really necessary? Tuggl set out to find what people knew about building online communities. The verdict? Not a whole lot. It’s not exactly a scientific process. But since we took the time to get these tips, and they don’t really seem to be collected in too many places, we wanted to round them up and corral them here for you (you can thank us in the comments).

1. Don’t be too ambitious

Napoleon, Hitler, the Roman Empire…history is littered with the failures of people who got in wayyy over their skis. Building a community is going to take time, and as they say, “patience ain’t no picnic.” (Or something like that.) The people who found your community aren’t stupid. They’ll know if you’re really interested in spending time with them or if you’re busy looking over their shoulder to find someone hotter to talk to.

If you’re really concerned with growing the community, do so incrementally by setting daily or weekly goals of new members to achieve. This way, you can spend time making each new member feel special and initiated.

Also, starting small gives your community a sense of exclusivity that can heighten the buzz around it. Facebook started as something just for college students. It stayed that way until it was pretty much inextricable from its users’ e-lifestyle, and then they opened it up to more people. Now it’s the eighth biggest country in the world.

2. Do you work for the company? You are a part of the community.

…In fact, you kinda work for the community. It’s “capital C” Crucial for any community worth creating to have a dedicated Community Manager, and it works even better if everyone plays the role every now and then. Be accessible – do your best to answer all of the questions people have, and give them new stuff to ponder. Also, be an actual person. People are bombarded with one-way messages from brands everywhere, and they’re dying to find a company that actually listens to them.

Consumers have more and more say now in how producers produce. Consulting your community before decisions are made, or at least giving them a forum in which to voice grievances and hear the company’s response (a direct, personal one) can endear your community even in the wake of an unpopular move. Engaging the community lets them know that they are helping to make what your business is. Richard Millington explains that this is the difference between the Facebook community and the Wikipedia community. The Facebook community focuses on individualism, while the Wikipedia community is focused on building something together. If your community feels as though they are accomplishing something by participating, then you have an active community that does your marketing for you.

3. It’s okay to sell in your community. Really, it is.

Just avoid being a shameless product-shilling suit (say that five times fast), and people actually will be fine with you offering things. The key, as always, is relevance. Make it about a really compelling deal on something they actually want, and it will strengthen the relationship. Constant bombardment with cross-promotional sales indiscriminantly passed on will kill it.

4. Make the Dunbar Number FUBAR.

The Dunbar Number is something that is repeatedly found in studies of communities, and specifically, it is the number at which communities tend to break down. Apparently it has something to do with the neocortex, but that doesn’t matter for our purposes. I don’t know if it’s actually clear if there is one true “number” (I think it might be 150), but there are essentially different sizes of groups that you want to avoid – namely the 9-15 range, the 55-80 range, and the 150′s. All purported Dunbar Numbers approximate.

The lesson here is that at some growth points, communities break down – people feel like they can’t contribute anymore or perhaps the group size is too daunting to try to insert themselves. So, the trick is to break the group down into smaller segments. Martin Reed, a really smart guy who writes about communities on his Community Spark blog, has a lot of good tips on how to do this.

5. Somewhere in the real world, your community already exists. Find it.

So they might not be actually meeting to discuss exactly what you’re doing, waiting for you to come along and sell them things. But if your business is providing a singular thing people want, there’s a high probability that these people are already doing some things similarly. Try to connect with them through these channels, and you’re much more likely to find active community advocates than through traditional marketing.

That’s it. Wisdom, courtesy of others, that I’m going to put my name on because I collated it. That, dear friends, is the beauty of being an editor.

More on the sources:

Richard Millington, referenced above, is super smart. His blog, FeverBee, is exclusively centered on community development, and his short, Seth-Godin-style digestible posts hold an inordinate amount of profundity and usefulness.

Christopher Allen is your go-to source for all this Dunbar Number stuff if your game is numbers. His blog is called Life With Alacrity, and that link will take you right to a 3-part series on communities. Convenient, eh? If you’re a fan of books on tape, here’s a podcast featuring him on the same subject.

I’ve already mentioned Martin Reed, but I haven’t talked about Tiffany Childs of Yelp and Tim Poindexter (@6oclockvintage) of Disaboom who gave some good stuff during a Mile High Social Media Club gathering (bonus points to Mrs. Childs for attending Tuggl’s Community Managers event at Dazzle). Also, Jeremy Tanner
(@penguin) of Startup Weekend made some extraordinary efforts to help us strategerize this mess. Thanks to all.

Homework: We couldn’t find any case studies of successful communities and how they started. Anybody got any good ones to share? Did we leave any tips out? If Facebook WAS a country, which continent would it be on? What would it be shaped like? Where would they place in the World Cup?

“Where your gifts coincide with the crushing needs of the world, there lies your vocation.”

This was a quote from Jim Wallis, founder of the Sojourners Magazine.  Whether you believe in Christianity or not, this is a remarkable quote.  On an individual level it’s a roadmap to personal and professional fulfillment, but on a global level it’s the key to a more perfect world.

To me, the most powerful word in this simple statement is “crushing”.  I suddenly feel a sense of pressure coming down on me and wonder if I’m exerting enough force to alleviate that pressure.  That one word is a both a wake-up call and a call to action.

We each possess our own unique gifts.  For some, it’s the interpretation of the law.  For others, the ability to develop streamlined software.  And still for others, the wisdom to educate the next generation.  But in any case we must ask ourselves one simple question:

Am I utilizing my gifts to alleviate the crushing needs of the world?

If the answer is yes, we’ve not only found our vocation but our life’s calling.  In fact, if the answer is yes I truly believe we won’t feel like we’ve worked another day in our life.

Giving Back vs. Giving Forward

Companies fall into 2 categories: those that give and those that don’t.  But within the sub-group of companies that give, there are 2 distinct types of givers:

• Companies that give back
• Companies that give forward

Many companies ‘give back’ because of a sense of owing something to the community that birthed their success.  The notion of giving was secondary, and in fact, the act itself only occurred because of their monetary success.

Other companies ‘give forward.’  By this I mean that giving is a part of their corporate ethos from the start, and the act of giving doesn’t require previous monetary success.  For these companies, the very notion of success is entirely different.  Call it goodwill, call it triple bottom line accounting, call it whatever you want, but for these companies, a financial win without making a positive impact on this world is only a half-win.

More and more we’re seeing start-ups that are giving forward.  We’re seeing founders that understand that there’s more to success than money.  We’re seeing the impact that philosophy is having on both the companies that adopt them and the communities they’re impacting.

The headlines are littered with companies that are foregoing aggressive profit margins and instead choosing to give forward.  Hope Wine is one of my favorite examples.  They give 50% of their profits to causes around the world and readily concede they are breaking even because of it.  In my opinion, Hope Wine is destined for monetary success precisely because they’ve determined that their company’s success is measured by more than profits.  I have no idea about the quality of their product, nor their commitment to customer service, but given this pedestrian palette, next time I order wine online, I’ll be doing it through Hope Wine knowing that in some small way I’m making a difference.

So if you’re thinking about starting a company, or you already operate a company, I challenge you to re-examine the notion of success.  In doing so, if you truly believe making a greater commitment to the people in your community is a win, then making that commitment can only lead to success.