Laws of Nature for Business
As I was watching Extreme Makeover Home Edition last Sunday, the team made a green home in line with the laws of nature for a family on the Indian Reservation. This home received electricity from the wind and heat from the sun so they had no utility bills. They also put plants on the roof so the roof would last longer. This got me to thinking - Can my business be aligned also with the Laws of nature? These are the rules that my business lives by (in no particular order).
1) Money and information are meant to be shared. I fully understood that the only way to receive is to give. If a person waits to give until they receive it will not happen. The law states that you have to give (as in giving to your church, a charity or helping each other by sharing information) from your heart with no expectation of receiving in order to receive your blessing. That is how I receive my blessings everyday.
2) New Blessings are only provided if we take care of the blessings already given. My first blessing was my mind and my second was my body. I take care of the blessing of my mind by learning everyday. As an overweight female with hypertension, I had not taken care of my body and I wanted to receive more blessings so I made a change. When I made the change to take care of my body, I received a blessing of removing hypertension and I was given a new lease on life. In that same regard, business ownership comes after home ownership. Most of us are not given the responsibility to grow a business until after we have learned to take care of home first. We have to show that we can be responsible for ourselves before we can be responsible for a business.
3) We (business owners) have to lead by example. One day, my baby sitter asked can the kids have soda. I said no way. When I returned home there were 4 empty soda cans in the house. I said I thought I said the kids couldn’t have soda? He said he wanted some so they wanted some. Just as we (business owners) want our community to support us, we (business owners) have to support each other. That is how we lead by example. If we don’t support ourselves why should anybody else?
4) My business is meant to serve. My relationship with my customers should be that I am here to serve them and by serving them, my business grows.
5) People (and businesses) can not work independently, we are all born interdependent on one another. Every person comes from a union of two people so all people are born into a support system. It is the support system that births an idea which blossoms into a business. Some of my closest allies are my competition. When I look in my cell phone (my most personal list) - UrbanPhilly, Support Black Businesses, Technically Speaking Radio, LadyBug Consultants, Savant Technology) are all available to me at the push of a button. My business keeps growing because of my relationships and I look to give back to the businesses who gave to me. That keeps the relationship mutually beneficial.
6) The only constant in life is change. There is no such thing as standing still. The global economy is making the world smaller and the digital age is not coming, it is here. If you are not connected to the digital economy, you are losing business. If my business is not adding new members every day then my business is dying.
7) Attitude is everything. A positive attitude will attract people, money and relationships to your business. In the same way, a negative attitude will push people, money and relationships away.
8) Support your own community. This one that should be spoken more often. Your community is more than just your race, it is your neighborhood, it is your city, and it is your country. As the global economy gets smaller, all the trade barriers are being broken which leaves my community (the United States) vulnerable to unsafe products (as the toys that contain high levels of lead from China). Just as the manufacturing products in the United States create jobs for U.S. citizens, buying products from Pennsylvania creates jobs in Pennsylvania, buying products in your neighborhood keeps creates jobs in your neighborhood.
It is through supporting DiversePhilly that we can all use the laws of nature to bring peace to mind, body and soul.