Personal peace - and profit

Today, there is a sense of things changing so radically that nothing will ever be the same. People believe we are in the midst of a big change, to the point where some are even preparing for an "escape," should one be needed.

I'm not talking about fringe survivalists. I'm talking about the types of people I work with every day: CEOs and entrepreneurs. People who run successful companies, people with employees and families and mortgages.

They are, in a word, decidedly unpeaceful right now. They are concerned, fearful, hesitant. They're still running their businesses, but at the same time, constantly looking over their shoulders or out to the horizon, trying to figure out what is going to happen next.

There are also a lot of gurus out there, selling high-profit methodologies to worried entrepreneurs. Their main focus is your individual productivity, combined with the right combination of Internet marketing techniques. If you listen to the right gurus, their courses contain a lot of useful information. But there's also a common thread. The main benefit they sell is Your Profit. How you can increase your profits, how you can make more profit while working less, and so on.

None of us in business would argue with that goal. Profits pay for the growth of the business, for the mortgages and the college educations, and the retirements. Profits allow us to hire other people and give them the money they need for their mortgages, college educations, and retirement. There's nothing inherently wrong with profit.

Is there such a thing as "bad" profit? I would say yes. Profits that come as a result of deception are a good example of "bad" profits. Actually, it's not the profit that's bad, it's the action leading to the profit. On a personal level, the better you feel about what you're doing, the sweeter the profits.

So there is a fear among business leaders about the future, and there is a basic human need for purpose-driven life.

I will let others in the blogosphere talk about all of the things that are changing. What I'm going to do today is talk about what hasn't changed. More specifically, I'm going to talk about how you can get your inner peace back and increase your profits at the same time. Peace with profits. Profits with peace.

If you have no fear, and are leading a purpose-driven life, you are at peace. Your work is more satisfying. One action leads smoothly to another. Opportunities arise that seem "just right" for where you are and what you're doing. You learn new lessons every day. Those who work for you enjoy working for you, and don't want to work for anyone else. Your customers are happy to pay you, and are receptive to new products and services.

It's been tough for CEOs and entrepreneurs to find this kind of peace lately. Part of the problem is the high number of distractions, dominated by the latest "urgency" in Washington, and the explosion of social networking. Part of the problem is tight operating capital, and customers who are being much more cautious while making their buying decisions (they, too, are being affected by bad news and by increased networking).

That's the picture of the problem. What's the solution? Where can peace be found in the middle of all this? Peace AND profits?

As the saying goes, the bluebird of happiness is in your own back yard.

It doesn't matter what the economy - or Washington - is doing. It doesn't matter how many new ways you have to communicate with other people. It doesn't matter which methods are being touted by which gurus as the most powerful way to sell. It doesn't even matter what your competition is doing. It doesn't matter what you think you should be doing, or what your employees think you should be doing.

All of these things pale in comparison to the one thing that matters, the one thing that will drive your perception of all those other things, that will help you guide your business through a minefield of regulations and distractions. The one thing that matters is this:

What have you done to help a customer today?

Customers flock to businesses that take care of them. I'll say that again, because it's really important. Customers flock to businesses that take care of them.

This is true no matter what is being sold, how "hot" or "old" the industry is, how many players are in that niche, how aggressively companies market, and on and on. Nothing matters as much as this one, overriding concept.

People buy products and services. People know when they are being taken care of and when they're not. They know the difference between a CEO who gets up in the morning thinking, "How much more money can I get out of my customers today?" versus the one that is thinking, "How can I help my customers today?" If you are constantly helping customers - and this includes making your product or service easier to find, buy, and use - the money will come.

Money is a by-product that comes from helping people. If you set out to make money without helping people, you're going to crash and burn sooner or later, much like the dot-coms did. You can make a lot of noise without helping people, and get a lot of attention.

But, once people start coming to you for solutions, they better find the help they need - the help you promised. If they don't, they will feel cheated, and they will tell others.

Anyone can tell anyone anything now, in the age of the Internet. I have a client who has a competitor who tells terrible lies about my client. Secret shopping activity has confirmed this. However, just recently, a customer posted his experience - and described his disgust - with the competitor's product, on one of the main consumer opinion sites. Not only did he vent his anger at the competitor, but he talked about how he switched to my client's product and how wonderful everything was.

This client, like my other clients, is one of those people who gets up in the morning asking himself, "How can I help my customers today?" His customers rave about his product and his tech support. Yes, he's a very busy guy. But he is peaceful. His products and his people are helping other people.

The Internet has changed the way we do business. It is a radical, across-the-board revolution, much like the Industrial Revolution. The Internet has also given governments new ways to affect businesses. Those lines are being redrawn even as I type this. Meanwhile, we must continue to do business, to prosper, to profit. And we must be able to do this with a clear conscience and a sense of hope and purpose.

Our own customers are holding the lamps we must use to make our way through these new pathways. Be guided by those lamps. They show the way. Never stop talking to your customers, finding out what they really need, and then figuring out how to give it to them. No matter what happens, this is the literal light at the end of the tunnel. This is the secret to personal peace - and profits.