DO AS YOU WOULD BE DONE BY
Charles Kingsley used the character ‘Mrs Doasyouwouldbedoneby’ in his book ‘The Water Babies’ to get across one of the most basic tenet of civilisation. That is that we should treat others as we would like to be treated ourselves.
Unfortunately society likes to complicate things; it’s a way of making those who venture new ideas feel important! Phrases such as ‘corporate social responsibility’ and ‘fair trade’ can be confusing and are flawed in one simple respect. They encourage us to support those around us, but forget to make it clear what’s in it for us.
Like it or not, people are basically self-centred and indeed, why shouldn’t they be? It’s only when you reach the higher layers of Maslov’s ‘hierarchy of needs’ that you begin to think about other people. You need to be warm, well fed and free of fear to even begin to recognise that altruism can exist. That’s not to say people are selfish; it’s merely acknowledging our natural biological being.
As an entrepreneur, you need to become very familiar with the concept of ‘do as you would be done by’. It is quite simply the way business is done. In other words, there’s no need to get hung up by those complicated acronyms and phrases others use to describe helping other people. It needs to become something you do naturally, spontaneously and all the time.
Every favour you do, every customer who’s expectations you exceed and every supplier you pay on time, spreads encouragement far and wide that you’re someone who needs to be treated fairly too. Social responsibility, fairness, honesty and enthusiasm all work two ways. They also need to apply to everything you do, not just some. In other words, if you delight half your customers but treat the rest like dirt, your business will not succeed.
I know only to well, that when your business is very young, very small, under threat or simply going through a rocky patch, it’s difficult to ‘do as you would be done by’ because you feel that life in general is doing you down. I don’t mean to sound too cheesy, or to suggest the impossible; you do need to realise that if your own back’s against the wall, you clearly might have less to invest in going that extra mile for others. This is OK, providing you do one thing. That is to own up to being afraid, at risk or simply feeling more vulnerable than usual. Acknowledge and share your shortcomings and others will help you. Hide the problem and start cutting corners, and you’re heading towards a precipice over which you will inevitably fall.
I’m sorry if this all sounds a little philosophical. It’s certainly not because I’ve just written a self help book either. It’s because I’ve seen time and time again, how people who are nice, do better than those who are nasty. I want you to see that and stop worrying about complicated notions like ‘fair trade’ and ‘corporate social responsibility.’ Here are ten ways you can make your enterprise a nice enterprise.
1. Smile and be cheerful – It sounds obvious, but nice people smile a lot. Everyone likes a person who smiles a lot. Furthermore, avoid moaning and complaining about what’s gone wrong. Be positive, be happy and you’ll be successful.
2. Listen to those around you – Our default setting is ‘self centred’. We all want to talk about ourselves and that’s quite natural. However doing as you would be done by means listening more than you speak. Take a real interest in your customers, suppliers and staff and they’ll warm to you and give you more than perhaps you deserve.
3. Support local traders – Everyone complains about the increasingly tight grip Tesco has on the High Street. Without wanting to sound political, the big supermarkets make large profits at the expense of their suppliers. Sure you can make money selling goods to these people, but only as much as they choose to let you have. If you have a small business, you almost have a duty to support other small businesses. Seek out the independent alternatives to the High Street giants.
4. Employ disadvantaged people – I don’t mean buy into the targets set by local bureaucrats that might encourage you build a workforce that accurately reflects the diversity in your neighbourhood. Rather you should employ people who you feel can do the job, but perhaps need a little extra help building their confidence and developing their skills. For example, did you know that in the UK, there are more people out of work because of a mental health problem than there are claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance. Give people a chance.
5. Go green – It’s easy now to calculate your carbon consumption, both as an individual and as a business. There are lots of websites that can help you do this. Make a point of reducing your firm’s impact on the planet and share this with all of your stakeholders. Remember it’s cool to trade with a green business. Remember too that as you grow your enterprise, your carbon footprint will grow. It is possible to grow the business and reduce the environmental impact. This is not easy, but the rewards in terms of market differentiation and publicity opportunities are countless. People want to buy green.
6. Develop empathy – I’m encouraging you to become a paragon of virtue in your business. However, it is inevitably that you will still encounter people who treat do not have quite the same values as you’re developing. In fact some people are just shits; there’s no other way to describe it. You have two choices in these cases. One is to simply walk away and choose not to engage with them. The second, is to try to understand why they feel and behave as they do. In fact my personal choice is to pursue both options!
7. Collaborate – Everything in our world is interconnected. Collaboration enables you to focus on what you do best and let others do the rest. Nobody owns customers, concepts or markets. Share, share, share. Pass on the projects that don’t suit you to others better equipped. Make sure they know when to reciprocate.
8. Invest in the future – Schools are increasingly seeking to develop the spirit of enterprise in their students. They have budgets to spend, resources to share and you’d be surprised by just how effectively groups of students can solve your business challenges. Working with schools is not a waste of time; it should be an essential part of your strategy. If your business trades locally, it’s even more important to work with schools; the parents are your potential customers.
9. Think social enterprise – There’s a new way to structure a social enterprise so that it delivers a commercial return as well as make a difference. Community Interest Companies are a new, flexible and exciting way of setting up joint ventures between a ‘for profit’ company and a charity. See what opportunities there are around the fringes of your marketplace to set up a social enterprise in partnership with others.
10. Under-promise and over-deliver – If you ignore every other tip on this list, I implore you to remember this one. We all like nice surprises and the more you surprise people, the better your business will fare. Always, always err on the side of caution when promising anything. Always, always do a little more than your customer, supplier, employee or neighbour expects. It’s as simple as that.
As you worked through the list, you will have noticed that many of the tips could be included in a list of ‘corporate social responsibility’ or ‘fair trade’ projects. By making them a list of things to ‘do as you would be done by’ activities, you keep it simple, you keep it understandable and above all else, you make it possible. Now you must go and make a start!
Robert Ashton is author of best selling books ‘The Entrepreneur’s Book of Checklists’ and ‘The Life Plan’. Visit www.robertashton.co.uk to subscribe to his new RSS feed. This will deliver a ‘tip of the day’ to your desktop every day of the year!
© Robert Ashton 2007