BBB clients

A bit of a moody one from me today because I ended up in a rather rude and judgemental exchange with somebody when I was doing a little bit of LinkedIn networking. Needless to say, the conversation didn't last very long, but it kind of triggered me and I just wanted to chat about that today.  

So as a business, we offer three tiers. We work with three tiers of business, only ever service-based businesses, that's what we specialize in, but we work in tiers.  

We work with start-ups, to help them get off the ground quickly and effectively, we work with businesses who are looking to hit their first 100k revenue, and we work with businesses who are six figures - so typically 100k to half a million - looking to scale their business.  

And in this particular case, I was talking about the 100k to half a million. And what came back was some quite full-on judgment about the fact, and I'm paraphrasing, but pretty much quoting, that I'm only interested in the cross section of the market that sits around counting their money, whilst looking for more ways of generating money.  

I thought that was quite an interesting judgment of not only me and my business and what I do, but also my clients, which was the bit that triggered me the most. So I just wanted to set the record straight about my clients at that level, who they are, and what they do.  

First of all, every single one of the people that I work with at that level is completely heart-centred. They are trying to make a difference in this world. They take a genuine interest in their clients and what they can do to help their clients grow and develop. And, for me, they are the future of what business should be about in terms of customer care and looking after their clients.  

Many of their clients, by the way, are small businesses as well, so it's a knock-on effect. Most of those businesses, whilst it's easy to assume that they're just taking that money home, most of those businesses have invested significantly in technology, in infrastructure, in business systems and processes, in order to deliver quality service to their clients. Many of those businesses, and this is key, employ teams.  

So whilst it's easy to assume they just take that money home, actually, a lot of that revenue goes into other people, into their homes. They not only create incredible environments for individuals to grow and develop, but they're also creating environments with things like flexible working and flexible hours, to allow people to manage their private lives better. Again, the future of how I think business should be run.  

Plus of course, the income that then goes into those families to feed the children, for example. For me, as well, and this is where I think we need to have a bit of reflection, small business is the lifeblood of our communities, of our societies, and they contribute a huge amount to what is a struggling economy right now.  

So instead of judging small businesses, let's collectively come together and really support these guys that are out there doing it, out there supporting other businesses, out there helping individuals to earn an income in a wonderful environment.  

Instead of judging them, let's support them. Let's get behind them and help them to grow the economy, because the better the economy is, the more we all benefit.  

So next time you feel like judging my members, and certainly that cross section of the entrepreneurial world, don't. Have a little think about what is going on with you that feels that you need to judge. Have a little look at what are some of the limiting beliefs that you might be holding, which are reflected in your judgment of the world.  

And that's me done for today.