The Only Long-Term Business Approach That Brings Outstanding Success

There is no conflict between working to maximize your profits in business, and working to benefit your consumer to the maximum. Quite to the contrary.

Once you realize that the only long-term approach that can possibly be successful is to deliver the maximum value so that you get repeat and ever-growing business, well, it makes good sense. Delivering the most you can in the time that you have, providing more of what your customer wants, is going to maximize your profits.

Now, I know in this particular epoch, we're at a high tide of anti-business sentiment. We're in a recession, and it's great to have a scapegoat, someone to blame this stuff on.

Those who are following and being led by certain factors, those who are sheeple, are going to believe this. They're going to buy into it, and they're going to talk about corporate greed—and maybe a certain portion of this is true.

You and I both know that there are dishonest politicians, there are dishonest business people, there are dishonest, fraudulent medical people. In fact, it's a human condition—there are dishonest people. But do you see what's happening? They're having their comeuppance.

I began this little episode by saying there is no discrepancy, no disparity for long-term gain. Long-term. You see, in the short term you can get a revolver and go out to a liquor store and grab a few hundred bucks… but that's not a long-term plan.
And neither is being dishonest or rapacious with your customers. No, no, no—you are enlightened. Oh, and I love this thing: honesty is the best policy.

You know, when they taught us that in school—by the way, I had a Catholic miseducat- I mean, a Catholic education—they taught us that in regard to morals. They taught us that to avoid the eternal damnation of our souls.

Now, I don't know where you stand on that, and I'm not coming down on that. What I'm saying is that from a common sense business point of view, honesty is the best policy. Going the extra mile is the best policy. As Henry Ford said, trying to figure out not how much you can get for a dollar, but how much you can give for a dollar, is the best policy.

Long-term, you will maximize your profits by delivering the most value that you can. And in that regard, you can surely see that there is no conflict, no disparity, between delivering maximum value to your customers and clients and maximizing your profits for yourself.