If you think the role of your business is to help people with the products and services that you offer, you’re dead wrong.

I struggled with this concept for years, but now I see things totally differently.

Many business owners believe that their products or services help their customers in some way.

For example, a financial services adviser may think he is in the business of helping people with their finances.  A doctor may think that he is in the business of helping to heal people.

Although these statements may seem like common sense, there is an inherent flaw with them.

If you believe that you’re in the business of helping people, you’re making two assumptions:

1. People need help.
2. Your business can help them.

What I’m about to explain may seem like I’m just arguing semantics, but the deeper meaning is very important.

Many of the top minds in philosophy, spirituality and science, as well as authors of books such as A Course in Miracles, The Power of Now, Power vs. Force etc. have expressed the concept of the world and the universe as being already “perfect” in its current state.

I remember listening to Dr. David Hawkins one day and he was talking about how the world, in it’s current state is perfect exactly as it is right now.

It may seen cruel to think such a thing considering all the pain and suffering we see in the world, but he explains that the world is the way it is for a reason.  The reason is to provide us with the contrast we need for the conscious evolution of our spiritual selves.

Although I must admit the full understanding of this concept is still beyond the grasp of my mind, the way I understand it is that the world is “perfect” but “incomplete”.

Think of an acorn that will eventually grow into an oak tree.  If you saw an acorn, would you say that it’s “broken” or “imperfect” because it hasn’t grown into an oak tree yet?

No, there is a natural progression for an acorn to grow into an oak tree.  We can say that an acorn is already perfect, long before it grows into an oak tree.  It is simply a perfect acorn.  Once it grows into an oak tree, it will then be a perfect oak tree.  We wouldn’t judge or label an acorn as “imperfect” just because it hasn’t yet completed its life cycle into becoming an oak tree right?

This is how I understand the concept of our world already being “perfect” the way it is.  We are evolving as a human race and even though there is suffering and pain, it is the natural progression of our evolution and it is perfect.

If you’ve never heard of this concept, I highly recommend reading some of the books I’ve mentioned above.

Getting back to business now, how does this relate to helping people?

Well, if the world is already perfect, then how can we be in business to “help” people?  That would imply trying to fix something that’s broken, and the world isn’t broken.

As a financial adviser for example, you’re not here to “fix” someone who is currently broke and to “help” them become someone who’s wealthy.

As a doctor, you’re not here to “fix” someone who has a disease.  You can’t fix them because they’re not broken in the first place.

When we think that we are in the business of “helping” people, what ends up happening is that we start looking around seeing EVERYONE as needing our help.

A financial adviser will look around and see everyone around them doing “wrong” things with their finances and they’ll try to offer their advice to everyone in an effort to “help” them get “fixed”.

I struggled with this in my businesses as well.  The minute you create a product or offer a service, you begin to feel frustrated by the fact that there are so many people who you believe need your help, but most don’t want it.

You try to coerce them into buying whatever it is you’re selling and that gets you nowhere.

Instead, I’d like to offer an alternative point of view.

Instead of trying to help people or fix people, try participating in the process of them helping themselves.

No financial adviser has ever helped anyone with their finances.  They simply participated in the process of the client helping themselves.

No doctor has ever helped a person heal.  They simply participated in the process of the person healing themselves.

Like I said – it may seem like I’m arguing semantics here, but the deeper meaning of what I’m trying to explain is very important.

Structure your business, and especially your marketing to attract and connect with people who would like to have you participate in the process of achieving whatever outcomes your products or services produce.

Think about it.  Have you ever successfully helped anyone to get out of debt, or to lose weight, or to quit smoking, or to get in shape or to make money?  How well did it work out for you?

Most people who come to you looking for your help, give away their power to you and think that you will be able to do it for them.

Don’t bother trying to “help” anyone with anything.  When they’re ready to help themselves, just be there to participate in the beautiful process that unfolds.

When someone is ready to lose weight, you can be there to participate in the process.

When someone is ready to heal, you can be there to participate in the process.

When someone is ready to improve their finances, you can be there to participate in the process.

The more we try to “help” the more we weaken people by taking away their power.

How This Applies to Marketing

There are many ways this applies to positioning and marketing your business.

Consider the following two advertisements.  What kind of people does each one target?

1. “Weight Loss Miracle.  We’ll Help You Lose 20lbs by Christmas.”
2. “Ready to Lose Weight?  Call Today.”

Ok, these aren’t the best ad examples but do you see how Ad #1 will attract people who are just dying to give away their power to you to “help” them lose weight?  Do you think your business will actually be able to help them lose weight when they’re expecting you to do it for them?

Ad #2 targets a different person.  It’s targeting only those clients who may have already had other people try to “help” them and finally realized that nobody can “help” them with anything.  They have to be ready themselves.

It’s a subtle difference, but it positions your business in a totally different way.  You’ll probably attract less clients, but the clients you do attract will have much more success with your company because they already realized they are there to help themselves and you’re just there to participate in the process.

The same concept can be said about teachers.  Teachers aren’t there to teach anyone anything.  They are simply there to facilitate the process of someone learning something.

Some of the best teachers I’ve had in my life have been those who have structured their lessons in a way where I learned from them.  Some of the worst teachers I’ve had have been the ones who tried to “teach” me something.