Plain and simple!

Think about it...

Regardless of what kind of business it is, regardless of whether it's selling a product or a service, regardless of whether it's doing business online or offline, if a business isn't making a profit it doesn't have any reason to exist, does it?

However...

Profit alone isn't enough.

*How* a profit is made has far more to do with the ultimate success or failure of a business than the profit itself.

You see...

In order for a business to make a profit, it must have sales. It might be sales of a product or it might be sales of a service. Either way, a business must have sales in order to make a profit.

And...

In order for a business to have sales, it must have customers - people who are willing to exchange their money for the business' product or service.

So...

Building a *highly* profitable business really boils down to getting and, more importantly, keeping customers... lots of them!

Now...

Here's the secret to getting and keeping customers, and thus the secret to building a *highly* profitable business...

In his classic masterpiece, "The Science of Getting Rich", Wallace D. Wattles wrote:

"... you do not have to get something for nothing, but can give to every man more than you take from him."

The key word here is *more*.

He continued...

"You cannot give every man more in cash market value than you take from him, but you can give him more in use value than the cash value of the thing you take from him."

"The paper, ink, and other material in this book may not be worth the money you pay for it; but if the ideas suggested by it bring you thousands of dollars, you have not been wronged by those who sold it to you; they have given you a great use value for a small cash value."

On the other hand...

Wallace D. Wattles continued...

"Let us suppose that I own a picture by one of the great artists, which, in any civilized community, is worth thousands of dollars. I take it to Baffin Bay, and by "salesmanship" induce an Eskimo to give a bundle of furs worth $500 for it. I have really wronged him, for he has no use for the picture; it has no use value to him; it will not add to his life."

"But suppose I give him a gun worth $50 for his furs; then he has made a good bargain. He has use for the gun; it will get him many more furs and much food; it will add to his life in every way; it will make him rich."

Therein lies the secret to getting and keeping customers, and thus the secret to building a *highly* profitable business...

Give every person with whom you deal more in use value than you take from them in cash value.

By giving every person with whom you deal *more* in use value than you take from them in cash value, you're *adding* to the life of the world with every business transaction, rather than taking away from the life of the world with every business transaction, and thus putting yourself in the way of increase.

Later in "The Science of Getting Rich", Wallace D. Wattles had this to say on the subject:

"You must so impress others that they will feel that in associating with you they will get increase for themselves. See that you give them a use value greater than the cash value you are taking from them."

"Take an honest pride in doing this, and let everybody know it; and you will have no lack of customers. People will go where they are given increase; and the Supreme, which desires increase in all, and which knows all, will move toward you men and women who have never heard of you. Your business will increase rapidly, and you will be surprised at the unexpected benefits which will come to you. You will be able from day to day to make larger combinations, secure greater advantages, and to go on into a more congenial vocation if you desire to do so."

Giving more in use value than you receive in cash value is the single, most important concept you could possibly apply to your business...

It's *the* secret to building a *highly* profitable business... one that'll last!

Copyright 2006 Tony Mase