The 3 Ds Your Business Needs to Thrive

There are 3 D’s you need to help your business prosper: doers, donors, and door openers. The doers are the people you know will spend money with you. Casinos refer to them as whales. They have a lot of money, they love you and they will spend money to work with you or buy your product. These are the people who are guaranteed to buy every new product you create. They come religiously to your store every week to view and buy your latest finds. They are invaluable for their loyalty.

Donors are the people who will happily help you every time you apply for assistance. For the nonprofit business, they are the people who help you set up your charity event and stick around to help you tear it down 10 hours later.

As a for-profit company, these are the people who will take the time to review a product idea and offer constructive advice, they can be on your advisory board offering strategic advice, and they can review the article you are going to publish in a trade magazine. . . As freelancers we have the disadvantage of not having another person to exchange ideas with and no one to correct the article that we must send quickly. Donors are always ready to help and collaborate. They are an extension of your business.

Door openers are the people who introduce you to everyone. They seem to know the right person at the right time. These individuals know ‘the’ person or put you in contact with ‘the’ person who knows ‘the’ person. Door openers expand your network.

You must recognize and reward the 3D’s: doers, givers, and door openers. The reward and recognition can be as simple as a personal thank you, a quick chat when they attend your seminar, or a special product as a gift to build customer loyalty. It doesn’t have to be a lot, but you have to realize that these people are a big part of your business.

A successful business has a complete 3D network. Many individuals will be 2 of the 3D’s. Most of the people on my advisory council have grief roles: donor / door opener, donor / doer. Cultivate all the D’s.

Determine what you are to other business owners. Can you do more for another business? As we give of ourselves, our world expands.