“Your true worth is determined by how much more you give in value than you take in payment. “
This is Pindar’s first “Law of Stratospheric Success” from The Go-Giver by Bob Burg and John David Mann, a book that explores the power of giving within realm of business. The five laws enclosed in that book have had an enormous impact on my life and have greatly influenced our approach to doing business here at Hownd.
We’ve taken this concept to heart and have made it one of the primary tenets that we review before every one of our all-hands meetings. We could probably recite it together, it’s so integral to our mission, but that might take it to a cultish level (though maybe that’s not such a bad thing in this case).
Every day we must strive to build value for our customers in everything we do. Or we shouldn’t exist.
This is not some near-sighted value statement that is meant for just our product team or just our customer success team. No, this is meant to be embraced holistically: Across the entire company. Truly everything we do must be focused on how it can ultimately provide and build value for our customers. Or it doesn’t get done. It doesn’t make the cut. Period.
Sure some things just need to get done (like taking out the trash or loading more paper in the printer), but even the minutiae can build value for our customers when viewed from a broader context.
We take our job, our mission, to generate increased revenue and repeat foot traffic so seriously that we’d rather lose a customer than have a local business pay us for something that ultimately doesn’t provide the value that we claim it will or believe it should.
At Hownd, we will always strive to provide more value to our customers than we ever receive in payment. This is our first promise to ourselves and the guiding light that keeps our bearings straight as we sail ahead.
Onwards and Upwards,
Brandon Willey
CEO, Hownd
