Wanted to keep up the highlight of Christian Companies that are doing it. This week BBC News reported about a Christian bookstore celebrating 35 years in business without one year of loss. Not one year?? Wow!
The founders, Miriam Ogden and Gillian Lester, said their economic record is because of God’s Hand on their business. According to Ms. Lester:
“We always say thank you Lord and if anything goes wrong we always say ‘Lord it’s not our business, it’s yours’.”
Couple that with the fact that all the workers are unpaid…this leads to a great success story. They’ve used all profits to plow back into the business or into helping the people of the town. I don’t know which is more amazing: 35 years without a loss or plowing back the profits into the town?
The Business Benefits of Gratitude
It’s amazing what gratitude can do in the life of a person. But it’s also been well documented what it could do in the life of a business. For instance:
- In one study by the Journal of Marketing (subscription only) it was found that customers of a jewelry store who were called and thanked showed a subsequent 70% increase in purchases. In comparison, customers who were thanked and told about a sale showed only a 30% increase in purchases, and customers who were not called at all showed no increase.
- In another, waitresses who simply wrote “thank you” on the check before handing it to customers received on average 11% more tips than those who didn’t.
“Well Mike that doesn’t sound like much?”
Oh. Well…I guess you don’t need your customers to make a %70 increase in purchases. What was I thinking?? 
Physical Benefits
Oh…and lets not forget the physical benefits as well.
Sometime ago two professors did a systematic study on the benefits of a grateful life, what they found was astonishing! The subjects who were consciously grateful:
- Felt better about their lives as a whole
- Were more optimistic
- Were more energetic
- Were more enthusiastic
- Were more determined
- Were more interested
- Were more joyful
- Felt stronger about handling challenges
- Exercised more (nearly an hour and a half more per week!).
- Had fewer illnesses
- Got more sleep
- Made progress toward important goals
- Were more likely to have helped someone else
- Were perceived by others as more generous and helpful
- Were less envious of those with more possessions
- Were less cluttered
Wow! And you’re not thankful because…?
Is gratitude something you give freely and often? If not, why not?
This post was written by...
Michael – who has written 77 posts on The Simple Strategies for Startups Blog.
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
This post is so true and strikes so close to home. Things were getting pretty hectic in my life and, although I have so many things to be thankful for, I was increasingly irritated by all the little things. So, I decided to reprogram myself. Last week, I concentrated and meditated on compassion, thankfulness, and gladness for 20 minutes each day. It was pretty easy. I just thought about my family, friends, and acquaintances for 20 minutes solid.
It paid dividends. After that week, I’m more relaxed, focused, and calm. The little things aren’t bothering me as much anymore. I’m amazed at what simply being grateful for what I already had did for my mental state.
Now that Bill is an awesome testimony. Thanksgiving does a lot for people…and obviously your experience testifies to that. Thanks for sharing!