This is a very positive thing you’re doing, and it sounds like you’re going to help a lot of people!
I’ve heard a few stories before about people who advertise the fact that they donate in the course of their work, and I’ve even tried it myself (as a freelance tutor). Results have been mixed:
It’s offputting to some people, either because it’s unusual and they don’t know how to respond or because they want to pay money for services, not “charity” (even if the price is the same either way).
On the other hand, this car salesman managed to make his giving into a positive way to interact with customers. Notably, he only talks about giving mid-deal, and only once people have expressed curiosity, rather than advertising his donations ahead of time.
Do you have a rough estimate of how much more you’d be able to donate through this unusual business structure, as opposed to if you just went into business and then donated money from your earnings? I haven’t seen this particular arrangement before, and I’m curious about the benefits.
Thanks for the link! Car salesmen are very similar to insurance salesmen in perceived ethics by the public for sure!
I honestly am not sure if the benefits are worthwhile or not. I find it an appealing idea but, as of now, do not understand the logistics well enough to know. I can’t tell from the article whether this salesman worked for a particular company or a used car lot or what? Hat’s off for his efforts regardless!
What I envision (realistic or not) is the following comparison. If you had a choice of buying any brand of car you want through A) the company that makes the vehicles (Ford, Chevy, Honda, etc) and or B) through an independent company that could offer all the exact same cars for the exact same costs and that donated all revenue above operational costs to charity … which would you choose?
One thing that is a little different in my current situation is that I am not longer a salesman in the sense that not only do I need to make sales every month to survive, I also have to grow a company which means paying overhead, reinvesting in marketing and hopefully hiring additional staff over time. The problem with donating a fixed amount of sales in that it is hard enough to grow a business with 100% of the revenue let alone with less. One of my thoughts with a non-profit is that I could retain the profits and use them to grow the company in the early years, building sort of a trust account that would be obligated to charity once the growth phase evened out. I’m not sure if it works like that or not though
This is a very positive thing you’re doing, and it sounds like you’re going to help a lot of people!
I’ve heard a few stories before about people who advertise the fact that they donate in the course of their work, and I’ve even tried it myself (as a freelance tutor). Results have been mixed:
It’s offputting to some people, either because it’s unusual and they don’t know how to respond or because they want to pay money for services, not “charity” (even if the price is the same either way).
On the other hand, this car salesman managed to make his giving into a positive way to interact with customers. Notably, he only talks about giving mid-deal, and only once people have expressed curiosity, rather than advertising his donations ahead of time.
Do you have a rough estimate of how much more you’d be able to donate through this unusual business structure, as opposed to if you just went into business and then donated money from your earnings? I haven’t seen this particular arrangement before, and I’m curious about the benefits.
Thanks for the link! Car salesmen are very similar to insurance salesmen in perceived ethics by the public for sure!
I honestly am not sure if the benefits are worthwhile or not. I find it an appealing idea but, as of now, do not understand the logistics well enough to know. I can’t tell from the article whether this salesman worked for a particular company or a used car lot or what? Hat’s off for his efforts regardless!
What I envision (realistic or not) is the following comparison. If you had a choice of buying any brand of car you want through A) the company that makes the vehicles (Ford, Chevy, Honda, etc) and or B) through an independent company that could offer all the exact same cars for the exact same costs and that donated all revenue above operational costs to charity … which would you choose?
One thing that is a little different in my current situation is that I am not longer a salesman in the sense that not only do I need to make sales every month to survive, I also have to grow a company which means paying overhead, reinvesting in marketing and hopefully hiring additional staff over time. The problem with donating a fixed amount of sales in that it is hard enough to grow a business with 100% of the revenue let alone with less. One of my thoughts with a non-profit is that I could retain the profits and use them to grow the company in the early years, building sort of a trust account that would be obligated to charity once the growth phase evened out. I’m not sure if it works like that or not though