Soul Trader: Putting the Heart Back into Your Business

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

If your heart's not in your business, why are you? In the flurry of everyday deadlines, fire fighting and all the pressing demands on our time, it's easy to forget the real reasons we started our own business in the first place. Soul Trader helps you connect with your personal mission, values and passion to create a 'stand out from the crowd' business that enriches you both financially and emotionally. Discover the seven essential principles that will help you build a business sensitive to today's economic and social realities, one that is profitable, customer-focused and in tune with your own beliefs, needs and goals. Rasheed Ogunlaru tears off the jargon and delves into the beating heart of what makes businesses really work. Throw your heart into your business, it will pay dividends.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• About the author (p. ix)
• Preface (p. xi)
• Acknowledgements (p. xiii)
• Introduction (p. 1)
• 1 Clarity: Know who you are; walk your unique path (p. 9)
• Your journey: the balancing act of business (p. 10)
• What's your story? (p. 12)
• Your vision and values (p. 15)
• The supermarket of life (p. 20)
• Your passion, mission and purpose (p. 22)
• From strengths to threats - looking ahead (p. 26)
• Taking stock: three-minute business review (p. 37)
• Summary (p. 39)
• 2 Customers: Build a business they will love (p. 41)
• So what? (p. 41)
• Customer scenarios (p. 45)
• Seeing life through your customers' eyes (p. 52)
• In sight, in mind, in heart (p. 56)
• Know the numbers (p. 60)
• Staying in love (p. 66)
• Summary (p. 68)
• 3 Courage: Utilize your inner strength (p. 69)
• Your virtual mentors (p. 73)
• Self-belief and your personal journey (p. 75)
• Courage starting a business (p. 76)
• Courage growing a business (p. 82)
• The attitude of an athlete (p. 87)
• From fear to flow (p. 88)
• Summary (p. 89)
• 4 Cooperation: Boost your business through relationships (p. 91)
• Everything is related (p. 91)
• Desire, fear and relationships (p. 95)
• Building your business through relationships (p. 98)
• Unleash your network (p. 100)
• The art of utilizing your network (p. 104)
• Personable, professional, delivering (p. 107)
• From not working to effective networking (p. 110)
• Swapping skills, sampling and sharing (p. 113)
• Advance with associates (p. 115)
• The boost of a business partner (p. 117)
• Hiring and inspiring staff (p. 119)
• Get it right; seek help and advice (p. 122)
• Summary (p. 123)
• 5 Conversations: How to convert contacts into customers (p. 125)
• The psychology (p. 128)
• Are you even having conversations at all? (p. 130)
• Building your business through conversations (p. 131)
• From cold calls to warm calls (p. 138)
• Deeper networking (p. 140)
• Social media: the conversation generation (p. 141)
• The art of effective business conversation (p. 143)
• Serve, don't sell (p. 146)
• Transformational conversations (p. 147)
• What conversations should you be having? (p. 149)
• 10 new pieces of business (p. 150)
• Summary (p. 152)
• Conversation pieces (p. 152)
• 6 Creativity: The magic mix of inspiration and action (p. 163)
• Be at your best (p. 165)
• Use your time and energy wisely (p. 174)
• Managing and nurturing your creativity (p. 176)
• Magical marketing mix (p. 178)
• Two-page business plan (p. 179)
• Getting to grips with your year (p. 186)
• The tools and tricks that you use (p. 188)
• Creating the right business model for you (p. 192)
• What's going to work for you? (p. 200)
• Framework and flexibility (p. 206)
• Fun time, family time and free time (p. 208)
• Summary (p. 209)
• 7 Compassion: How to truly take care of business (p. 211)
• If your heart isn't in it, why are you? (p. 211)
• What's love got to do with it? (p. 212)
• Love you, love what you do and love others too (p. 215)
• Take care of you; take care of business (p. 216)
• Compassionate courage (p. 220)
• Building your business from the heart (p. 221)
• Compassion is contagious (p. 225)
• Try a little tenderness (p. 227)
• Leadership from the heart (p. 228)
• Put your heart into everything you do (p. 229)
• Summary (p. 230)
• 8 Change: How to face, shape and embrace it (p. 231)
• All change (p. 232)
• Facing, embracing and shaping change (p. 234)
• Awareness, acceptance and appreciation (p. 237)
• Where's the flow going? (p. 239)
• Change your perspective (p. 240)
• Making changes (p. 240)
• Take the rough with the smooth (p. 241)
• The absence of content (p. 242)
• All intertwines (p. 242)
• Entrepreneurial evolution (p. 243)
• 10 things that may need to change (p. 246)
• Mindful business (p. 247)
• Index (p. 251)