I was chatting to a good friend of mine recently who runs a really successful business – we hadn’t seen each other for quite a while so it was great to catch up.
We spoke about life, work, music, kids, getting old, favourite movies ..in truth we could still be there chatting!
We were having the usual conversation about how hard you have to work these days to be successful and he told me a story about one of his competitors who received the worst possible news a while back ….he had cancer and he needed time off for treatment.
That type of news puts everything into perspective ..
My buddies automatic reaction was to ring his competitor and offer him any help that he needed (in the background) to keep his show on the road.
While they were fierce competitors there was always mutual respect and unlike some of the other competitors (news leaked out about his poor health and customers were romanced) this was clearly not a circumstance to take advantage of.
Over a year later as this mans diagnosis was not good he decided it was best for the survival of the business and the protection of his team to sell on the business to a competitor.
There was only one bidder he seriously considered ….nice guys can win after all!
Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion
Tags: Fuzion PR, Greg Canty
Greg Canty Fuzion Blog 
April 16, 2013 at 9:32 am |
What a nice story indeed – really puts the faith back in humanity out there. I have to say I experienced the same type of story when my wife was recently diagnosed with Cancer. As a sole trader, her friends (in most cases competitors) offered to help to ensure her business continued. Now having just finished chemo, thanks to her friends her business continues to exist!
April 16, 2013 at 7:58 pm |
Conor – wow, I hope she is better now – well done to you, her and her special friends. Thanks for sharing that post.
April 16, 2013 at 11:11 am |
Lovely story and a nice reminder for us all.
April 16, 2013 at 7:56 pm |
thanks Amy
April 16, 2013 at 11:50 am |
What goes around, comes around. Thanks for the positive vibe Greg.
April 16, 2013 at 7:56 pm |
Noel – you’d like to think it always works out that way ! Cheers
April 16, 2013 at 2:08 pm |
Dont like the “winning” bit mabye reap rewards after all the really nice guy won nothing only six feet under!!!!!
April 16, 2013 at 7:55 pm |
at least the nice guys ended up reaping the rewards !
April 16, 2013 at 4:44 pm |
Well that is nice to hear, as sometimes you have to wonder.
April 16, 2013 at 7:54 pm |
Wouldn’t it be great if “nice” always came out on top ?
April 17, 2013 at 12:45 am |
What a great response from your buddy and it was encouraging to see his actions rewarded. In that time of difficulty for the person suffering from cancer it must have been a great relief for him to be able to not have to focus on his business.
April 17, 2013 at 7:21 am |
It’s not often we hear stories like this …
April 17, 2013 at 9:15 am
Absolutely – let’s hope there are plenty more out there.
April 17, 2013 at 9:29 am |
Nice to hear still some good in the business world, and in general!
April 17, 2013 at 7:37 pm |
Thankfully there is good out there – thanks for reading Tom
April 23, 2013 at 10:54 am |
A heartening perspective.