Many times in situations involving making money it can be easy to fall into that mentality of taking everything for yourself without worrying about the others around you. The best typical examples are in a sales environment where it seems like everyone is in it for themselves as it is all about the numbers to increase your own bottom line.
When it comes to the mindset of a lot of business owners or self employed individuals, helping others to grow can be rewarding personally as well as creating the possibility of it generating even more business for yourself. I guess a good crosslink example would be a real estate agent and a mortgage broker.
For example, the mortgage broker could just say who cares if that real estate agent gets a deal or not as it is not his concern. But when you think about it, the more deals that the real estate agent gets the more possibility that his customer would need services from him as well. While that doesn’t necessarily mean focusing specifically to help the person in a dedicated fashion, keeping it in mind to help them grow as well can be a good thing.
Do you risk having that guy turn around afterwards and not returning the favor when the situation is reversed? Yes, of course. But in general, it’s always good to keep in mind too that everyone at some point needs help and by establishing a relationship with others you can increase the likelihood of receiving help when you need it as well.