By Philip Walter Smith
I have a very simple mission for my life: Help people build assets, create jobs, and raise their standard of living.
I learned a long time ago that if I can help others, my financial rewards will always be greater than what I expected. My clients and friends made money from my guidance and assistance. Those clients and friends then came back to me for more assistance. As a result, my income multiplied because I helped them.
You may help someone today and nothing happens for years. But then, all of a sudden, that person may be back in your life and helping you in some way. Let me give you some examples of how someone will come back into your life and help you.
In 1970, a chiropractor with a business in Scarborough had a son of about 16 years old. He asked me if I might be able to find him a summer job when I was Treasurer of Scarborough Downs. I was able to organize a job for him and he worked all summer.
Later that year, the chiropractor was involved in a real estate transaction where he bought some property along Route One plus another residential property behind it on 1st Avenue. Part of the residential property was carved out to make the frontage on Route One more of a rectangle. The frontage property was sold to Texaco.
At the request of the chiropractor, the remaining residential property was sold to me at a below-market price. I was able to get a mortgage and that was the first home I ever owned.
That was one example of helping someone without expecting anything back. And the doctor later came back to help me buy my first home.
In 1972, the same doctor and real estate broker were involved in another transaction with Texaco in Saco. The frontage was all Texaco wanted. The property had a very old farmhouse and an attached barn. The property was partitioned and the frontage sold to Texaco. The house and barn were moved to a parcel on Woodland Avenue.
As part of that transaction, the doctor sold the remaining property to me for my second home. We sold the first property and moved into the Saco property.
The second example was helping someone with a successful transaction. I didn’t expect anything from helping the doctor but he came back to help me again.
In the 1970s, I was working in Scarborough in my financial and tax consulting business. The chiropractor was one of the first clients of that business. He referred more than a dozen people to me which helped my business grow. Another example of never expecting anything when you do something for someone. You never know when your actions will be rewarded.
Another example is the opportunity given to me by a bankruptcy judge in Bangor. I had worked on one successful reorganization. I was also the court-appointed accountant in other Chapter XI bankruptcy cases. When that first case was completed, the judge sat down beside me for lunch at a restaurant in Bangor.
He asked me if I would be willing to act as trustee in regular bankruptcy cases to liquidate the estates of the debtor. After three days of studying the books he gave me, I agreed. The next day I received fourteen cases which would be heard in court on the following day in Bangor.
Over a three-year period, I closed more than 300 cases. I developed a reputation as being the best trustee the court had ever worked with. And I had the highest recovery rate of any of the trustees working in Maine.
I have helped many people during the past sixty years in business. I never expect anything back. However, I do know sometimes I will be rewarded in the future and that is good enough for me.
Philip Walter Smith is an author, public speaker, and member of the Scarborough Chamber of Commerce. For more information, go to PhilipWalterSmith.com.
