In his book “A Legacy Driven Life: Live a Legacy to Leave a Legacy” Adil F. Dalal points out that on one’s tombstone, under the name, will appear a birth date, a date of death and a dash in between. A simple dash represents an entire life, however well lived.

To Dalal, a goal for all of us should be to change that dash to an infinity sign by leaving a legacy behind, something that will live on and continue to contribute to society. For small business owners who have spent a lifetime getting to know their trade, building a legacy might seem too difficult or time-consuming, but if you’ve built your business, perhaps you’re willing to go one step further and build something even more meaningful and long-lasting.

“Infinity means you’ll always be there,” Dalal said. “Though your physical presence is not there, you’ve left something behind. Life is not a 100-meter or 200-meter dash. It’s actually a relay race, so you should look at it from the standpoint of, how do I run far enough so that I can hand the baton to the next person, and they can then run it farther than I can?

“Mark Twain said, ‘The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.’ Once you find out why, the main goal you should think about is, how do I create something that will outlive me? That’s what it takes to build a legacy-driven business.”

Dalal outlined five principles for building a legacy through your business:

1) Know the purpose – pursue it. Identify your objectives in building a legacy and identify your own strengths as well as local groups and resources that can help you in your quest.

2) Winning is a habit – cultivate it. Set a high standard for yourself and your business, and hold yourself and your staff accountable.

3) There will be resistance – face it. Don’t allow a setback to prevent you from building your legacy. You’re in it for the long haul, after all.

4) Passion is a requirement – show it. In the same way that you pass on your passion for your business to your staff, show that your business’s contributions to the community are a priority, and your staff will follow suit.

5) The sky is the limit – reach for it. You and your business likely can contribute more to the community than you realize, so continue to search for ways to add to your legacy instead of putting a self-imposed ceiling on your contributions.

There is no shortage of ways in which a business can give back to the community, said Peter Economy, author of the book “Giving Back: Connecting You, Business, and Community.” And as a bonus, the recognition that comes from giving back can be a boon to your business.

Some prominent businesses that have built a reputation for giving back include the Warby Parker eyeglass maker, which donates a pair of glasses to the needy each time a customer buys a pair; Tom’s Shoes, which does the same with shoes and glasses; and the PetSmart and Petco pet-supply retailers, which provide in-store space for pet-rescue organizations to adopt out pets.

Economy said sponsoring youth organizations, like a Little League baseball team or a Girl Scouts troupe, is an inexpensive way to make a small difference over time. Many youth sports leagues put the names of sponsors on team uniforms, giving the local business some good publicity. Additionally, businesses can display team photos in their stores. Small businesses also can help to improve local sports facilities by donating a scoreboard for the baseball field or helping to renovate a recreation center.

“When I see local businesses supporting youth sports leagues and local groups, it makes me feel good about that business, so I want to send business their way,” Economy said. “You obviously want to do good just to do good, but the side benefit is that most of these organizations know that it’s sort of a two-way street, so they’re willing to offer some sort of recognition to the businesses, whether it be in a program that they print or with a sign along a fence in the outfield or along the boards on a hockey rink.

“As a retailer, you’re constantly looking for a way to differentiate yourself from your competition. Why is someone going to come to you? Giving back to the community is one way to set yourself apart.”

Other ways businesses can give back to the community include:

• Donate a small portion of profits to local charities, and put up a sign in your establishment letting customers know that their purchases are contributing to the greater good.

•
To the extent that your staffing levels allow, offer employees the option of spending one work day annually, quarterly or monthly performing community service as a team, perhaps at a soup kitchen or animal shelter. The time spent together outside of the office can be a good team-building exercise.

• Put a jar or other container next to the cash register with a sign encouraging customers to donate their spare change to a local charity. It adds up over time and shows that the business cares about the community.

• Donate a product or service, such as one year of free weekly carwashes, to a silent auction for a local charity. Even if most people don’t bid on that item, the donation puts the business’s name in front of the public in a positive light. And you just might earn a new loyal customer who wouldn’t have visited your carwash if not for winning the auction. And if that customer recommends your business to a friend, there’s the potential for a real multiplier effect.

• Look into the possibility of having your business be a local dropping-off point for goods such as gently used clothes, eyeglasses or canned food. And consider offering a small discount to any customer who donates a can of food. Local charities will appreciate the contributions, and you just might increase foot traffic at your store.

• Cast a wider net when it comes to your hiring practices. To the extent that the position allows, consider hiring someone with a mental or physical disability, or someone who has committed a nonviolent crime and is finding it hard to get a second chance. And it’s well known that many combat veterans are having a hard time finding work and transitioning back into civil society after their service.

Economy said local charities and support groups often provide job coaches and will work with employers to identify the right candidate for a position and to ensure his success.

“Instead of just randomly going out and trying to hire someone with special needs, I would pair up with some of those organizations in your community that are well established and have a good track record,” Economy said.

“As a leader, it’s your job to find each person’s strengths and help them grow,” Dalal said.

Economy said the key to building a lasting legacy through your business is to focus on making small, easily repeatable contributions to the community over time, rather than devoting all of your efforts to one big contribution and then starting from scratch the next time.

“If you do one big thing and make a big splash, within just a few weeks, people have already forgotten about it, and you’re back to square one,” he said. “So, it makes a lot more sense, if you’re going to create an annual budget for things like this, to divide it up into pieces and do something small every month. The more often you do it, the more people will remember it, and the more likely you are to be able to continue giving back over time.”