According to Dun & Bradstreet* reports, “Businesses with fewer than 20 employees have a 37% chance of surviving four years and only a 9% chance of surviving 10 years.”
I believe that the primary cause of these staggering statistics is that too many people go into business for the wrong reasons.
For me, there are only two reasons why you would start a business: firstly to make money and secondly to make a difference.
Making Money
Business is a financial game. People who are very good at business understand that business is all about delivering returns to the shareholders. As the Director and CEO of your own business you have a fiduciary duty to yourself as a shareholder to build a business that delivers maximum returns to you. To look at it any other way is letting emotions get ahead of business.
Making a difference
And yet a business that cares only about money is a business without a soul. Your business is also there to fulfil a purpose, to add value and make a difference to the lives it touches, whether those people are customers, employees or beneficiaries of the higher purpose your business serves.
There is a fun irony to this concept if you can really grasp it. If your business is truly focused on making a real difference to as many people as possible, you will attract more people to you. The more people you attract, the more successful you become and the more people you make a difference to. It’s a wonderful win/win concept.
Combine the concepts of making money and making a difference and you will build a business that will not only make you rich, but make you feel like a million dollars too!
Are you in business for the right reasons?
I hope so!
*Dun & Bradstreet is a public company that licenses information on businesses and corporations for use in credit decisions, business-to-business marketing and supply chain management. D & B maintains information on more than 205 million companies worldwide.
From the desk of Liber8me. Small business mentors and publisher of Liber8 your Business: The revolutionary planning technique that will set every small business owner free