Don’t get me wrong, I’ve got lots of hobbies and interests outside of business. I love my aquarium and fish keeping that I have been doing since I was a little boy. There are few things in life which give me more joy than a trip to the theatre (I won’t even begin to tell you how many times I’ve seen Star Wars). I love most sports and in many ways, I live for holidays with my family and enjoy travelling all over the world.
But none of these things has anything to do with building my business
If my business did not make any profit, then I could not afford to provide value for my customers or invest in the future of either of those things. Every business should operate with the intention of creating profitable revenue. But, unfortunately, there are far too many that don’t regard making a profit as being important. In fact, some of them would even go as far as considering profit to be a dirty word that they are ashamed of needing.
If you fall into one of those categories, please bear with me a little longer. I am not saying that you can’t run a small enterprise that just pays for itself, simply because you enjoy it. Of course, you can. In fact, I love the idea that a person’s passion (or hobby) can become self-sustaining. I simply don’t consider that to be a business.
One dictionary definition of a business is ‘a person, partnership, or corporation engaged in commerce, manufacturing, or a service; profit-seeking enterprise or concern’. I would simply add to this description that, “there is no status quo – a business that is not growing is shrinking” meaning that the venture must be profitable.
Can money make you happy or not?
All I know is that money allows you to do things. Whether it is money, you have earned and use to look after and provide for your family, or profit within the business. When you have created a profitable business, it can be used to acquire better quality product and provide a higher standard of service. You could also choose to make charitable donations to support people that are battling unfair circumstances. Or you could invest in the next generation of young people or your own kids that are eager to support this great country of ours through business.
A profitable business supports the growth of the economy (I do not want to get too political – so I’ll leave that there) and helps the local community with jobs and services. There really is so much good that a well-run, income-generating, profit-making business can achieve. And yet still, many consider making profits to be immoral and unethical – especially in “our hobby” (I will just leave it at that due to the IP issues). It’s a debatable subject in “our hobby” but to me……it’s not where you coming from….it’s where you going with it.
Maybe this is not the accepted wisdom, but perhaps there is some good (dare I say happiness) to be found in running a successful business (making money) after all…
Getting back to hobbies…
Whatever you enjoy doing in your spare time, and however you like to spend your hard-earned wages, I sincerely hope that it does bring you happiness. I would also urge you to consider, however, how much good you could do by getting involved in some profit-making enterprise or other. You might just find that you enjoy that too and that it makes a genuine difference to your life and the lives of those you love the most.
