Most people go into business for money. It is nothing wrong with that as long as we all are expecting our businesses to make a living. But does a money goal stay at the root of a thriving business? Unfortunately, it seems that no, a money goal never makes a business thrive. Here’s a big contradiction which makes a lot of people struggle. The confusion appears until people understand how money is made in a business. The truth is that money comes when you are not expressly focused on it! Talking about business, Guy Kawasaki, the famous venture capitalist mentioned: “We meet with entrepreneurs all the time and they tell us what they think we want to hear, that they want to make money. When we hear that, it’s so depressing. It took me 20 years to come to this understanding, but the companies that are successful are the ones who create meaning. Create the next curve; don’t improve on sameness,” he said. “The one question you should ask yourself before starting any new venture: Do I want to make meaning?” (Guy Kawasaki: Advice for Making Your Venture Successful) So, what does it mean to create meaning? The answer is exactly the reason why we choose to make a particular business. We feel that in that way we can improve something, and we can change some people’s lives for the better. Of course how good (or poor) are we able to make this change happen will be measured in money. But money is there only to give us the means to implement our idea and to measure our success. Money has nothing to do directly with our idea. Our business idea and its meaning is the starting point and the ending point in judging a business. And this idea translates in purpose. What we want to do and why? By answering these two questions we already know our business’ purpose. Here lies the big secret of successful businesses.All thriving businesses are engaged in their purpose. Being engaged means much more than establishing a rational goal to accomplish something. When we are engaged in our business we put there a part of our heart and soul. We are ready to put there all our efforts and do our best to succeed in changing our customers’ lives for the better. We feel happy when our clients are happy with us. This is our ultimate satisfaction. I’m not saying that this is enough for a business to be profitable. It is not enough, but it is an essential starting point for any business to ever succeed. After the engaging purpose should come our business knowledge which will help us in effectively implementing our idea. This is part of science. But science alone will never make a business succeed. Before applying our business knowledge we need to have an engaging reason why we are in that business. Creating a Business: A Matter of Art and ScienceWhen I was a teen, I was dreaming to become a stage director or a filmmaker. I loved to go almost every evening to the theatre or cinema and I read a lot of books full of stories about the history of theatre and movie pictures.
Every fiction book I read I imagined how its action could look like on the stage, how the story could be transformed into a play or in a movie, how could the actors look like, and how could I create the scene. I was fascinated by the way theater and movies can tell stories making them look so real. I lived what was happening on the stage or in movies together with the actors. And I noticed that some plays and some movies did change something in my life and in the way I perceived things. Eventually I started to film some home movies and than became growing up in my "film and movie" career. I decided to run my own video production business. We opened a corporate video production in Toronto, Canada, called ArtClip. And it was very fascinating to make some creative stories and helping the others to grow their business. With our fair prices and professional quality we are doing an outstanding job for our customers. Later, when I started my business studies and I have begun to learn about vision and strategy and implementation as important stages of building a business, I immediately made the connection. The process is the same! Building a business and creating a theater show or a movie follow the same steps. First comes the idea which is developed into a unique value proposition comprising what we want to convey/to offer and to whom and why. The books we read, the theater plays and the movies are meant in essence to solve people’s problems like the products and services are. After we consume them, our lives should improve in some ways. Best theater shows and movies are the genuine ones, those which lead to our transformation and which we cannot forget. Best businesses are also those which deliver their products and services exceeding our expectations, offering products and services we cannot forget. We fall in love with brands like we fall in love with shows we really enjoy. Building a brand in business is similar to building brands in the entertainment industry. Shows and movies start with the director’s vision like businesses start with the entrepreneur’s vision. The key success factor for both the art shows and businesses is the mastery of implementing the vision which requires learning and skills. All in all, the entrepreneur is finally an artist with a bold and genuine vision and with sound implementing skills. I fell in love with business at the very moment I realized it is about art and not about cold spread sheets and boring analysis and economic indicators.
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February 2021
AuthorWe wait too much for others to accomplish our dreams, and then we are disappointed and frustrated. I think now it is the best time to think about what we really want out of our lives and just get it. I just want to inspire, influence and teach as many people as I can to create the lives of their dreams. If you want to be one of them, I’m waiting for you with open heart. If you’re ready to turn your life around, go subscribe to my list where I keep sending more information on how you can do it in the simplest and easiest way. |