Do you ever find it difficult to describe something in the way that you want? Do you ever find it difficult to put things into words; particularly something that is very important to you?

Well, we’ve struggled in the past with this in respect of our business; not the business itself, our ‘elevator pitch’ is very simple; “We help you to find the hidden money in your business.”

What we’ve sometimes struggled with is giving words to the feelings we have about our business; to articulate the real reason for its existence.

When I think about the businesses we know and have worked for, we have been made very aware that their key measure of success is profit. Everything that they do, every investment they make, is determined on the basis of its potential for profit. And usually profit today or, at the very latest, tomorrow. Contrast that approach, reflected in this statement from John McKeen of the pharmaceutical company, Pfizer: “So far as humanly possible, we aim to get profit out of everything we do”, with the philosophy of another pharmaceutical leader, George Merck of Merck and Schering-Plough:

“We try never to forget that medicine is for the people. It is not for the profits. The profits follow, and if we have remembered that, they have never failed to appear.”

Thankfully, Merck became not only the most admired company but also made more money and is now the second largest pharmaceutical company in the world. Two more examples:

Sony: “We shall eliminate any undue profit-seeking”

Bear Stearns (sign above the trading floor): “Let’s make nothing but money”

Which of these is the most successful? Talk about self-fulfilling prophecies! ‘Bear Stearns did indeed make nothing but money; not friends or loyal clients, not even many products that customers should have wanted to buy. And in the end they lost all the money they had ever made.’ John Kay, Economist.

So, we are in business, and this is what drives us, what gets us out of bed in the morning, what keeps the candle burning late into the night; not for the profit – of course we want to make money – but because we want people to succeed; to make the most of themselves; to learn that whatever they think they are, that they are always and in all ways more than that; to build vibrant and sustainable businesses; to leave a powerful legacy; to be free to pursue their dreams.

And actually it’s quite easy to articulate it. It’s all to do with stepping out beyond the business, beyond the product or service that you offer and focusing on the purpose of it all. And it’s heartening to know that there are other businesses out there who look at it in the same way and become hugely successful and profitable whilst doing it.
And I’m sure many of you will have done this already, but if you haven’t I recommend it to you. Take some time out to think through and to write down what it’s all for.

What is it, that life beyond profit?