The legacy of a holistic business is just as important as building the business the right way. We want to set a vision for something a little bit bigger than just ourselves.
What would it look like to have a for-profit business with a not-for-profit purpose?
Dave chose to start a non-profit organization called Project Lamplight. It focuses around serving urgent needs in the community. He highlights 6 steps you can follow to do the same in your business:
- Put a percentage of your profit into a bank account
- Get bank checks without your name on them
- Consider 2-3 events per year where you’ll invite your database and ask this question: Who do you know in the community with a random urgent need that we can serve?
- Email a form to a person whose needs you’ve identified
- Deploy someone on your team to deliver a check
- Ask the same question to your team at every meeting
Before long, those texts, calls, and e-mails will come in. It’s hard to get emergency money in a short period of time.
Think about this: How do you measure your growth or your success right now? Most people measure this number with a couple of standard metrics - GCI, transactions, assets, etc. But, would you be able to measure your success with other metrics? What if we looked at how many solid culture fits your team gained in the past quarter? How much time you freed up for yourself?
These questions are important to ask yourself in order to keep in check. Don’t let yourself slip away from the important things that will keep your momentum going forward as you grow. The tactics you used to start your business may not be the same tactics you want to use to continue to build and grow.
Here are some critical action steps you can follow if you want to build a holistic business:
- Think about last year’s business goals. What would it look like to reconsider those goals - to even pause or slow sales - in exchange for a goal related to improving yourself, time spent with your spouse, your finances, or your systems and operations?
- Think about each team member and their last year’s goals. What would it look like to ask them to consider written goals related to themselves, days per year with their spouse, their finances/net worth, or improving their lives with systems or leverage?
- Think about the people in need in your community - something outside yourself & your business that you care about. What would it look like to include a goal related to how much your team can give to that cause this year?
