“The blind measure triumph in business by money alone, though money alone is not the only metric by which success should be measured”
Why is it that the consensus of many businesses is to evaluate the merit of their business on the increase of revenue, alone? Is profit the extent of a businesses reach in all they do? Is money all they can attain?
What a shame! We live in a world that is so ripe for true advancement in every area! True advancement in love, in technology, in understanding and in so many other ways. Thankfully, there are many people and organizations pushing the ball of change in the right direction. Yet so many businesses don’t even touch the ball to move it forward, many businesses don’t understand the impact they can have in a person’s life, in one of their employees, or even more so; little by little, in their city or even the world.
Now is not the time for anyone to stand on the sidelines and hope for the change you want to see, now is the time to contribute to the change. The true shame in such near-sighted businesses is that they have the structure and the power of influence to be so much more than a drop in the bucket of change. Businesses can pursue increased revenue as they must, they can focus on growth, as they must; but they can also focus on impact. True impact in the lives of people through proper engagement in the cities they live in through the people they serve and employee.
What if businesses made the impact of the lives in the community in which they function a measure of success?
There is an old saying, “to whom much is given, much is due” This was said by Jesus! What if we took what we were given and tried to have a return on investment that was greater than just the increase of revenue? What if we aimed higher?
I think we should change the questions we ask, rather I think we should ask more questions. The reality is revenue is important. Profit is needed but what if in addition to those questions, we asked questions like this,
“Are we using our influence for the good of people?”
“Do we treat our employees well?”
“Are we actually contributing to the community?”
“Are we mindful of what our community is and what our community needs?”
I am grateful Dearborn has some businesses that get this concept, I think of the Biggby in East Dearborn. I think of their constant engagement with the community and I think of the love that radiates in that Biggby. I think of how the owners of that Biggby genuinely care and they put their money where their mouth is by contributing to the community.
The bottom line is this, if you have a good product, people will come, but if you have a good product it does not mean you have a good and impactful business.
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