Money is a Byproduct of Greatness
The single biggest goal that I hear business leaders talking about is more money—growth, increased margins, increased profits, more money for their people and their stakeholders, … And for individual business owners, it’s simply more money for themselves. There is nothing wrong with this. Money is what fuels our lives. It’s what funds our families, pays our employees and allows us to do what we want to do in life. It’s one of the fundamental reasons entrepreneurs start their own businesses…to have unlimited potential for success and earnings.
However, there is also a trap in this. The minute money becomes the predominant metric or goal, it shifts the focus of leaders and teams to money itself, rather than the experience of value that creates the money.
The truth is that money is simply a byproduct or an outcome of doing something outstanding. When you create value to people in this world in a unique way, they procure that value by paying money. And the more value that they perceive, the more money they are willing to pay.
So the real focus is not the money. It’s understanding what truly motivates your customers to the point that they are yearning to pay money to fulfill it. Then it’s clearly knowing how your offering is truly unique in serving those motivators and how it will exceed their expectations every time. When you clarify these simple elements in a unique and outstanding way, your business starts to accelerate.
Money naturally follows. Money becomes the fuel to fund the growth of your business through processes, systems and people. And your growth starts to follow an exponential curve, rather than a linear one. This only happens if you truly understand the root of the value that you are creating and you focus everything on creating that value without distraction.
The key is to always have clarity on two “whys.” Why is the customer willing to pay money specifically for my products or services, rather than all the other alternatives? And why am I as a leader or company truly seeking to generate money?
The answer to the first “why” gives you clarity around the fundamental value that you are creating, which should always be your focus.
The answer to the second “why” gives you insight to your underlying passion and commitment as a leader to the business you are creating. If your answer is simply about creating enough to fund your life or for the business to be slightly profitable, your thinking is limited. The minute you create enough, meaning that you are comfortable or satisfied, your passion will wane and your growth will slow. Instead, if you have a deeper passion in which you view money as a fuel to make a unique impact on the world, every dollar you make becomes purposeful and you know how you will direct that money for greater impact. Now, you can’t make enough, because you are committed at a deep level to maximize the impact that you are creating with that money.
The key is to know WHY people are paying you money and FOR WHAT PURPOSE you are making it.
Once you are clear on these two elements, your focus will become razor-sharp on how to create it in every interaction and in everything you do.
One of the things that I tell leaders is to always have their eyes on the prize. What is it that truly creates value and therefore propels customers to pay money?
Money itself is not the prize. When you put your focus on it, you shift your eyes to the wrong prize. And focus becomes all about protecting it, squeezing it, cutting it, or managing it, rather than creating it. The real prize is true value that is so resonating to your customers that it creates emotional response, gratitude and loyalty.
Money is simply a direct byproduct of that prize.
