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What is the purpose of your business? I had to ask myself that many years ago. Why am I doing this? What is the end game? I know a lot of people are going to say, “I’m making money, bitch.” Is that really the purpose of your business?
If your business is set up to make money, there’s nothing wrong with that. Where I am going with this is, are you clear why you really have a business and why you want a business? Do you know?
Typically, if you have a business and you’re just going for money with no other factors that come into play or no other goals and no other intrinsic value associated with that enterprise, I don’t think your business is going to be fun most of the time. It’s just going to be a grind. It’s going to be something that you may despise down the road.
I was on the phone with someone earlier. I felt like the person was unanchored. They didn’t have a firm foundation for what they were doing or why they were doing it. They were just making money. I thought about that. As much as I like to talk about money, when I started Conundrum Publishing, money was a secondary goal.
I wanted to fulfil a dream. I wanted to say I was a published author. There were many things more important than the money. But, if you live in this matrix, you have to have money. It’s unavoidable.
After talking to this guy for a while, the purpose of his business finally came out. He didn’t want to get a job. That’s why he created a business. That’s it. Then it made sense to me. When you’re just doing it for one reason, you don’t layer your business which makes you the bitch of your business.
Many people are the bitch of their business. I’ve been there. When I was in the storage auction business, that was the case. When I had to be somewhere, I had to be there. I had to clean out those storage units. There was no way around it. It was a case of the tail wagging the dog.
Now understand. I would not go back and change a thing. It was a wonderful experience. That’s the reason I get to do what I do now, because I did the storage auction business for a long time. That’s the reason I get to talk to you people and do these videos and blogs.
Fundamentally, most people are going to set their businesses up to make money. I’m not being critical. We all need money. If that is your soul motivation, it’s not going to be fun.
If you’re doing your business strictly for money, then when the shit hits the fan, you’re going to bail. That’s just human nature. That’s why the guy called me. He wants to get out of his business and he needed to talk to me about that.
I have some clients and I didn’t really get to know them until the third consult. It takes some dialogue to get to know what’s going on. It’s interesting, but it never occurred to me to do another business. When things went crazy, I just doubled up my efforts. I rearranged some stuff. I’m in this for the long haul. This is my career. This is what I’m going to do for the rest of my life. I’m going to create content in various forms.
The reason I never thought about bailing or doing something else is because there are many layers to my business. I love what I do. Some of you, I would bitch slap if I saw you in person. Most of you I would hug and buy a cupcake or something like that.
It really hit me. This is it. Why am I a writer? Because I love writing. I love doing this shit.
If you only have one major reason to do what you’re doing, you’re going to be easily disconnected from what you’re doing. It will be very easy to push you off your path. It will be very easy for you to give up. That will happen, because you don’t have any skin in the game.
One client thanked me for making them respect their business more. There are a lot of really successful entrepreneurs that are bored. Their business runs on autopilot. They don’t have to do anything and they’re making a shitload of money. They are bored and need a new challenge.
A lot of entrepreneurs start multiple businesses, because they need that adrenaline rush. When you become successful, it is very easy to forget the journey and the path that got you there. Some people forget all those ugly days in the beginning.
One of my reasons for starting a business is I want to be immortal. I want people to be reading my stuff 200 or 300 years from now. That motivates me. It’s about legacy. It’s about creating something that is here long after I’m gone. As a content creator, you can do that.
Is the business you’re starting something you will stick with when things go sideways? You need to know the purpose of your business and put that on some paper or on your iPad, if you’re one of those people. Look at it and start thinking about it. Ask yourself those really important questions. That’s just something for you to chew on.
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