How can small businesses change the world without being evil?
by Pace on October 26th, 2009 @ 9:30 am in
Ethical Entrepreneurs
If you want to change the world, here are three big reasons why starting your own small business is a great way to do it.
1. Following your heart keeps your heart healthy and happy.
If you spend your weekdays at a job that’s somewhere between “meh” and horrible, that’s not nourishing your soul. How much passion will you have left for changing the world on nights and weekends? How much more passion would you have if you were doing entirely soul-nourishing work instead of soul-sucking work?
If you free your heart from pointless toil, it will blossom in ways you never imagined.
2. Side projects lose momentum.
If you want to change the world on evenings and weekends, that’s super. But how much more good you could you do if you could spend your weekdays on it, too?
What if you put your money where your mouth is?
What if you put your time where your mouth is?
What if you put your commitment where your mouth is?
What if your life’s work and your living were the same thing?
It’s a powerful commitment. If your business doesn’t make money, you don’t pay your bills. If you don’t help people, your business doesn’t make money. That’s a powerful incentive to help people!
And just like not buying junk food or not going to the cheese factory, you’re much more likely to accomplish a big goal if you make one big decision than if you try to make a bunch of little decisions.
3. If you postpone until later, you might as well give up.
If your plan is “I’ll do what I love later” or “I’ll change the world as soon as ______” for whatever you fill in the blank, here’s something to chew on. Po Bronson, in his book What Should I Do With My Life, interviewed 50 people about their passions, career choices, and struggles. Many of them tried the “I’ll do what I love as soon as _______” plan. Guess what the success rate was?
0%. Goose-egg. Zilch. Nada.
Don’t wait. You don’t have to do everything now, but if you want to reach your goal, you do have to do something now.
But capitalism is bad!
Bullshit. Yes, there are a lot of greedy people out there. Yes, there are a lot of unethical companies out there. No, there aren’t a lot of role models for conscious capitalism and ethical entrepreneurship.
So why don’t you become one?
Help others, and accept a fair exchange of value for your help. If you’re worried about manipulating or taking advantage of others, offer a guarantee to ensure you don’t profit unless you actually help your customers.
Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. If you think that lots of businesses are evil, and that makes you not want to start a business… how about you just don’t be evil?
What path resonates with both your heart and your good sense?
Feel what moves you. Discover what you’re good at. Experiment with what you could be paid to do.
What’s in the intersection of all three?
Do that.
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- “Change the World in One Minute” Contest Winners!
- Change the World in One Minute: A Contest!
- Reminder: “Change the World in One Minute” Contest!
- Community Update #8: The manifesto is already changing the world!
6 Comments!
#2 Posted by 
Victoria Brouhard on October 26th, 2009 7:54 pm | link
Really excellent post, Pace!
You just summed up my reasoning for making the leap to self-employment now, even though “they” (you know, the “experts”) would say it’s too risky.
And as much as people want to believe that keeping their job is the safe choice, there are as many (if not more) risks in doing that as there are in following your heart.
The risks may be different, but they’re there. Another way to think about it – how much is a happy heart worth?
Victoria Brouhard´s last blog ..Joining the Ranks 
#3 Posted by 
Julia on October 26th, 2009 10:05 pm | link
http://www.americanpoems.com/poets/robertfrost/772 , last stanza. :) That’s what this reminds me of as much as anything else.
#4 Posted by 
Pace on October 30th, 2009 3:54 pm | link
@Marmoset: Yes, and it’s simple: ask your friends! Not just your close friends, but your acquaintances, too. The most common place to find surprising strengths is in things you take for granted. That’s how it worked for me and Kyeli. We took our communication skills for granted, but once we started talking about it with others outside our immediate circle, it became clear that what we took for granted was immensely valuable to others. If you want to also try a writing exercise, try writing “Things I Do All The Time (And Possibly Take For Granted)” and see how that works. Let me know how it goes! (:
@Victoria: Thanks! And yes, that’s a very good way of thinking about it!
@Julia: That’s beautiful. Thanks for sharing it!
#5 Posted by Bonne Vie - Wholestyle on the Web: Week of 10/30/09 on October 30th, 2009 4:48 pm | link
[...] Freak Revolution: How Can Small Business Change the World Without Being Evil? [...]
#6 Posted by Apples and Porsches » Blog Archive » Wholestyle on the Web: Week of 10/30/09 on March 5th, 2010 1:08 pm | link
[...] Freak Revolution: How Can Small Business Change the World Without Being Evil? [...]
#1 Posted by
Marmoset on October 26th, 2009 6:20 pm | link
Hi Pace,
I was wondering if you (or any of your other readers) might have a pointer to a favorite technique or exercise or process or something, that you might use to fill out the “What I Do Well” bubble in the first place? (Or the other two, really, but especially that one.)
I know that the underlying question here is one that only I can answer for myself, but I also know how helpful it can be to stumble on just the right process to bring to the surface those things about myself that I already know but am constantly forgetting.
I’m partial to writing exercises, personally, so my first instinct is “well, write My Abilities in giant letters at the top of a big sheet of paper and then sit and scribble and see what happens”. I’ll probably try that just for fun, but maybe you’ve come across something more, hmmm, colorful? I think colorful is the word I’m looking for. Something more specific to this question than “durrr, freewrite?”
Hope I’m making sense, and not asking a totally stupid question! And thanks!
Marmoset
Marmoset´s last blog ..Inside-out whosit whatnow?