The formula for success = 2(Passion) + 4(Profit)
I’ve come across a lot of different types of innovators in my work. Some are in it for the impact while others see only green. Most who view their world from this either/or perspective fail. Before you get too uncomfortable, let me explain.
Someone once told me a quote that rocked my world. He said, “it takes profit to make change.” Think about that for a second. Change and profit in the same sentence.
The reason innovators who focus solely on passion fail is because they fail to make money, and without money you can’t keep the doors open. When you can’t pay your bills or invest in growth, you can’t pursue your passions or make an impact. It’s called having a sustainable business.
When you focus solely on the profit you lose sight of your “why” which can also take you down hard. Without passion to drive you what are the chances you’ll put in the extra effort? Close to zero, in my experience. Worse yet, it shows in everything you do when you are only in it for the money. Potential customers can feel it too and run quickly in the other direction. No customers = no business.
When I encounter innovators who come to me full of passionate statements like, “I’m just in this to make an impact,” or, “it’s not about the money for me,” I cringe. I think to myself, well they’ll never make it.
Then I come across innovators who are all about the cash, saying things like, “I just want to be rich, don’t care how I do it,” or, “I’m just looking for that quick hit to make it big,” and I roll my eyes and think to myself, I won’t see them in 6 months.
Good intentions or no, you’ll never succeed with these two mindsets.
The formula for success is both passion and profit. We shouldn’t be ashamed to say things like:
“I have a gift, and I’m going to bring it to this world and make big cash doing it!”
“I want to make a big impact on this world and set my family up for financial freedom!”
We are so afraid to admit we want money, but isn’t that proof that what we are providing is needed by somebody? Yes! We get all shy when we start to talk about our passions but isn’t that what drives us to get out of bed and do what we do? Of course!
So, I’m here to tell you that you can and should want both. You need both. In fact, as you can see from my super-scientific formula above, I put a little extra emphasis on Profits. That’s because I believe that an ecology of people, your customer, willing to open up their wallets and pay for your goods or services, is proof that you are filling a need in the marketplace. And, as I’ve said before, you can’t keep the doors open without cash flow.
I asked a few innovators, both entrepreneurs and intra-preneurs, on LaunchStreet what they had to say about it.
I had the great idea and the passion, but it took creating a business plan focused on profit to begin moving my company forward. - Susan Levy President of He's All Boy
For me the PASSION comes from knowing my product (Wild Pink) is a perfect match for the needs of its target audience with the results coming in PROFIT. - Alan Taylor, President of Wild Pink
If you do not have passion for what you do, you can not improve. We have an opiate epidemic and we need a concentrated effort on how to reduce the prescribing of unnecessary narcotics at the first onset of pain and track how this improves. - Mike Kimble, National HealthCare Organization
I don’t know who said, “it takes profit to make change,” but they are right!