What Makes a Good Business?
This is a question that many people ask, but I believe that it is also a question often misunderstood.
Really, it comes down to a problem of Definition.
What is "Good"?
Often, when people think about a Good Business they Confuse it with a Profitable Business.
However, these terms do not necessarily overlap.
There are many Horrible Businesses that are Extremely Profitable.
Is it "Good" to knowingly create products and services that make Customers Sick and lead to an Early Grave?
Is it "Good" to make products and services that are Purposefully Designed to make Customers Addicted to them, regardless of what it does to their Wellbeing?
It is "Good" to use those Same Tactics of Addiction to Bleed Customers Dry to the point where they Struggle to Live?
It is "Good" for those same Businesses to Purposefully Underpay their Employees which only makes that Struggle More Difficult?
Is it "Good" for them to also Overwork their Employees, Contributing Significantly to their Burnout?
Is it "Good" for those Businesses to also Strong Arm their Suppliers to go into Unprofitable Margins, while also Incentivizing them to Create Low-Quality Supplies?
It is "Good" for Leaders in these Businesses to Lie to Everyone - Their Customers, Suppliers, Teams, and Stakeholders - to hide the fact that they are not doing anything Positive for the Business?
I would say that None of this is "Good", yet it is the "Norm" in the Most Profitable Businesses.
Tech, Processed Food, Big Gas, Pharmaceuticals, and more have dominated in being the "Most Profitable", yet they Fail to Accomplish any Long-Term Good for their Customers.
Is that "Good"?
No.
Now should Good Businesses "also" be Profitable?
Of course!
But what is that Profit Contributing to?
If the Profit only Contributes to making a Balance Sheet Appear Better, without actually "Doing" anything Positive for Anyone, is that "Good"?
No.
Is Higher Profit at the Expense of a Positive Future Good?
No.
For a Business to Truly be Good, that Profit Must be Significantly Contributing to a Positive Future.
Paying less than One Hundreth of a Single Percentage of Sales, or worse pushing Customers to Pay on a Business' Behalf, to "Improve the World" is Not a True Contribution.
Making Promises to create more Ecological Products, Services, Packages, and the like, while "also" Purposefully Pushing it to Later Dates is Not A True Contribution.
If Profits are not being Utilized to make Customer's Lives Significantly Better, it is not a True Contribution.
If Profits are not being Utilized to Create a More Beneficial Supply Chain for Everyone Involved, it is not a True Contribution.
Profit for the sake of Profit, or Feined Profit, is not Beneficial.
If Businesses are Forced to use Addiction Tactics to get Customers to return, then those Businesses are already Failing their Customers.
I'm sick and tired of seeing Businesses Hailed as "Good" when their most Significant "Contributions" Make the World Worse.
I'm sick and tired of seeing Leaders Hailed as "Good" when their most Significant "Contributions" are Ruining the Lives of their Employees and Customers.
I want to see Truly Good Businesses that Significantly Improve their Customer's Lives in the Long Term without using Addiction Tactics.
I want to see True Solutions to Problems instead of Bandaids that Make Living Worse.
I want to see True Leaders who are Dearly Loved by Employees and Customers Alike.
I want to see Supply Chains Improved in ways that Improve the Wellbeing of Customers.
I want to see True Regenerative Efforts that Improve the World at Large.
I want to see Leaders who Design Regenerative Legacies.
That would be Truly Good.