Conventional vs. Authentic Business Success

How do we measure the success of an authentic business?

In this post we’ll explore the different success formulas, and how that can inform our priorities and strategies.

The basic success formula for a conventional business:

Money
divided by
Effort

In other words:

Make the most amount of money with the least amount of effort.

This means squeezing as much profit as possible out of each customer, and to gain as many customers as possible… all of it done with the least amount of work possible.

With this core mindset, it’s easy to fall into schemes that are money-driven, to the detriment of one’s values and community.

As people try (and fail) with securing fulfillment and personal sustainability by conventional business measures, they might then overcompensate, and swing to the other side: they become interested in building a non-profit.

The basic formula for non-profits:

Impact
divided by
Money