How Your Business Can Make A Bigger Impact


It’s been a great first year of podcasting and I’m very thankful for every listener.   Since the beginning, our audience has grown and I expect that to continue in 2018.   Please spread the word and we could always use the reviews!    When we started we covered one of the best episodes on SEO that wasn’t included in our SEO Series, called “Common SEO Mistakes”  I mentioned that in the opening of this podcast.

Today I want to talk to you about something I’m passionate about and a belief that I have.

I believe that businesses can change the world. 

I didn’t always think this way.  In the beginning, it was about profit.  I only wanted to make money.  I separated giving/caring from working.   That changed for me one day as I was sitting listening to a sermon.   The Pastor (Pastor Dennis Rouse) was talking about a young man that was an amazingly good sale and business guy.

This man (Jace Rabe) was a fruit and nut commodity broker with a New York style to him.    He left the profits of USA to start a cashew processing business in Benin, Africa.  Benin is one of the world leaders in cashew processing.  Some might say he went there for the potential profits.  However, if you know Jace Rabe then you know his heart is to impact that nation.  So he took a very sound business plan and started a business that pays local Beninese a living wage and takes profits from the business to start hospitals, dig wells and build schools.

Now Jace is leading the nation in cashew processing as well as making a lot of competitors mad about raising the wages in the area.  He also trains farmers to understand the value of their cashews to his detriment… and yet, he’s still profitable and still able to give.  Check out his charity at Projects for Progress.

When I heard what he was able to do and how he did it, it changed my thinking.   Our businesses don’t have to be separate from our humanitarian mission.   They can be one and the same, without sacrificing the desire to be profitable in business.

We are starting to see this in society today with more social-minded businesses.   Probably the most famous is Tom’s Shoes.   Instead of retelling their story I’ll let you check out the great interview on the storybrand podcast here.

When I think about businesses that can change the world, I’m talking about YOU.  Not IBM or some large company, but small businesses.  You can make a difference.  There are three areas you can make an impact.

You Impact Your Team

It’s easy to see how influential you are with your team.  You influence them through money and security initially.  However, you have the opportunity to impact their lives in much deeper ways.    The example I gave in the podcast is taking your team through something like Financial Peace.

You Impact Your Clients

In the same way, you can impact your client.  You can team up with them for your causes, you could invite them to very same classes you offer your team or you could just do something that goes beyond your scope of service – personally.

You Impact Yourself

As you start to try to combine your mission in life with your business’ mission you’ll start to change  This will change how you lead, how you see the business and how to really lean into the impact you’re making.

How to Grow From Success To Significance

A while back I hosted an event that consisted of non-profits and business owners like Jace.  The idea was to inspire this kind of social entrepreneurship.  When a business leader realizes their immense power to influence their team and ultimately their community it can truly be a “Heroic Event “(the name of the event.  Sadly I’ve let this event slide).

Ways to Grow

  1. Review your why – go back to the episode, Future Proof Marketing Plan
  2. Find a cause that you really get passionate about – it could be political, it could be socio-economic, religious, etc.
  3. Instead of trying to launch an initiative, start small and try to partner with organizations that are already doing something.
  4. Financial Support is HUGE for organizations, but for your team, you will need to invest time

This is just the tip of the iceberg for a “one year” type plan, but it will get you moving in the right direction.

As always you can reach out to us and let us know what you’d like to hear about on the podcast.

 

Picture of Joshua Jarvis

Joshua Jarvis

Joshua has started and sold several businesses over 15 years. Recently he left a 15-year career in real estate as a business owner to pursue my dream of writing and helping business owners grow their own dream.

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