Want Dream Business & the Dream Life? Which is Chicken & Which is the Egg?

What comes first with business owners? What will drive someone to schedule, compromise and even sacrifice to get their business right? Certainly there’s a driving desire to deliver value to others – to customers, employees, vendors, family and affiliates. But let’s be clear: the best reason to work so hard to get it all right is because ultimately, it will deliver value to you and yours.  Sound selfish? Let me convince you why everyone will win when you maintain this attitude, front and center. 

Let’s use pie, as a tasty example. Your business is a wedge on the pie; your life is the whole juicy thing. Enjoying success in business, or sports, spirituality, good health, relationships or the arts is a choice you make to deliver on the promise of your good life, however you define it. Making good on this promise, whether for your own life, those of beloved family members or a strong charitable or philosophical commitment will drive you to create the best business you can. Having a passion for your life and contributing to the lives of those you love is what will drive you to build a business that delivers real value, over and over again, for customers, employees, vendors and partners; because by doing good for them you’re delivering on a promise to yourself: to provide for your life and for those you love or to whom you’re otherwise committed. 

How? Like this: when you recognize your success is in the hands of customers who continue to buy or recommend you, you’ll always deliver benefit-filled products, customer-centric policies. When you acknowledge your business reputation rests with employees who produce, deliver and manage customers’ experiences, you’ll work to provide training, rewards and a company environment that attracts and retains the best team. When you discover vendors whose products and reliability are critical to your ability to satisfy your own customers, you’ll treat them fairly. When you experience the power of a well-placed referral from a colleague, you’ll treasure your associates and nurture mutually beneficial relationships with them. 

All this in service to your own dream business to ensure it delivers your dream life. 

And you know what the amazing kicker is to this? Just this: one day, when you’re ready to cash out and move on to the next adventure in life, not only will you have a world-class enterprise to sell, you’ll have built a life the potential owner can envision for herself (or himself) as well. 

Conversely, without devotion to building a business with care and respect for all who contribute towards your desired rewards, you’ll slowly fail – poor product development, ill-trained employees with no commitment, lack of consistency for your customers’ experience, relationships with few who want to do business with you or who want to promote your business. And you will eventually come to resent the business that gives so little reward in exchange for the not-so-smart short cuts you’ve taken; and resentment never leads to continued success and growth. 

So, if you want to build a great business connect the dots directly to having a dream life. Which comes first? Which is chicken or egg? I don’t know but you can’t get one without the other and they’re both pretty tasty…