You're cheating

There are lots of businesses around that have a really great profile, deliver excellent customer service, and people love them. 

The thing is, some of the owners of these businesses are cheating.  They're not actually making any money - or not remotely the amount they could make if they just had a job, and certainly not as much as their typical competitor.

Others owners are making a good - or even exceptional - living, whilst also running a business with a great profile that people love.  That's much, much harder to do.  Two businesses can look very similar to the outside observer, but when you look under the hood, one of them has a really significant advantage over the other.

 

Of course, we know well that there's more to judge a business on than just the profits it's making.  It's just as (or more) important to provide great customer service, a positive and supportive environment for staff, and to give something back to society generally.

But the fact is - fulfilling those aspirations whilst not making any money is relatively easy.  What's difficult is to do that *and* make a good living for yourself.

Running what looks like a great business to the outside world whilst making sub-par profits is really a bit like being an athlete taking performance-enhancing drugs.  From the stands, it looks like all the competitors are on a level playing field, but they're not really running the same race at all.

 

There's nothing wrong with knowingly running a "lifestyle" business, especially if you don't need to take much or money out of it.  If you love what you do, but don't really need much of an income from it, that's cool!  But some people in that position kid themselves that they've got some sort of degree of comparability with similar, more profitable businesses.   They haven't - they've just taken a shortcut.

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