Can You Make a Living and Make a Difference?
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A while back I read a blog post (which I couldn’t find today) where the author asked if your business was about just making a living or was it about making a difference.
It’s an interesting thing to contemplate. Am I just running my business to make money or am I running my business to make other people’s lives better.
It’s a question, actually, I ask myself often. As a business advisor and web developer, I have plenty of opportunity to make money. That’s never an issue. Prospective clients contact me constantly asking how I can help them.
And there lies the purpose - helping the coaches, consultants, therapists, healers and other small business owners who contact me. That’s where my business makes a difference.
I understand that when people contact me it’s because they need help solving the problems that get in the way of their business making more money and running more smoothly. They call me because they know or they’ve heard that I can make a difference in how they reach their business goals. And that’s, truly, why I’m in business - not just to make money, but to make a difference in the lives and businesses of other small business professionals.
Author David Maister once wrote that making a difference means sometimes struggling “to do what’s meaningful and not just what’s pragmatic.” This means not always doing what’s easy to turn a quick buck. Rather it’s about choosing the path that’s not only going to make you successful, but fill that need inside you to do good for others.
Whatever you do in your business it’s likely you’re changing lives. The question is, are you honoring that process? Do you consider how what you do is of personal and professional benefit to the people you work with?
Are you making a difference with your business or just making a living?
Sparkplugging Founder Wendy Piersall is dang passionate about helping people start & grow a business while maintaining life balance (somehow). 
Kelly McCausey is an internet marketer, blog publisher, podcaster
and web business coach. Host of 
Bill Parlaman is owner of 
This post has been very encouraging for myself! I have a dream… Yes, this dream is to help so many other women and couples who suffer from Infertility. While I already spend countless hours (such as now) researching and brainstorming, the desire to have this solely as my full time job would be the ultimate goal! To think how much more productive I would and could be… To fill my heart while helping so many others! Thank you for the boost of encouragement!
Meghan Swanns last blog post..PCOS… No longer!
It an interesting balance between making a living and making a difference. I love the question and the people who pursue it.
For an inspirational example take a look at Greystone Bakery in Yonkers, NY. It’s an amazing story of a mathmatician/engineer who created a business that “bakes brownies so they can hire people” from the poorest inner city neighborhoods. (http://www.greystonbakery.com/about.php?page=story)
You may also like Mark Albion’s book, Making a Life, Making a Living on this subject.
Thanks for bring up the topic!
Laura
Laura Koehnes last blog post..7 Ways to Juice Up Your Creativity
I’m fortunate, I’m doing something I love, getting paid for it, and making a difference. I’m a feature writer over at Disaboom and this gives me wonderful opportunities to interview a variety of people with disabilities and share their stories with the world.
Karen Putz / DeafMoms last blog post..Enter the D-Pan ASL Music Give Away Here!
When I first started my business with my husband, we did it to solve a problem — a problem we had ourselves. However, as time went on and people started using the software we created, we realized that the impact of our software was much more than simply solving a problem. I have had so many clients come back to me telling me how our software has improved the way they looked at money and finances.
So, my business didn’t start out to be “meaningful” but it has certainly become meaningful to a lot of people (including myself).
May Chus last blog post..Clarity Accounting Update 2008-09-13