What distinguishes a legitimate enterprise or business from an illegitimate one?
Being ¹service driven vs. solely Profit-driven.
There is nothing wrong with profit in itself, but when profit becomes the ²sole motive, serving others becomes irrelevant or secondary at best and leads to people's ⁴harm. This is a disservice and the opposite of serving others.
There is nothing wrong with profit in itself, but when profit becomes the ²sole motive, serving others becomes irrelevant or secondary at best and leads to people's ⁴harm. This is a disservice and the opposite of serving others.
When an enterprise is focused on ²serving others and helping them flourish, the result is the customers' ²benefit. If we persevere, it often results in our benefit as well, i.e. profit. We "win" by helping others "win." But serving others should always be our focus. As believers, this is carrying out the commandment to love our neighbor as we love ourselves i.e. treating others the way we would like to be treated. If we gain (profit) in the process of helping others, this is a good thing, not bad i.e. it is not exploiting our fellow man or the planet, as ⁵some assert.
The most successful enterprises are those that find a ¹legitimate ³need of others and meet it better than anyone else. The greater the need, the greater the service we can provide. The greater the service, the greater the opportunity for profit if we are diligent.
For a discussion on sowing and reaping click here.
For a discussion of socialism vs capitalism click here.
For a discussion of doing things with excellence click here.
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¹The nature of the need is also vital in determining the legitimacy of the enterprise or service e.g. providing healthy food vs junk food is a legitimate endeavor. Providing a want such as junk food (or pornography, or abortions etc) simply because there is a demand for it is not. There may be large profits in these kinds of offers but if it is ultimately destructive, it is a disservice to others regardless of the amount of profit.
²Even when profit becomes the primary motive, serving others becomes secondary, which ultimately also leads to people's ⁴harm and the opposite of serving others.
For both the provider and the consumer. This is a "win-win" scenario.
³ Distinguish needs and wants
Givers vs takers
⁴Such as using corn syrup in foods as a sweetener because it is cheaper and adds more to the bottom line even though it's harmful to us.
⁵Ayn Rand asserted capitalism and altruism are opposites and do not mix i.e. that in a true free market system we can not benefit (win) only by helping others benefit (win). However, she was an atheist and didn't understand the dynamic of being able to love others when we know we are fully loved.
