WHY ARE YOU IN BUSINESS?

Over the years I've worked with small and mid-
size businesses, and have talked with the owners of most of
them. I've noticed that while every situation is different,
there seem to be two basic reasons why these people are in
business.
By far the most common - and unfortunately, the less
successful - reason is to make a profit. Sure, there are
many ways to phrase or look at it, but the majority of
these owners have told me they are in business to make
money. They market a product or service in the hopes of
beating the competition, attracting customers, making sales
and creating a profit.
In the process, they create jobs, expand the national
economy and achieve a level of satisfaction, personal
reward and profits.
There is nothing wrong with that! That is the essence of
capitalism and our free-market system!
What I notice, however, is that the focus on profits often
leads to a kind of myopia, or short-sightedness. They make
sales, but not repeat sales. Their costs of advertising,
marketing, and customer-creation are extremely high.
(Which, incidentally, is often the reason they hire me!)
The second reason is fundamentally different and leads to
different results.
These people tell me they are in business to SERVE A
SATISFIED CUSTOMER and that is a HUGE distinction!
A well-managed business that is focused on serving a
satisfied customer generates profits, but they also have
the benefit of repeat business and LOYAL customers. They
have the advantage of customers who become their
(volunteer) R&D team. They have the advantage of lower
marketing and sales costs and that advantage typically
falls straight to the bottom line and into the owner's
pocket.
So, why are you in business? What's the "real" reason? What
do you think about first, last and all day long?
My advice: Think about serving satisfied customers. If you
do, innovation, production costs, marketing costs, and
profits, will tend to take care of themselves in a very
satisfying way.