How to Build a Business that Satisfies
I’m a Mormon that attends Bible Study.
In the South, Bible Study is a big deal. Every Wednesday, me and 400 of my closest female friends gather for two hours and dissect assigned passages in the Holy Bible. We take the entire school year for the Book of St John. Yep. Nine months spent on that one book! If you’re headed to the South anytime soon, look me up, and I will bring you with me!
We recently studied the story of the Savior asking the Samaritan woman at the well for water to drink.
Side note: The Savior had social permissions to avoid this Samaritan woman. She was a woman. She was a Samaritan. Yet, He stopped.
Now, visualize this scene which occurs after the Samaritan woman offers Him a drink:
13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:
14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
15 The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.
What strikes me about this encounter is that the Samaritan woman clearly desires the water He is offering her. While water that will always satisfy the soul seems like a too-good-to-be-true deal…it is not. It is truth. He is the source of all things that bring lasting satisfaction. Deep satisfaction. Real satisfaction. Thirst not.
I couldn’t help but think about my own entrepreneurial endeavors.
Do the motives behind my business leave me thirsty? Does my business satisfy?
What if making money is my top priority right now?
It should come as no surprise that many of us in business are motivated by money. Ooh..it is a tempting thing, isn’t it? In seven years of business I have had periods of time in which making money was a necessity for our family to cover ordinary expenses. I am blessed that those moments have been few and far between, but I have experienced them. The pressure is tremendous and when those periods of time pass, I do a secret jig that I am not male who traditionally carries that responsibility.* Well, this and a thousand other reasons like scouts, squishing spiders, and helping people move…moving on.
The burdens of providing are real, and if you are experiencing those circumstances right now, my heart empathizes completely with you.
By purifying your business objective to something other than making money, you open your business up to be more resilient, profitable, and satisfying.
Don’t take my word for it. Talk to an expert. A gal named Al Fox Carraway.
In my recent podcast interview with Al Fox Carraway (which was unbelievably satisfying), I asked Al this exact question.
How do we purify our business objective beyond money ?
“Your objective has to be something deeper in order for it to be successful. If your objective is something stronger and more emotional then your message will carry further. You objective isn’t selling clothes. You are in the businesses of building confidence. That is deeper. It’s never been, “What can I do for my business, or how can I make more money?” It’s been, “What can I do to help?” because I have learned it’s not about my ideas, it never has been. My ideas never work out anyway.” – Al Fox Carraway
I don’t know what my objective is. Help!
“Look, it’s not about how many more followers I can get. I am a freak about Marketing, I work full-time for the Church as a marketing manager, …but there are lots of things I purposely don’t do with my own brand because I don’t want to damage the following and the trust I’ve built up with my followers. My question has always been ‘How can I help people? All I want to do is I want people to know the help, the blessings, and the opportunities they can have if they just turn to God and do these things!” – Al Fox Carraway
“If you don’t know your objective, or you have really thought it out, it would be so impactful to figure it out, write it down, and never loose sight of that objective. Expect the unexpected because of Who is guiding you!” – Al Fox Carraway
Al’s tips to refining your objective to something deeper:
- Figure it out.
- Write it down.
- Never lose sight of the objective.
- Expect the unexpected because of Who is guiding you.
While we may approach the well to drink of regular water (money/fame/followers), we know better! As we refine our objectives to be deeper, more passionate, and emotional, we will find a deep satisfaction flowing through our veins as entrepreneurs. That is truth.
Cheers to business objectives that will truly satisfy! Thirst not!
Sarah
Join other Mormon Mompreneur’s in our Facebook Group (aka The Tribe) as we work together to refine our objectives to something deeper!
*Disclaimer: Women can work effectively outside of the home, as men. I’m speaking in a traditional way in which the man’s role is to provide for the family
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