If you’d asked me twenty five years ago what success looked like, I’d probably have given you a very different answer to the one I’d give today.
Like a lot of young entrepreneurs, I was motivated by the things most people are.
Financial freedom.
A nice house.
A nice car.
Building something successful.
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with any of those things. They can all be fantastic goals.
But somewhere along the journey, I realised something that completely changed the way I looked at business.
Money is an incredible tool.
It’s just not a very good purpose.
I’ve met plenty of people over the years whose only motivation was making more money.
Some achieved exactly that.
But interestingly, many of them never seemed particularly happy.
There was always another target.
Another business.
Another investment.
Another milestone.
It never felt enough.
That made me stop and think.
Because if success always moves further away the moment you reach it, are you ever really successful?
These days, I still want my businesses to be profitable.
Of course I do.
Profit allows you to employ people.
It allows you to invest.
It allows you to support charities.
It allows you to create opportunities.
Without profit, none of those things are possible.
But profit has become the outcome.
Not the purpose.
The purpose is building great businesses with great people.
The purpose is creating careers.
The purpose is helping clients grow.
The purpose is leaving something better than I found it.
When you focus on those things first, I’ve found the financial side usually follows.
I think one of the biggest misconceptions about entrepreneurs is that we’re obsessed with money.
Some are.
But many of the entrepreneurs I admire most aren’t driven by the number in their bank account.
They’re driven by building something.
There’s a real satisfaction in taking an idea and turning it into a business.
Watching a team grow.
Seeing someone you’ve recruited become a brilliant leader.
Helping a client achieve something they didn’t think was possible.
Those moments are incredibly rewarding.
No bank balance can replace that feeling.
That’s not to say business is always easy.
Far from it.
The economic landscape over the last few years has challenged businesses across almost every sector.
Rising costs.
Changing consumer behaviour.
Higher taxes.
Greater uncertainty.
Every entrepreneur has had to become more adaptable.
We’ve all had moments where we’ve looked at the numbers and had to make difficult decisions.
That’s part of running a business.
But difficult periods have also reinforced something I’ve always believed.
People matter more than spreadsheets.
Now before anyone panics, I’m not saying numbers don’t matter.
They absolutely do.
Businesses need to make money to survive.
But behind every spreadsheet is a person.
An employee paying a mortgage.
A customer trusting your service.
A supplier relying on your business.
When you remember that, your decisions become more balanced.
One thing I’ve become much more conscious of is celebrating things that don’t appear on a profit and loss statement.
A team member growing in confidence.
A client recommending us to somebody else.
Someone overcoming a challenge they didn’t think they could.
Those moments don’t always show up in the accounts.
But they’re often the reason the accounts improve later.
Business is built on relationships.
Relationships are built on trust.
And trust is built over time.
You can’t measure all of that in pounds and pence.
I’ve often spoken about my five life currencies.
Health.
Wealth.
Happiness.
Connections.
Experiences.
Wealth is one of them.
Not all of them.
And I think that’s really important.
Because if you become wealthy but sacrifice your health, your family, your friendships and your happiness along the way…
Have you really won?
For me, the answer is no.
Success has become much more rounded than that.
I want to build great businesses.
I want to stay healthy.
I want to spend time with my family.
I want to experience the world.
I want to give back where I can.
The businesses simply help make those things possible.
The older I get, the more I realise that money should create freedom.
Not pressure.
It should allow you to spend more time with the people you love.
Support causes you care about.
Invest in yourself.
Help others.
Create opportunities.
If it becomes the only reason you’re doing what you’re doing, I think it’s very easy to lose sight of what really matters.
For me, entrepreneurship has never just been about making a living.
It’s been about building a life.
And looking back, I think that’s one of the best investments I’ve ever made.
