During the lunch break at a recent Flying Solo director’s meeting, I cooked up the notion that the role making money plays in a business is not dissimilar to the role intimacy plays in your primary relationship.
As I said to Robert and Peter at this stage of the conversation: bear with me.
It’s arguable that love making in a partnership and making money in a business are:
- A measure of success.
- An expression of success.
- A gauge for how healthy the overall partnership/business is.
They each play a central, perhaps even defining, role. Also while desirable, each, when chased too hard, has a tendency to remain outside your grasp.
But on their own, making money/intimacy are not enough to sustain a business/relationship. They are part of a bigger picture.
For example, in order to flourish relationships need to offer both individuals a sense of trust, respect and emotional fulfilment.
Meanwhile, businesses need to be underpinned by values, present opportunities for growth, provide a sense of purpose and fulfil a need in the market.
Personally, too, I’d need to find any relationship or business I was involved with good fun.
Perhaps when these other factors are in sync in your business/relationship, they can help attract money/loving your way.
What do you think of my coffee shop philosophy? Is my analogy a horribly long bow or is it on the money? Also, what other factors do you think contribute to a healthy relationship or business?
Let us know your thoughts.
“ Businesses need to be underpinned by values, present opportunities for growth, provide a sense of purpose and fulfil a need in the market. ”
Sam Leader is a director of Flying Solo and the co-author of Flying Solo - How to go it alone in business.
