Meaningful Profit: How to Embrace Uncertainty
‘Meaningful Profit’ is a part of the curriculum of the Global School for Entrepreneurship. This is the third of a series of three interviews about what Meaningful Profit means for business, the students of the Global School and the development of the entrepreneurial spirit.
In ‘How to Embrace Uncertainty’ we talk about how a purpose driven business not only gives direction to the entrepreneur but builds resilience at the same time.
As a professor at the Global School for Entrepreneurship Wassili Zafiris teaches Social and Spiritual Entrepreneurship. In this podcast Dean Thomas Blekman interviews Wassili about what Meaningful Profit means as a business model.
The difference between Meaningful Profit and (non for) Profit Business
Meaningful Profit differs from for Profit Business and non for Profit Business. For Profit and Non for Profit are the two legal business forms that have been around many years. From a business and psychological perspective the for Profit Business model is aimed at ‘taking for one’s benefit’. The non for Profit Business model is aimed at ‘giving something for the benefit of others’. These two business models are legally and business wise organized with these principles at the core.
Wassili researched intrinsic motivation as described in the twice nominated book IK BEN niet alleen op de wereld (2011). For many entrepreneurs motivation is an important topic. Because why would someone invest time and energy on a business idea? He found that people can be driven by: a. ‘taking’ something for themselves. Taking for yourself is a essential human drive and we are neurologically wired to do so for the sake of survival. At the same time we are neurologically wired to: b. ‘give’ something beyond our own personal needs.
Natural motivation
The for and nor for Profit business models work from either one or the other drive. However both drives are neurologically wired within people. Hence it is easy to explain that people will experience a lack of motivation and sense of purpose when they work in one or the other (business) environment. Companies do everything to motivate their staff to do the job at hand. But they miss the most obvious and deepest intrinsic drive that is the third business model: Meaningful Profit.
Using both natural drives for business
The Meaningful Profit business model has both intrinsic drives as a business model in itself. The need for sustainable business entails a for Profit (taking for self) as wel as a non for Profit (giving for something beyond oneself) goal. Combining both deeply wired human needs into a business model ensures deep drive for the entrepreneur as well as its employees. It also insures a sustainable business designed for long term business. The Meaningful Profit business model by its nature ‘does something good for the business’ and ‘does something good for society’.
Meaningful Profit has been adopted by the Global School for Entrepreneurship as the third business model for doing business.
Meaningful Profit is developed by Wassili Zafiris and Ben Steenstra and has been described in their book IK BEN niet alleen op de wereld.
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Wassili Zafiris
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