How to Have a Meaningful Side Business
A Harvard Business School study reported that 9 out of 10 workers were willing to take less money for more meaningful work. Meaning is priceless.
We are designed for meaning, and we want our work to have meaning. That's why, I tell people that can start a meaningful and profitable business. Business that has meaning has a greater chance of success than otherwise.
3 Questions to Ask of Your Side Business
In this episode, I share 3 questions to help you determine if your side-business has meaning.
Questions
Will it contribute to your happiness?
Will it enrich your home life?
Will it enable you to use your God given abilities?
Resources
Quote by Martin Luther:
“The Christian shoemaker does his duty not by putting little crosses on the shoes, but by making good shoes, because God is interested in good craftsmanship.”
Detailed Show Notes
You’re sitting at a resort, feet up, and drinking your favorite beverage (Coke for this guy please). Your laptop is open and chatting with Vanessa, your (Virtual Assistant) about the slide presentations that need done for the next webinar.
It’s a beautiful day, the sun is shining the birds are suing and everything seems just right. Then you hear someone say your name. Maybe it’s somebody from the resort whom you met earlier and so, you turn around but you don’t see anyone. Then you hear your name again, only a bit louder this time and turn around and you actually see someone - your manager. Turns out, you were staring out the window and day dreaming the whole time. You were dreaming about building your own meaningful business, one that allowed to to go beyond your family’s needs, one that allowed you to spend extra time with the kids and choose your own hours, rather than feeling like a cog in a machine.
But there’s goods news my friend. A meaningful side-business can be yours. And all you have to do to start is to take advantage of your unique opportunity to build someone meaningful.
Starting With Meaning
When I talk about Side Business School, I always tell people they can start a meaningful and profitable side-business. And yesterday, I picked up an older issue of Entrepreneur Magazine from January and February and that had an excellent article titled, What is Meaningful Work?
Then I thought, well, let me tell you. But when I read the article, it was just jam-packed full of insightful theories and models that have been developed over the years. It seems that the thought of work actually having meaning was academically in the 70s. But even though professionals didn’t recognize it until then, we were actually created by God with a desire for meaning from the beginning.
And if you’re not a believer, I understand. But it was interesting to me how much God was recognized in this article. It spoke of the history of meaningful work and how Christian’s bringing new meaning to work. And in stressed the idea that no matter what work you do, it’s a calling and it’s a way to Glorify God.
It was Martin Luther that said, “The Christian shoemaker does his duty not by putting little crosses on the shoes, but by making good shoes, because God is interested in good craftsmanship.” That is business with meaning.
But before we continue let’s talk about what meaningful means because sometimes we can use words that are important to us and yet we don’t stop to think about what they mean.
According to Miriam Webster meaningful means “having a meaning or purpose” or it means simply “full of meaning” and I think that’s the way most of us would think of it. It also says that the first known use of the word meaningful wasn’t 1852. Which is interesting, because work would have been thought of differently before then.
But what we’re actually dealing with here is something that is “full of meaning” and Miriam Webster also defines meaning as “something meant or intended or significant in quality” And each of us want our lives, our businesses to be something that has meaning. It’s intended to be significant.
So when you hear me talk about how you can start and grow a meaningful and profitable business, I really mean what I say. You can find purpose, meaning, and significance within your side-business. It can fuel you and your business and allow you to serve others well.
As you know we are currently in a time that is known as “The Great Resignation” and much of that is attributed to the fact that people do not find meaning in their work.
The work that they have been doing hasn’t satisfied a deeper need within themselves.
It used to be that work was more about a paycheck and supplying one’s needs, and there are times when that’s still true, but now people want more. They want meaning.
For several years people talked about work-life balance. But there’s no balance because they each effect the other. In stead of work-life balance, Professor Michael stager talks about “work-life harmony” as being the goal. Each area: work, family, family, faith, recreation, they are all connected and I think harmony is a better way to frame it.
Harmony, meaning, they make a difference. According to one study, 1 out of five American workers considered their jobs meaningless. And a Harvard Business School study reported that 9 out of 10 workers were willing to take less money for more meaningful work.
Now I think about that! 9 out of 10 workers are willing to be paid less so they can have more meaning in their work. That is incredible.
This is why it’s so important that your side business is meaningful to you. Otherwise, you’ve just created another job for yourself. It should have some meaning to you, your family, and your customers.
3 Questions to Ask if Your Business Has Meaning
To help us out, I want us to consider three questions to ask yourself about your side business. The answers will help recognize that your idea has meaning or if it needs more meaning attached to it.
Will it contribute to your happiness?
Now I understand that happiness isn’t the only goal. And unfortunately, happiness has gotten a bad rap in some circles as if it's bad. But who want’s to be unhappy? You don’t want to start a business that makes you unhappy? That just wouldn’t make sense.
Being happy is a good and natural state-of-being. You want a business that contributes to your happiness and the happiness of others.
Will your business contribute to the happiness of others? Whether you’re deciding to launch your own practice or provide a new product that the market needs, will it contribute to their happiness? It’s worth asking.
People don’t want to buy from unhappy people and they don’t buy to be unhappy themselves. They buy from you because your product or service brings them a sense of joy or fulfillment.
Whether they are hiring you as their coach or buying newly designed wrench for their tractor, that product and service is contributing to sense happiness.
Does your side business enrich your home life?
Remember, our businesses are not just about making money and living the dream life. It’s not just about having the fun and toys or the extra dollars (at least for me it’s not).
These extra’s are nice well-deserved and should be enjoyed, by the family. It’s not about status and reputation. Our family life should ultimately be all the better because of our business, not worse
If, in the long-term, it hurts our homes, it’s got to go. At least that’s they way I feel about it. Some of you know that my background in vocational ministry cause me to travel and speak a lot. Ther’e times I was gone from my wife and little children for weeks at a time. And for me, that became a conflict within my conscience. I was traveling telling other how they could have a better life and yet, I felt as if I was neglecting my family. My wife needed her husband. The kids needed their dad. And was major factor in leaving that ministry.
And the same is true with your side-business. You want it to be a blessing not a cursing.
At the end of the day we need to be able to look at our side business and say this is helping my family. This is helping my children. This is helping my family to do more to be more.
And if you start a family business it can allow you grow deeper relationships and have more time together if you go full-time with it. How cool is that!
Business isn’t just about numbers, money, and products. Now it may be that way for some people, but those who are a part of Side Business School. We want to enrich our families’ lives, our friends, and the lives of customers.
On our last day on earth, we’re not going to say to say, ”I wish I would’ve spent more time on my business."
If we’re not intentional we might find ourselves saying, “I wish I would have spent more time with family.”
Now I understand that when we launch something new it takes a lot of work. It takes a lot of dedication and extra time and sometimes and sometimes we have to make some sacrifices, but we also understand that the payoff is going to be greater.
When we build a side business the right way we can find ourselves having more freedom and opportunity for family friends.
By the way, I want to invite you to visit sidebusinessschool.com and download your free copy of “The Quick-Start Side-Business Guide.” It will help you focus more on what matters so you can start your side business faster. That is at sidebusinessschool.com.
Will your side business enable you to use your God given abilities?
All of us are created differently and uniquely. In fact, the Bible tells us that we are wonderfully made.We are made in a special way and able to do special things.
You have been given abilities, gifts, and talents that you can use to be a help and a service to others. And you can use your God-given abilities in your business to provide extra income for your family and their future. There are things that you are uniquely to do that someone else may not do.
Focus on those God-given abilities, talents and gifts and use them in a way that makes him look good and makes our world a better place.
But I feel we should briefly talk about something because I know it can be a difficult subject for some people. When you bring God into the picture and then you start talking about money, some have the belief that it’s wrong to use your gifts to make money. But that’s really a misunderstanding of money, work, and business from a Bliblical perspective.
Some believe that your gifts should only be used in the realm of ministry or you should be as cheap as possible because anything els wool due selfish. Some have been taught that a 1 Timothy 6:10 states that “the love of money is the root of all money.” But an accurate rendering that you’ll see in 99% of the versions out there says, “the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.” That’s a huge difference. And if you believe that money is even that’s going to definitely impact your perspective. But, what that verse is actually teaching us is that greed is the cause of many bad things. All right that’s your your sermon for the day.
Listen, God wants you to prosper. That has been His intention for his people since the beginning. That’s not to say there aren’t poor folk and that there are lean times, but we also get to take advantage of tremendous opportunities around us.
I grew up very poor. And maybe sometime I’ll be able to tell you more. But, I remember standing in line to get government cheese and peanut butter as a little boy. So I know it’s possible for life to change. And if things are hard for you right now, hold on, take it slow, you can be a success.
When you grow your side-business, use your gifts. You’ll make the most impact and income.
And even though I didn’t open up with our traditional quote, I want to remind you of what Martin Luther said 500 years ago, “The Christian shoemaker does his duty not by putting little crosses on the shoes, but by making good shoes, because God is interested in good craftsmanship.”