Why did you start your own business? I’m going to guess it has something to do with creating financial security, building up your bank account, and growing an income such that living life on your terms becomes your reality.

You’re not alone! I’d be willing to bet that a lot of business leaders find motivation in making more money and establishing financial security.

However, I’m going to share what may be an unpopular opinion, but it’s one that I stand by. Money isn’t everything — in business or life — and if this is your sole purpose for building a business and what you base your success on, you’re probably going to end up disappointed.

Here’s why money isn’t everything.

You Can’t Really Control How Much Money You Make

Yes, I said it: You can’t force your business to make more money.

“Sure I can! I’ll just sell more,” you’re arguing. Okay, but you can’t force that either. In other words, you can’t make people purchase your product or service.

What, then, can you control?

You Can Control the Quality of Your Product or Service

When it comes down to it, what you do have control over is how amazing your product or service is. This is something you own from start to finish. You have the power to improve it and change things as you see fit.

For instance, if you sell dog toys and you get a lot of customer feedback saying that their pooches can rip the toys apart in a matter of hours, what can you do about this? Can you reinforce them or make them stronger somehow? Should you be using a different material?

If the toys last longer, then shoppers will be more inclined to purchase from you because they know that they’re getting quality products.

That, in turn, will ideally equate to more revenue.

In this scenario, you increased revenue not by focusing on making money, but rather by focusing on building a stellar product.

And this is why money shouldn’t be your main motivation.

Money Plays One Part in Your Journey

Another reason why money isn’t everything in business is that it places too much emphasis on the end goal. Finding success in business involves many important things, of which money is one.

But if you’re only looking at the end goal and never think of the journey, this is going to be a miserable experience. Growing a company takes too much time and energy to not enjoy the process. You need to establish a healthy relationship with your finances and have a broader perspective.

This is how your business will reach its full potential.

Become Obsessed with the Customer Experience and Money Will Follow

If money isn’t everything, then why the heck would you even start a business? Great question! Start a business because there’s a problem people are experiencing that you can solve. Becoming obsessed with helping, as opposed to selling.

If you want to earn more money, then you have to prioritize what your customers care about.

They don’t care about how much money you make. They don’t care if you make a billion dollars or how close you are to financial independence. In fact, they can sense when all you care about is getting their money — and it’s a huge turn-off.

What do they care about? They care about how good your product/service is. So, that’s what you should care about too.

Instead of spending time obsessing over dollars and cents, focus your attention on how to improve your offerings. The money will follow.

So, Are Money Goals Bad?

Not at all. While money isn’t everything, it would be lunacy to claim that it doesn’t matter at all. Of course, money matters.

You need to make enough money to keep the lights on and pay your staff. That’s the bare minimum: Support your business’s basic needs.

Then, there’s your personal growth. You might want to earn a lot of money so that you can ultimately work less and spend time with your children and friends, have the freedom to travel the world, and find true happiness.

So, while money isn’t everything, it’s certainly something.

My point, though, is that it shouldn’t be at the root of your life. Your motivation needs to go deeper than money. In your business, you need to find inspiration in solving a problem for your customers, and we’ve already talked about a lot of personal incentives for improving your earnings — like travel and being with family.

This is so important because you can be incredibly rich and it might not even make a difference. Money can’t buy happiness. It can’t buy good health or close friends or fulfilling relationships.

All the money in the world won’t fill these very big voids.

How Can You Set Healthy and Productive Money Goals?

When it comes to setting financial goals, most people make the mistake of putting a dollar sign on their goal and calling it a day. “I’m going to make $_____ this year.”

This isn’t enough because, as you now know, you can’t control how much money you make!

Rather, it helps to help a concrete action behind the money goal. “Making more money” isn’t concrete. It’s incredibly abstract, actually.

What’s an example of a concrete action? Well, here are just a few ideas to get you started:

• “We’re going to send feedback forms to all shoppers via email to learn how we can improve.”
• “I’m going to send my social media marketing manager to the biggest conferences this year so she can do her job better and improve our digital reach.”
• “I’m going to reduce my company’s debt by consolidating it onto credit cards with lower interest rates.”

Do you see how these actions could ultimately lead to increasing sales?

• Feedback forms will help you provide a better product or service that more people will want to pay for.
• Improving your digital reach means connecting with more of your target market. This will increase your earning potential.
• Paying less in interest means that you’ll spend less, so you can improve your bottom line.

These goals and actions are so much better than simply thinking, “I want to be rich.”

Final Thoughts

Money isn’t everything, but it’s also not nothing. In the beginning — particularly in your first year of business — it can be tempting to think only of how to get rich.

It’s almost part of the excitement.

However, at a certain point, you’ll have to acknowledge that being driven purely by money isn’t going to get you very far. And it’s better that you realize this sooner rather than later.

Shift your perspective on how to earn money. Prioritize building strong relationships with the people who need your service the most, and solve their problems as best you can.

If you do this, then your revenue will soar and the money will flow with a lot more ease than you ever expected.

Money Matters, But So Does Mindset

For my final thoughts, always remember that gratitude matters! Feeling grateful for what you have will attract more of that thing into your life.

Additionally, think of building not just wealth but also happiness. Wealth without happiness is nothing.

Enjoy every moment of building your business, even the seemingly negative ones. View rejection as redirection and learn from it.

Do these things and you’ll turn into a money magnet.