Doing What I Can

This week I have had time to think about what I would like my entrepreneurial endeavor to accomplish.  I want to be able to help others.  I know that I will be able to care for my family regardless of what I do, so I want to do something that is useful to others beyond me.  If I can create a business that helps solve one of the world's problems then I will feel as though I contributed to society.  I realize that I may not have a big effect on the global situation, but I will have done what I can.

When I was reading about the micro-loans and how they were able to improve the lives of those that are trapped in poverty because they are denied credit, it made me think of credit in a new light.  Is credit simply the ability to borrow money for a time, or is it a trust that is given to a person that they are responsible?  I think it is more of the trust that is important.  Having trust among businesses allows them to have transactions.  If there is no trust, then companies would not get materials shipped to them to turn into products unless they could pay for them in full in advance.  Also, the company purchasing the materials would not be willing to pay for them until they could be inspected for quality.

In short, our economy would come to a grinding halt.  Because of this I feel that trust is one of the most critical pieces that economies need.  This includes trusting individuals to do as they promise.

As I watched the talk by Elder Gay, I was touched by the story of the teenage girl that lost her parents in Sudan.  The strength that she showed from having gone through that experience is remarkable.  I hope that I can gain that type of conviction.

Virtue and integrity help businesses to trust one another.  This allows them to create wealth.  It allows individuals to pool their collective wealth to be used to create more wealth.  If we lose virtue or integrity, people will withdraw their wealth from the collective pool and the economy will collapse.

The real justification for a business to exist is if it can make or do something better than others that is a benefit to society.  If it can’t make or do something that benefits society in some way, it is more of a parasite than a useful entity.

Two solutions that Handy proposed that I agree with are to share the fruits of labor more evenly with those that are providing the intellectual capital, not simply the money.  This will help to inspire employees that are making a more significant contribution to continue to innovate.  The other idea that I liked was having a number of employees of the company on the supervisory board.  This will help the company understand the real life challenges that employees are facing and help them to keep the needs of their most important resource taken care of quickly.