What is Ethics?

Narrated by: Makeda Blackburn

Source: Bull & Beard

Beauty Brains Credit Blog:

What motivates you to start a business? There can be multiple motivations. Finance is clearly a strong motivation. Individuals desire money, and clearly the rewards for entrepreneurship can be substantial.

A Key motivation can also be other things, such as control over your life and doing the things you enjoy. It is simply not true that success in an entrepreneurial business can only be achieved with brutally hard and long work hours. Many entrepreneurs make a good living working limited numbers of hours each week. These entrepreneurs could clearly make more money in their life, but they structure their business as a means to LIVE, as opposed to structuring their businesses to conform to their lifestyles.

The opening scenario illustrates that ultimately an entrepreneur must think through what their motivations are for the business and structure the business accordingly.

Article: The twenty-first century entrepreneur

While it is often assumed that the key motivator for entrepreneurs is money, often there is an even stronger motivator-Freedom. This is not to say money does not matter- but the ability to control their lives is even more important. A prime example of this is Robby Berthume. When he first started his business, his sole focus was money. Over time, that motivation did not prove to be the one that ultimately carried him forward in his successful entrepreneurial efforts.

At the age of 14, Robby started his first business conducting training, constructing websites, and marketing businesses. After relocating the business to California when he was 21 years old, the business grew to the point that he was recognized at the age of 23 in the Los Angeles Business Journal’s “Twenty in their Twenties.” But health issues from stress lead to bad decisions and business failure of the business, he moved on to head other people’s marketing firms for a few years and took some time to diversify his experiences.

But ultimately, he established his own business again with the desire for an entrepreneurial venture strong, but this time with a different focus other than just a financial goal. The ability to manage his own business and build the life he desired with stronger confidence was the ultimate goal. Today, Robby heads a very successful firm in North Carolina-Bull & Beard – that connects advertising agencies with brands and entrepreneurial ventures. Bull & Beard supports ad agencies and brands by helping them position, price, pitch, and perform in a digital world. Now Bull & Beard’s include Intel, eBay, PayPal, and hundreds of other companies.

Questions

1. What is your principal motivation for starting a business?

2. What are the secondary motivations for starting the business?

3. How do you plan to balance these motivations?