How to find motivation to run business-for-good

How do you keep going when the challenges pile up? Where do you find the energy to make tough decisions? In purpose-driven business, these are questions I hear often. They’re valid, but they miss the mark. The truth is that traditional motivations—money, status, independence—will not sustain you through the toughest times.?

When you’re chasing something bigger than yourself, it takes more than just drive; it takes a dream.?

Congrats on selling your business… Now get ready for depression

Historically, people would start a business for all sorts of reasons—for independence, financial security, to fuel their ego, or they were just a risk-taking personality.

But these motivations don’t stand the test of time. They don’t drive true, lasting impact. When you want to achieve something big, money or status alone won’t keep you going.

It's no surprise that so many founders who exit their businesses, sell their startups for seven or eight figures and cash in, end up feeling worse off. "Anyone else feeling depressed after selling their biz?", "I was lost for 18 months." These are some of the testaments from founders soon after their “happily-ever-after”.??

This phenomenon, known as “post-exit depression,” fills the pages of business magazines, fuels discussions on Reddit and motivates academic research. A 2017 study from the University of Helsinki even used MRI scans to find that entrepreneurs are as attached to their companies as parents are to their babies.

That’s what having a dream looks like.

Nobody remembers Nelson Mandela for the cars in his garage

So if it’s being cynical, if what inspires you is buying a new car at the end of the year, or having ten cars in the garage and two vacation homes, then good for you.?

For many, this ends up being enough.?

But here’s the thing: It won’t be fulfilling in the long run. The billion-dollar exit many are imagining is likely not going to make you happy. There needs to be something bigger.

"If you want to push yourself to the limits of what you’re capable of doing, you need a dream that aligns with your sense of purpose."

Think of the most inspiring figures in history—Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, Nelson Mandela, Marie Curie. They all had a dream to change the world and improve lives. That’s why we remember them, not for the cars in their garages.

They had a dream and were not afraid to talk about it everywhere they went. To get people on board and make it happen.?

True purpose-driven work is about inspiring others, changing lives, and creating opportunities for people to live their dreams. That’s my dream. It’s what gets me out of bed every morning.?

Greatness demands a dream—and the courage to follow it

What makes a great musician, footballer, or entrepreneur? What makes them get up every day for years and years and practice their a** off? It’s belief. Determination. The conviction that this is their path. It’s their dream.

It’s a dream that’s in touch with what they believe they’re capable of doing. That it’s gonna come true for them.

If you want to push yourself to the limits of what you’re capable of doing—to start a business, become your own boss, and fulfil your destiny in this world—you need a dream that aligns with your sense of purpose.

A dream that’s not about money or status but about making a difference.?

And dreams come true. But only with consistent application and improvement—both of yourself and of what your dreams are. And by inspiring others to join you in pursuit of that dream.

Making a sale and getting the best out of people

This fact is reflected in every part of the business journey.?

Want to make a sale? Sure, you can bombard your potential customers with the features of your product, but most will buy for something else. They want to buy into your dream. They want to become part of the inspiring journey. In the words of Simon Sinek, they are buying your “Why?”.?

And with the rise of conscious consumerism, this becomes even more important.?

And it's not the only thing. Want to attract the best talent and motivate your employees? Gen Z and millennial workers, who comprise most of the global workforce today, consider purpose critical to job satisfaction.?

Managers often think motivation is about money or fear of punishment, but it’s not. It’s about making people feel good about what they do. It’s about making them part of your dream.?

It’s about making it their dream, too.?

And, as I discussed in an earlier article, the same goes for shareholders. Some are in it just for the money, but the best ones are in it to become part of your dream.

There’s nothing more powerful than that

There is nothing else to say. That’s it. That’s the most powerful thing that can get you out of your bed in the morning and keep you going. It’s that belief that you know what you’re doing, how you’re doing it and it’s all that matters to you.?

So if your dream is to change the the lives of the people you serve in your business, live every day for that dream. It has nothing to do with money. It's all about knowing that, with the help of others, you’ve made other people’s dreams a reality. And that’s magical.

Awards come as a result of following your dream.

Back in 2011, I read an article in Time magazine about the devastating effects of energy poverty on 1.4 billion people worldwide and it shook me to my core. This has led me to use my skills and try helping to mitigate this problem. This led me to fund The Doble Group in 2012 and later, in 2016, SolarBuddy .?

This got the ball rolling in the incredible journey of SolarBuddy to what it is today, to winning the Good Design Australia Awards in 2024 and 2015 and the DFID Humanitarian Design Awards in 2012. But these were all just results of me following my dream.?

On a personal level, giving people light and helping them find a way out of the physical darkness also had a deeper meaning. Helping others and empathising deeply also helped to pull me out of the metaphorical darkness of my mental health issues and other related troubles.

But, without trying to downplay any of these things, they came only down the line from me realising what my dream is and pursuing it above anything else.?

The same was true for funding Barefoot Citizens , a collective of businesses striving to enact positive change in our world. Whether it is providing meaningful employment in Ghana through our brand WYLD ARCH or helping to solve the devastating plastic pollution in the world's oceans with Sea Barrier .?

They all share the same backbone–a dream to see a better world, collaboration and creative problem-solving, creating a world where every individual has the opportunity to thrive in harmony with nature.

And how about you? What dream are you passionate about? How can you channel that passion into creating real change in your life and the lives of others?

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If you want to join our journey or need help starting your own, feel free to reach out directly to me or at barefootcitizens.com/contact-barefoot-citizens.

- Simon?