Profit Is Not a Dirty Word: Why Your Business Exists to Make Money
Contributed by SBOC Member:
Pat Miller
Founder of the Small Business Owners Community
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When Did Making Money Become Shameful?
Somewhere along the way, we started treating profit like a dirty word.
Business owners hedge when talking about revenue. Entrepreneurs apologize for their pricing. Founders downplay their success to avoid seeming “too commercial.”
This needs to stop.
Your business exists to make money. If your business doesn’t make money, you don’t have a business. You have a very expensive hobby.
The Passion Trap
“But I’m passionate about what I do!”
Great. Passion is wonderful. Passion gets you through the hard days. Passion keeps you going when things get tough.
But passion doesn’t pay your mortgage. Passion doesn’t cover your health insurance. Passion doesn’t fund your kid’s college education.
You know what does? Profit.
The goal isn’t passion OR profit. It’s passion AND profit. They’re not mutually exclusive. In fact, sustainable passion requires profit. Without money coming in, your passion project has an expiration date.
What Profit Actually Enables
Here’s what profit lets you do:
Pay yourself what you’re worth. Too many business owners pay themselves last, if at all. You deserve compensation for your work.
Hire help. You can’t scale while doing everything yourself. Profit lets you bring in people to handle what you shouldn’t be doing.
Invest in growth. Better tools, education, marketing, systems. Growth requires investment, and investment requires profit.
Actually take time off. When the business is profitable, you can step away without the whole thing collapsing. That’s freedom.
Here’s the truth nobody wants to say out loud: the best service you can provide your customers is staying in business. You can’t help anyone if you go broke.
Reframe Your Relationship with Money
Money isn’t the goal. Money is the tool.
It’s the tool that lets you keep doing the work you love. It’s the tool that lets you serve more people. It’s the tool that lets you build something that outlasts you.
Stop apologizing for wanting to make it.
Charge what you’re worth. Build in margin. Make profit. That’s not greed—that’s a sustainable business.
The Real Question
What would change in your business if you stopped apologizing for wanting to make money?
Would you raise your prices? Would you fire that client who always haggles? Would you finally say no to work that doesn’t serve your goals?
Profit isn’t shameful. Profit is survival. And beyond survival, profit is the path to the freedom you started this business to find in the first place.
Key Takeaways
- Profit is not a dirty word—it’s essential for business survival
- A business that doesn’t make money is an expensive hobby
- Passion AND profit aren’t mutually exclusive—sustainable passion requires profit
- Profit enables paying yourself, hiring help, investing in growth, and taking time off
- The best service you can provide customers is staying in business
- Money is a tool, not a goal
Listen to the full discussion on Businessing with Pat Miller, available on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify.
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Contributed by
Pat Miller
Founder of the Small Business Owners Community
Pat spent two decades in broadcasting management and hosting. After leaving the radio industry, he spent time consulting small businesses and realized the support system for entrepreneurs was broken. Where could you find help for improving small businesses and building real connections with other like-minded people. In June of 2020, the Idea Collective Small Business Community was born.