W12 Reflection: Entrepreneurial Journal

Since the average Joe relies on the stock market to grow his wealth, the companies he invests in have to be honest and true. When companies are dishonest, they inevitably go under. People want to invest their money into growing and trustworthy companies. No one wants to wake up with a large portion of their retirement account gone because a company was being dishonest just so they could meet their profit projections. Virtue and integrity are vital to an economy because without them money would not be invested in the market, wherein lies the highest potential returns.


According to Charles Handy’s “What’s a Business For?” Harvard Business Review Article, the “real justification” for why businesses exist is to make a profit in order to do “something more or better.” Money should be viewed as a means to an end. It’s important and necessary for a business to have, but shouldn’t be the sole purpose behind a company.


Handy provided a couple of solutions to correcting the public’s view of business and helping to move the needle from selfish to selfless. 


One solution provided by Handy was that “A good business is a community with a purpose, and a community is not something to be ‘owned.’” I loved it when I read this and wholeheartedly agreed. My goal with Rok is to build a company that is ultimately owned by its employees. I feel that people are more likely to give their whole heart if they have an actual ownership stake in the business. The success of the company is in their hands. If the company does better, they make more money. When we focus on the people within the company, creativity, production, and output will be stronger and therefore customers will be happier. This solution changes titles from “employee” to “member”. It also helps everyone change their vocabulary from “them” to “we”. I’ve always hated it when an employee asks if I “sold a lot this year”, instead of asking if “we sold a lot this year?”


Another solution provided by Handy was “tougher regulations” on businesses. As much as I loathe the idea of more rules in a free market society, a part of me feels inclined to agree. Because of greed, business executives try to get away with a lot of shady things. Regulations force them to do the right thing, otherwise, they suffer the consequences. This is not a long term solution, however. I wish we didn’t have to go this route, but it seems that until the deeper issues are resolved, regulations are a necessary evil.


The more integrity that companies show, the more trusted they will become. This is the future that I hope for in America; a country that continues to have businesses (especially the biggest ones) doing more to help its citizens.

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