What is a Spiritual Entrepreneur?

An entrepreneur is defined as a person who creates a new business, who is prepared to take the risks involved in setting up a business, usually, in order to enjoy high rewards. They are innovators, creators and problem solvers. Entrepreneurs provide new ideas, goods, and services; solutions that enable us to do things better and improve our lives.

But what differentiates a Spiritual Entrepreneur from other entrepreneurs?

Traditionally, there are four broad categories of entrepreneurs:

1. Small Business Entrepreneurs – often run a small owner-managed business with a few employees. A business providing products or services to a local or (increasingly) a niche online community 2

2. Start-Up Entrepreneurs – e.g. founders of tech companies backed by Angel Investors or VC in the expectation of scaling up quickly to a large company.

3. Large Company Entrepreneurs - those with global ambitions and serious financial backing such as Richard Branson, Steve Jobs, Elon Musk and Bill Gates

4. Social Entrepreneurs – people who pursue novel business ideas that are intended to solve community-based problems. They are willing to take on the risk and put in the effort with the primary aim of creating positive changes in society.

The common character of all entrepreneurs is that all seek a sustainable business model to deliver the objectives of their company.

 Regardless of which category they fall into, successful entrepreneurs all need to demonstrate creativity, flexibility, persistence and passion.

The differences between the categories include the level of tolerance of personal risk, size and scale of the vision and their personal financial goal.

Over the past decade or so, as society’s attitudes have changed, there has been a large increase in what are termed, Spiritual Entrepreneurs.

They are often thought to be involved in wellness activities (e.g. meditation, yoga, healing etc.) but can actually encompass any industry if their purpose is to increase the level of good in the world.

In fact, any entrepreneur who fits into one of the four broad categories above may well also be a Spiritual Entrepreneur, if they are driven by a cause they believe in that is bigger than themselves and their business is designed to deliver on their purpose.

 And there is nothing to stop someone who starts as a purpose-driven Spiritual Entrepreneur also becoming a large company entrepreneur -Anita Roddick who started the Body Shop being a classic example.

After all, if you want to maximise the good you do in the world, then, the more people you can serve the better.

 So, what makes for a Spiritual Entrepreneur?

Well, as I mentioned, I don’t think it means you have to be involved in spirituality or healing activities, though many Spiritual Entrepreneurs have a natural interest in these as they are usually open-minded and often willing to explore what conventional minds dismiss.

For me, it simply means an entrepreneur who is both following their heart and is committed to serving others as well as they can to increase the overall net good in the world.

There may be huge differences in the activities or the scope of the entrepreneurs’ ambition but it’s their intention to serve others and do good that counts.

So, however large or small, the Spiritual Entrepreneur’s business must have ethical aims; it must be designed to deliver on your purpose in life and it must be run with passion; whether it’s baking artisan bread, teaching organic farming, creating a meditation app, or building an interplanetary spacecraft.

For instance, controversial though it may be, I would suggest that some of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs are driven more by their desire to benefit mankind rather than making profits for shareholders. Elon Musk, one of the richest men in the world, is in many respects, a Spiritual Entrepreneur.

The desire to do good and the desire to earn a lot of money are not mutually exclusive, but to be a true Spiritual Entrepreneur your primary focus must be on serving others and making the world better rather than on making profits.

If you do that, then, there is no reason why you should not be rewarded, and the more people you serve and the better you serve them, the greater those rewards will naturally be.

Someone with a hardnosed old-school mentality may well dismiss this as hippy claptrap/new-age nonsense. They believe that a company’s only purpose is to provide a return on investment for its shareholders.

I studied Business Ethics as part of my law degree – many moons ago – and this was something we had to write about.

I recall there was a seemingly strong case for arguing that a company’s only obligation, was delivering value for its shareholders and (beyond obeying the law) it should pay no heed to the wider community. After all, the shareholders were the people who had invested their own money into the company in the expectation of a return on investment.

Does that give the company a licence to do as they please?

No, because, in theory, if it was to break the law or otherwise act against the interests of the community there would be financial and reputational consequences that would negatively impact shareholder value.  In other words, it was believed companies would act ethically as it was in their own interests to do so.

Nice idea. But unfortunately, I don’t think history has shown that companies can be trusted to do that.

Too many times we have seen corporations, especially large powerful conglomerates and those with deep resources to fend off litigation, act despicably against the interests of the wider population.

On occasion, they have poisoned whole towns, polluted rivers and oceans, destroyed forests, annihilated species of animals and defrauded people on a huge scale.

Numerous tobacco companies, food companies, energy companies, chemical companies, car manufacturers, fashion brands and, of course, banks are all guilty of riding roughshod over the rights of ordinary people… all to enhance their profits.

Over the last decade or so there has been a fundamental shift in the zeitgeist away from this core capitalist belief that a company’s sole objective is to deliver profits for shareholders. We know we simply can’t trust them to act decently.

There is a growing demand that companies should be aware of the wider implications of their actions and be focussed on delivering a social and environmental benefit for all as well a return to their investors.

Consumers have shown their support for this belief and are voting with their wallets by buying from companies that follow an ethical purpose and are contributing towards the net good in the world.

Why Being A Spiritual Entrepreneur Makes Good Sense

I’ve been an entrepreneur for many years. I’ve been both a small business entrepreneur and as the founder of a start-up that raised $3M in investment and scaled it to a value of $40M, I’ve also been a start-up entrepreneur. During that time, I must admit, I never gave any conscious thought about whether I was a Spiritual Entrepreneur. 

I’ve come to recognise that actually some of that time I was unconsciously being a Spiritual Entrepreneur, and it was these times I was in the flow; that I was in alignment with my beliefs that I was happiest, and my companies thrived.

And there were times where even though I may have been earning reasonably large amounts of money, I was stressed and unhappy and that was because I was not in alignment with my beliefs and purpose.

I, therefore, think it’s essential that whatever type of entrepreneur you are and whatever business you run, you are fundamentally focussed on serving others in the best way you can.

Only that path leads to a happy fulfilling life and a business you are truly proud of.

Be Kind. Do Good. Be True To Yourself.

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