I regret to inform you… you’ve missed the real reason your business matters.
- Harry T. Jones
- 6 days ago
- 3 min read
Last month, I spent an hour on the phone with a man we’ll call Peter.
He sits on the board of an 80-year-old family business—substantial, with several operating companies and four manufacturing plants.
He’s working to prepare the fourth generation of ownership to take the reins.
About an hour into our conversation, I asked him a question we ask every leader we work with:
“What is the impact that makes your business worth continuing for another generation?”
Without hesitation, he answered: “Great dividends.”
Money.
I paused. “Have you always been able to pay great dividends? The business is 80 years old—surely there have been lean times?”
“Well, no,” he admitted. “Not always. In tough years, we’ve had to cut them.”
Then I asked about something I’d heard earlier in our conversation.
“Didn’t one of your factories burn down a few years ago?”
“Yes,” he said.
“Did the insurance settlement cover the cost of rebuilding?”
“No. Not even close. Replacement costs were astronomical. We had to borrow millions.”
“So why did you rebuild?”
There was a long pause.
Then, quietly: “Because of all the people who work there. We’re the largest employer in the community. Hundreds of jobs were at stake.”
“What did you do with those employees while the factory was being rebuilt?” I asked.
“We bused them ninety minutes each way to our other factories.
We kept them working.
We kept their paychecks and benefits going until the plant was rebuilt.”
In that moment, Peter realized something he’d been living but had never articulated:
The impact that makes his business worth continuing isn’t great dividends.
It’s the people.
It’s the community.
It’s the lives and livelihoods his family has protected—even at significant cost.
If the purpose of the business was just financial returns, they would have taken the insurance money and walked away. Or sold to the highest bidder.
But they didn’t.
They borrowed millions.
They rebuilt.
They bused employees 90 minutes each way, twice a day, to keep them working.
That’s impact.
That’s purpose.
That’s what makes a business worth continuing.
Here’s the hard truth I regret to inform you about: You may have failed to recognize the impact that makes your business worth continuing for another generation.
You’re likely living it.
You’re likely showing it in your actions.
But you haven’t named it.
You haven’t made it intentional.
And because of that, the next generation may not carry it forward.
Does your business serve a purpose beyond making money? How are your kingdom values—your higher values—actually being lived out?
It is important for you to define it.
To define your impact, consider three elements:
Awareness of your impact - What do your actions reveal? Your actions speak louder than your mission statement.
Intentionality with your impact - Tell your stories. Share them. Make your impact visible and repeatable.
Movement toward greater impact - Align your resources to achieve ever-increasing impact. Invest in systems. Grow strategically. Create more valuable jobs for your people.
Remember: Make a profit → bless the community → advance your purpose
What can you do?
If you’re ready to discover and articulate the impact that makes your business worth continuing:
Get in a succession planning breakthrough group where you can explore these questions with other leaders who are wrestling with the same issues
Read the Succession Planning for Impact book to understand how to define and communicate your impact
Work through the “7 Pitfalls” workbook to avoid the trap of reducing your legacy to financial returns
Sign up for our private email list for ongoing insights on building businesses that matter beyond the bottom line
The best time to define your impact was when you started the business. The second-best time is today.
Don’t let the next generation inherit a business without understanding why it’s worth continuing.
Let’s finish well—together.
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