I grew up with a notion that in order to be successful you need growth. This growth covers your skills and experience, but also monetary remuneration and that comes from helping to grow businesses. After all, if you are employed or an entrepreneur, you are needed in the business if you contribute to its growth. 

If I make a comparison with business lifecycle or even how a person progresses through his or her career, there are similarities. Frankly speaking, when we are young and inexperienced, and when our businesses are just startups, we do need to grow. However, these days this strategy of growth really never stops. 

Feeling of ‘lack’

What it brings to all of us is a belief that we lack something. We always lack something, don’t we? We may lack money, or experience, or knowledge, or skills.  

I remember spending countless hours after work studying more and more, learning new skills and so on. Yet when the crisis was evident, I realized, I should have been dancing too!

Businesses are considered as such as well – they always need to grow and some stability is regarded as first signs of decline and/or even worse than that. 

This feeling of lack created stress for us personally and also for our businesses and even countries. We measure our success by our growing bank accounts, companies by growing net profits and countries cheer for their growing GDP. Yet all of that is just a ‘rat race’! When we achieve 1000 whatever currency it is in savings, we strive to get 5000 and so on. When our company achieves a million in net profit, we may start thinking about expanding and developing the business. It just never stops!

Scientists were studying how our salaries contribute to our happiness levels. In USA, for example, an average salary in 2018 was circa $44,000. Research has shown that when people surpass $75,000, their happiness level remains the same. In some cases it even declines after reaching new heights. It is of course should be taken in approximation as the cost of living varies considerably from the largest cities to some small towns. In New York City it may well be $100,000. 

What it means is that when we reach certain levels of income, so we satisfy our basic needs in housing, food, medicine and clothing, the surplus does not contribute to our happiness much. So there is some point, after which our stress only grows and happiness not. This is what I can call a point of enough. I doubt that there is a formula to generalize and calculate this point. However if you are familiar with a concept of ‘breakeven point’ in business, this point of enough swiftly follows suit. 

The point of ‘enough’

To calculate it for yourself, think about your basic needs, create your budget and get your own personal breakeven point. Think of your personal meaning in life and what’s important to you – add to your budget. This will more closely reflect the number you need to feel ‘it’s enough!’

For your business it can be calculated in a similar fashion – you have your budget, cashflow and profit and loss. You know how much your business needs to achieve in turnover and gross profit to then be able to pay salaries, bills and other commitments. As soon as you know this number, consider your business purpose: how does it serve others and what sort of mission it has. Do you need to add anything to your budget so your business fulfills its mission and is able to execute on its strategy and plan? If so, please add this to your number. This will constitute your business point of enough. 

What it does for both you and your business is that you are not running constantly to achieve an ever elusive growth and figures that are 20% more or 50% more, simply because everyone is doing the same rat race.

Less stress, more joy!

It is a change from ‘stress guaranteed’ to a more comfortable and mindful living, both personally and when managing your business. 

Personally, what it did for me is that I am no longer interested in simply helping a person to generate money via digital marketing. Economy of enough enables my own mindful and peaceful living. It allows me to be kind to myself in my thoughts and then actions. It allows me to be committed to my goals without harming others. 

When creating a new business model you can adopt one to create an ethical business based on the economy of ‘enough’ . Consider stakeholders, their needs and calculate business breakeven / stakeholder breakeven points. This will allow you to analyse how feasible is your business. What’s more, you can determine a point when you won’t be a slave of running the business but instead start enjoying owning one.

I invite other entrepreneurs share your views on this concept and help me to further develop it.