The Dangers of Money (Pt. 3)

“A goal without a plan is just a wish.” —Anonymous

A business, non-profit, or even place of worship must keep their eyes on the books. You’ve heard it more than once: Know. Your. Numbers. If the organization makes one dollar less than it brings in, then it’s time to close shop. Profit is essential. However, there is a dark side to money – a danger. In this blog series I talk about the five Dangers of Money.

Hustle is essential when starting something new. You’ve got to get to work. Laziness gets you nowhere. Pope Paul IV said, “All life demands struggle. Those who have everything given to them become lazy, selfish, and insensitive to the real values of life. The very striving and hard work that we so constantly try to avoid is the major building block in the person we are today.” In fact, Sloth has been considered one of the Seven Deadly Sins. So hard work matters. But working must be intentional. And that leads us to the third danger:

Danger #3: Money can keep you from working in the right direction.

I once served on the board of a non-profit that received a bunch of money from an angel investor. The vision of the leaders was compelling. The passion and kindness of the invest made it seem like a good combination. So, an investment was made (I use that term loosely – see below). Several people were hired. Money was spent on benefits, salaries, wages, team building, education, equipment, etc.

The only problem was the money was spent. They didn’t invest any of the money. And there is a big difference. When working with my clients I tell them, “Invest, don’t spend. Think multiplication, not subtraction.” Investing means working on the things that will get you more of what you need – usually money or a profit – in return.

When the first year passed, over $350,000 was gone and not a dollar was made. When asked what happened and what team members were working on, we heard:

“We’ve been working our butts off.”

“We come here every day.”

“We were taking classes.”

“We did podcasts.”

“We wrote blogs.”

They were working in the wrong direction! Never once did anyone say:

“We tried to raise money.”

“We met with clients.”

“We got the job done.”

“We held big events.”

“We went out and sold the product.”

For big conglomerates and publicly traded companies, losing money is common. However, this was a small organization and there was no more money left. The only thing that could be done was to shut it down and walk away, licking our wounds, and learning a lot of valuable lessons.nWhen you are desperate for money, you must be laser focused on the goal: survival. This time of desperation becomes a business classroom in real time, providing thousands of lessons, and in the end, shaping us into better leaders.