When we set aside everything else (strategy, models, marketing, operations, and business plans), the real aim of business is to make money, correct?

The other day, I was sitting in a meeting with one of my mentors, and he said something very interesting, and this flipped everything I thought I knew about business on its head.

The lesson I got from that meeting was simple, a mere principle. He said, “Entrepreneurs must concentrate on doing only one thing exceptionally well—that is, to find ways to effectively take money out of their market’s wallets into their pockets.”.

An entrepreneur does not settle for ‘market value’; they will find ways to effectively take every penny from their market’s wallets. As harsh as this may sound, this is the crux of business. No business can grow without money. A business’ success is always weighted on their profits. Think of Apple Corporation, Google, and Microsoft.

My mentor continued to provide an example. He said, “Have you ever noticed how those people that stand by the parking lots always ask for R2, but when they are given the R2, they will ‘negotiate’ for more? They understand the principle of taking as much of their market’s money out of the wallets into their pocket.”.

This made me think of Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group; this company has hundreds of brands under the Virgin umbrella, and they are all designed to take all your money out of your wallet into their pockets. There’s nothing wrong with that, by the way; it’s called providing a service for monetary gain. For example, one would have a Virgin Active membership while using Virgin Mobile, Virgin Atlantic, and Virgin Money as service providers. All that money goes out of your wallet into their pockets.

Entrepreneurs? Let’s set aside the complexities of business but rather focus on this principle: find ways to take money out of your market’s wallets into your pocket and grow your business.

ABOUT WRITER: Lebogang Mokubela is a 23-year-old personal finance coach, leadership speaker, author, and director of the second biggest marketing agency in the country, Perx Agency. As part of our guest entrepreneur column, Mokubela talks about the importance of maximising profit.