Creating impact through your business

You may have heard the phrase, “Creating an impact in your business,” and maybe you’re wondering what exactly does that mean. In fact, in the intro to this podcast I talked about using your business to create global impact. So in today’s episode, I share with you some tips around uncovering what your business purpose is and how you can identify the way that you can create global impact with your own business.

Hello, and welcome to the Clare Wood Podcast, where myself and incredible guests, share about money mindset, financial successes, and how to manage your money in a fun and practical way to create wealth and abundance in both your business and your life. I’m your host, Clare Wood. I’m a business coach and a money mentor. I strongly believe that money has the power to positively change the world. I can’t wait to help you transform your mindset around money, create a love of numbers, and build the business of your dreams, so you can live a life of financial freedom, giving, and global impact.

Doors to the Mind to Money Mastermind are officially open. If you would like to find out more about the Mastermind, you can check out more in the show notes for today’s episode.

What does it mean to create impact?

What does it mean to create impact? To me, impact means making a difference. So today we’re going to talk about how to identify how your business and how you make a difference in the world or in people’s lives. But before we dive into that, I’d like for you to check in, why would you want to make an impact? What does that mean to you? When you have impact, it gives you a sense of passion about the work that you’re doing. It becomes bigger than you, it becomes bigger than your success, and it certainly becomes bigger than money. Having a true purpose and passion really adds another whole dimension to business. Having a sense of purpose can make us feel fulfilled on a much deeper level. So I’d love for you to check in. Is it important to you that you are creating impact through your business?

I believe the best way for you to create impact is understanding what your purpose is. And this can be rather challenging to uncover. Sometimes it’s a bit of guesswork. We have to try different things, and then suddenly everything will make sense. When you are doing your life’s purpose, you will feel so lit up and inspired on a soul level that you won’t question it. You will know this is exactly what you are meant to be doing. If you’re listening and you’re thinking, “I’m not sure if that’s me,” perhaps you are living your life’s purpose. It doesn’t have to feel like a huge bang moment. It can literally just mean that you were doing work that you absolutely love to do. So if you are doing work that you love to do, you might then wonder, “Well, how is this creating an impact? Am I just doing something that I love?” And this is the thing. Chances are, no matter what it is that you were doing, you were having a positive impact on other people’s lives and a positive impact on the planet.

Let’s talk about the medical profession for a while. Someone could perhaps look at a surgeon and think they have the most important job in the hospital because they save people’s lives. But the truth is, a surgeon wouldn’t really be able to do that if they didn’t have the entire team or medical ecosystem around them.

I doubt there’s a doctor out there who could say they can do the work that they do without the support of other medical professionals, such as an expert in a particular medical area who advises them that that’s what’s going on, the team behind them who conduct the scans and analyze the results that come out of the scans, the nurses who support them during surgery, the cleaners who makes sure that the hospital is sterile and a safe place to perform that surgery, the people who work in the cafeteria who literally feed the surgeons so that they have the energy to keep ongoing, the pharmacist who dispenses the medication that the patient needs to safely have the operation performed, the person who delivers the medical equipment to the hospital, the person who works in the factory that makes the medical equipment that gets delivered to the surgeon who performs the surgery, the places where the masks are made and the gloves are made that the surgeon uses in the operation, the people at work in the factories where the medical devices are made, and the list goes on.

As you can see, every single person that I mentioned, and I’m sure many, many more, has a really important, beautiful, and unique role to play in the ecosystem. No one is better than anyone else in this scenario or more important. Every single one of these people needs to come together for the surgeon to successfully perform their job. Imagine if the world was filled only with surgeons. Literally, surgery would not be able to take place or that everyone else supporting that process taking place. And it’s the same with the role that you do whatever it might be. If you are doing something that you love that lights you up and you’re performing it to the best of your ability, I know that you will be supporting so many other people, roles, businesses in doing what it is that you love.

I have definitely worked with people across a lot of industries who feel perhaps the work they do isn’t that impactful. And I want to let you know that it is. For example, I worked with an artist and she said to me, “Well, the work that I do doesn’t really change people’s lives.” And I straight away had to disagree with her. I said, “Art creates so much beauty and inspiration in the world.” Looking at a beautiful creation or a beautiful piece of art can literally change someone’s state of mind in an instant. As they say, “A picture says a thousand words.” There could be someone who’s feeling flat, defeated, down, depressed, and they see a beautiful creation, and it lifts their spirit, lights them up, and inspires them to keep ongoing. Wow. Who can say that that is not impactful? The same can be said for so many different professions.

Again, I’ve worked with lots of hairdressers over the years. And sometimes they feel like their work isn’t that important. And, oh my goodness, I assure them I feel completely different when my hair is done. It affects my confidence. It affects how happy I feel. And anyone that went a period of time last year during lock down without being able to have their head done will know first hand what an impact it can have on your overall emotional state if you aren’t looking and feeling your best.

So are you starting to see how all of these different roles, no matter what they are, fit perfectly together to support other people to be living their best lives? Impact can look like literally saving lives as a surgeon. It can look like working in an orphanage in Africa. But you can have a hugely impactful life at an impactful business simply by doing work that you love.

Reflecting on your business impact, the questions to ask yourself

I would love for you to spend some time reflecting now on, firstly, uncovering what your true purpose and passion is in business. And then I want you to expand out what that impact looks like. How many lives do you positively impact by your work? And I want you to think really big here. For example, if you’re an artist, I don’t want you to just think about the person whose whom that piece of art is going into. I want you to think about all of those businesses that you purchase art supplies from. I want you to think about how many people’s lives you light up when you post your creation on social media or share it with your audience through your email marketing. How many lives are you truly touching? I bet you, when you dig deep, your impact is already affecting people on a global scale.

And of course, remember there is the butterfly effect or the knock-on effect as well. It’s not just the people that you affect firsthand, it’s all of the people that those people go on to touch, help, and impact as well. Your amazing work literally creates ripples across the globe. If you’re willing to take your impact and take it even further or create even greater impact, this is a great opportunity for you to do some reflection and have a think about what that might look like. Is there a way that you can use your talents to help more people? I’m not talking about working for free here necessarily. I just want to challenge you to get creative about thinking about how you can help and serve more people with your unique, special talent or talents. I also want you to really think about how you can use your business to create something even bigger.

Are there causes that you care about that you love to use your business to support? Perhaps you can support them in a financial way, or perhaps you can support them by providing your skills to these causes, charities, or organizations that you care about. I really don’t believe there’s any right or wrong here. But if this is something important to you, today I challenge you to step back and really think about what that could look like and create a bit of a plan of how you could bring that into fruition.

So to sum up today, having a global impact can look like lots of different things. There are many ways that you can help people right across the planet doing the work that you were born to do and the work that you love to do. Spend some time feeling into how the work that you do right here and right now helps so many people already. And then, if you choose to expand this, spend some time considering what that could look like and create a bit of a plan or strategy around how you want to expand this impact even further. Each and every one of us has a beautiful and unique role to play on this planet. I challenge you today to uncover how you already do make impact in the world and then explore if it feels good to you to take that even further.

I truly believe that business owners are the leaders of the planet and we have the power to create amazing positive ripples across the planet. Thank you so much for tuning in today and I look forward to chatting to you all again next week.

If you have enjoyed today’s episode, you are going to love the Mind to Money Mastermind. Inside the Mastermind, I share with you the tools, systems, strategies, and support you need to break through your next income, and of course, profit level. You guys know how important I think profit is, not just that sexy sales number. I will also be teaching sales for scaling your 6-figure service-based business towards the 7-figure mark. The Mastermind is an adaptive program tailored to support the community as they are scaling. There are no fixed framework, because this is all about the people who are on the inside.

Inside the Mastermind there is accountability against your strategic priorities, making sure you are staying on track towards your big business goals. And like any community, the magic is in the community. We’ll support you through the tough times, celebrate your wins, and share advice to help you get the results you want faster. Inside the Mastermind, we’ll be teaching you how to create an unshakeable money mindset, how to build your dream team. We’ll be talking about launching online courses and digital products, giving you pricing and product strategies to make sure you are charging and earning your worth, and helping you to build your business in an aligned way giving you more time and freedom to do the things you desire. To find out more about this epic community, you can click on the link in the show notes for today’s episode.

Thanks so much for listening. If you love this episode, please share it with your audience, and don’t forget to tag me on Instagram, @clare_wood_coach. And also make sure you hit subscribe so you never miss an episode. Have an abundant week, and I look forward to talking to you again next week.