From our Founder, Neil
Background
In Conscious Capitalism, it argues one of the sizx major stakeholders is “Investors”. The premise of this stakeholder, though, is how most view business: “return on shareholder value”. Well, Rayobyte doesn’t have any investors (an intentional decision so we can build the company we want to see come to life!), so we prefer to see this bucket as ‘Financial Health’, or ‘Profit’.
Indeed, profit is important for any for-profit business to survive. Without profit, we can’t do any of the other socially responsible things we strive for. We can’t pay our team members’ wages, which allow them to have enjoyable lives with their family. We can’t serve our customers, who may have to go to less-than-ethical competitors. We can’t help the environment by offsetting our carbon. All of this is only possible if we remain profitable.
When I started the company, I’m not entirely sure what my motives were. I was 21 and the business hit $1.1m in the first year of the company running (mind you: limited to no profit, all growth). That was EXCITING! Every sale came in was me realizing my entrepreneurial dream. Had I not seen the dollars, would I have been motivated to keep going? I can’t say for certain, but one thing I know I found appreciation in was learning and being curious.
That, too, was only made possible by the growth ($$) of the company. Had we not grown, I wouldn’t have had to learn legal, finances, marketing, sales, tech. So, I’m indebted to the money that allowed me to learn at an exponential rate.
Profit can be a good thing, as highlighted above, if used for the right reasons. Where I believe businesses go wrong is when profits are seen as a means of greed so shareholders can go buy the next yacht. If profit can be used to: improve one’s knowledge, treat its team members well and give them a stable job, serve customers authentically (and playfully!), help the environment, build friendships with suppliers, and help those in need… then, count me in!
Our ethos towards Financial Health
We have two forces at play in this context:
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