We used to have a renowned business coach who told everyone over and over that no business can just pursue profits or money and be successful. You need “higher” causes. He would then proceed to repeatedly brag about how much money and profits he had (we fired him).
In any case, he was not the only one to preach that. All of our business coaches and many of the business books we read make the case that all businesses need a “higher calling” for long-term success. And, even though it is now almost a cliché, we know it is true.
JVM took off when we started to ignore profits and instead focus on three things: (1) being the best mortgage company in the business by far; (2) being the best place to work in the industry by far (this is extremely important we have discovered); and (3) creating the best customer experience in the industry, by far.
I bring this up b/c Tim Ferriss recently had the Braintree founder on his podcast, and the gentleman repeated what I wrote above almost verbatim. His company not only took off, but he sold it to eBay for $800 million! (We are still waiting for eBay to call, but we are not holding our breath :).
In any case, if you have a business of any kind, you might want to look around for a higher calling :).
Jay Voorhees
Founder/Broker | JVM Lending
(925) 855-4491 | DRE# 01524255, NMLS# 335646
