Purpose-driven businesses are on the rise as more conscious entrepreneurs and founders start companies not just to make money but to make a meaningful difference. It is amazing that you’re part of this growing movement of difference-makers who see business as a vehicle for positive change.
The challenge? Balancing impact with profit isn’t optional—it’s essential. The bigger your business grows, the greater your impact becomes.
The Conscious Entrepreneur’s Advantage
What sets difference-makers apart begins with your fundamental approach. While traditional entrepreneurs ask, “Will someone buy this?” conscious entrepreneurs ask, “Will this solve a meaningful problem?” Similarly, your pricing question isn’t “What will someone pay?” but “How much is this truly worth?”
The most successful difference-makers share four key traits:
- Impact-focused business model designed from day one to create positive change
- Personal sense of purpose that makes their work a calling, not just a job
- Commitment to lifelong learning that combines personal and business growth
- Dedication to profitability as the fuel that powers greater impact
This approach gives you a unique advantage in today’s market where customers increasingly want to support businesses that stand for something more.
Why Growing Your Business Feels So Hard
If building your conscious business feels unusually challenging, it’s not your imagination. The journey of a difference-maker is fundamentally different from traditional entrepreneurship.
The root challenge for most conscious entrepreneurs is balancing values with practical business necessities. You constantly face decisions where purpose and profit seem to pull in opposite directions.
Developed by Shift/Co CEO Terri Maxwell, there are three key pressure points or “fulcrums” that most difference-makers experience:
The Time Fulcrum (early stage), The Resource Fulcrum (growth stage), and The Leadership Fulcrum (scaling stage). Each represents a critical balance point between the opposing forces of supply (your resources) and demand (business growth). Understanding which fulcrum you’re currently experiencing helps you focus on the right strategies to move forward. (For a deeper dive into these fulcrums and how to navigate them, check out a previous blog: 2025 Business Growth Guide: A Conscious Entrepreneur’s Blueprint for Success in the New Year)
The good news? Every successful difference maker has faced these same pressure points—and found ways to move through them without compromising their values.
The Value Equation That Drives Growth
As Terri Maxwell, Co-founder and CEO of Shift/Co explains, “Value is the benefits of what you do divided by the cost.” This simple equation helps understand what customers truly evaluate when considering your offerings.
Maxwell highlights a crucial difference: “A traditional business, when pricing their product, says, ‘What will someone pay?’ A difference maker says, ‘How much is it worth?'” This focus on worth helps conscious entrepreneurs price fairly based on real value.
Most entrepreneurs describe their services rather than their impact. Maxwell advises, “When I introduce myself as Shift/Co, I basically say we show conscious founders how to grow their business and grow their impact. That’s the value we provide.”
A strong value equation creates what Maxwell calls “that lean in effect” – people immediately want to know more. The benefits are clear: “A high value equation ensures the business grows organically. You get lots of referrals and customers stay and/or buy again. Almost 80% of our members were referred by somebody else.”
Business Growth: Navigating Challenges
“If your business isn’t growing month over month, you’re leaving impact on the table,” Maxwell emphasizes. Growth isn’t just about increasing revenue—it’s about expanding your ability to create positive change.
Maxwell’s “Business Simple” approach suggests scaling impact by simplifying business strategy, like a rock climber tackling one move at a time rather than trying to solve everything at once.
Every business balances two opposing forces: supply (time, cash, resources) and demand (business growth/revenue). To address supply issues, Maxwell shares five adjustable elements:
- Your product offering – Regularly evaluate, adjust, and refine your offering
- People and resources – Add people and resources when you’re skilled at delegation and finding the right people
- Pricing and profit – Evaluate and address your profit and pricing. Conscious founders committed to making a difference often underprice
- Process, tools, and technology – Have a plan on when and what to add to systematize operations
- Partnership models – A smart way to scale when done strategically
Anytime you gain, back should go into “demand generation” to fuel continued growth and impact.
Authentic Revenue Growth: The Four Fs
For authentic demand generation, Maxwell recommends building “a system that focuses on enhancing the quality of the relationship with the person you’re marketing to” instead of traditional marketing tactics.
This relationship-centered approach follows the “Four Fs” framework:
- Friend – Someone newly aware of your business
- Follower – People interested in learning more but not ready to buy
- Fan – Someone who takes a small action like attending an event or making an initial purchase
- Fanatic – Engaged customers who buy repeatedly and actively bring new people into your community
This creates a virtuous cycle where exceptional value turns fans into fanatics who bring new friends, reducing marketing costs.
For businesses under $30K monthly revenue, Maxwell recommends: “70% of your time, not counting servicing customers, needs to be spent on awareness building activities,” with 25% on sharing value and 5% on closing deals.
The Athlete’s Mindset: Making Moves vs. Getting in Motion
Research shows “athletes are three times more successful as entrepreneurs than non-athletes.” The key difference? “The non-athletes get into motion. That’s the act or process of doing stuff. Athletes have trained their mind and their body to make moves.” – Terri Maxwell
Motion is activity without a clear purpose; moves are intentional actions designed to advance your position. Maxwell advises entrepreneurs to “dedicate time every day to making three good moves” in their business.
An athlete’s approach to building awareness would be scheduled, focused time for specific activities: “I’m going to do networking, podcasts, and speaking to build awareness. Today I will work on networking for 60 minutes… because I’m making a move. I’m trying to go from one place to another.”
This mindset transforms business activities from scattered tasks to strategic moves that advance your position—just as an athlete would approach competition.
The Path Forward
As Maxwell summarizes: “If you want to grow your impact, you have to grow your business. If you want to grow your business and your impact, you’ve got to work on yourself. You’ve got to measure your purpose. Not just state it, but measure it. You’ve got to learn how to talk about the value you provide and try to provide more value than anybody else.”
For conscious entrepreneurs balancing multiple priorities—profits, people, planet—Shift/Co offers a community and methodology specifically designed for difference-makers. The results speak for themselves: “The average business grows 2% a year in the United States. The average Shift/Co member grows about 30% a year.”
The powerful promise for conscious entrepreneurs: you don’t have to choose between making money and making a difference. By surrounding yourself with other difference-makers and accessing tools designed for conscious business growth, you can maximize both profit and positive impact.
These principles were developed by Terri Maxwell, CEO of Shift/Co, drawing from over two decades of business growth and leadership experience.
Shift/Co is a place where Founders gather to grow.
Shift/Co is a global community dedicated to conscious business growth. We empower entrepreneurs to grow their businesses through innovative tools, expert coaching and mentoring, and a supportive network. Our comprehensive approach includes personalized training, leadership development, and a collaborative environment, ensuring that members can achieve significant business growth while positively impacting the world. Join Shift/Co to elevate your business and be part of a movement that believes in doing good business better.