When there's no one running the show that loves doing the thing the company is supposed to do best, e.g. make telephones, or cars, and the focus those at the top is on betting bigger, more profitable, being #1, being more efficient, spending more on marketing than on making their product better, something else happens too: people in those places lose their passion for their work, it stops being fun and soon, people do it with little enthusiasm, and profitability begins to decline as customers notice that no one seems to care, and they go elsewhere.



It's also very personal, this question, "Does anyone here care?"

Say you want to buy something that you need a little bit of education for, so you can decide what you want, like a new cell phone. Who would you rather talk to and buy from? The guy at Best Buy who knows about cell phones, loves to talk about them, and can show you 9 ways to use his favorite one? Or the guy there who knows as little about it as you do and took the job because he needs the paycheck?

Many companies started by passion-driven founders who did what they did because they loved it, have regressed over the years and become like the clerk to took the job because he wants the income, not because he cares or knows much about what he does. And it shows whenever we have to deal with them, doesn't it? You get to hear "Your call is important to us" over and over and no one picks up the phone.

Many once-great network marketing companies too, were started by people who had a passion for what they developed - like Dr. Forrest C. Shaklee who founded Shaklee Corporation. He was passionate about nutrition and what it could do for human beings and wanted to spread the word about the importance of nutritional supplements. So he created products he believed in. For him, it was all about getting a product he thought was important to the people who might benefit from it too, like he had. But that was 50 years ago.

Today's new owners don't talk like that. Instead, they talk about being #1, about being the biggest, about growing by recruiting as much as possible. Almost no one talks about customers anymore.

The pay plans of most companies are set up to reward those who sign up recruits who buy one-time big product packages, which they usually sit on until they finally drop out, since no one shows them how to get customers ("No money in customers," say the recruiters). Everything is driven and motivated by the close and the one time sign-up bonuses for getting ever more recruits.

It's all about the money, and who's making the most. That's who gets on stage. Making a difference with the products is no longer #1. Talking about getting customers who are not also selling the product, is like speaking a foreign language. Recruiting is #1. Being first by piling up one time product orders is #1. And the drop out rate is 95%. And public opinion of the industry is perhaps lower than it has ever been.

What's your reason for doing the business? Is it just the money that brought you in? If so, and if you're having trouble getting the business off the ground, remember this: Who would you rather buy from when you need a little education about a product before you buy? (like most products sold by network marketing companies) The person who sells it because she needs the income, or the one who loves it and can't stop talking about how it's helped her, why she loves it and wants the world to know, too?

Maybe we fell out of the box - we stopped doing things for the original reasons that matter to all of us - because of a passion for the product, or the business. Not just the money in it. People have begun to notice. And it's not a good thing.

The most successful business people today say it all starts with something you love madly and that matters to you from your bones. Money is always secondary.

"To me, business isnt about wearing suits or pleasing stockholders. It's about being true to yourself, your ideas, and focusing on the essentials." - Richard Branson, Chairman and founder, Virgin Airlines, and other companies.

"We better do the right thing. I think this is part of a larger trend toward business having a greater responsibility in society than just maximizing profits. Customers want that, employees want that...they want businesses to be good citizens..."

-John Mackey, Chairman, CEO and cofounder, Whole Foods Market Inc.

"I never think about marketing with my products. I do the things I believe in and that get me excited...." - Patricia Urquiola, top furniture designer.

So ask yourself about what you're doing in your business, do you love it madly? If not, find something you DO love madly in it, so you can be in your love box, stay put and just get better and better. And if it isn't this particular business, find something you DO love. People will thank you for being the real you.