[Att: Business Owners] Ignore This Trend and Your Business Will Be on Life Support in 3-5 Years Flat

In 3-5 years, a huge shift is coming that could change everything, says maverick entrepreneur, Yanik Silver. In his book, Evolved Enterprise, Yanik says there are inside and outside forces barreling down on business-as-usual at full speed—ready to crash and shake things up. And if you’re not braced for impact, your business may not survive.

Yanik was forced to make this change early. In 2000, his small information publishing company was flourishing. He was generating millions in revenue with next to no overhead thanks to digital delivery over the internet, but he wasn’t happy.

My partner (Garrett) and I recently had the chance to talk with Yanik, and he told us about this time of his life:

“Looking at it from the outside-in, I had a great reputation, I was making a lot of money and I had a great family. I probably should’ve been happy, but there was this nagging feeling that I think a lot of entrepreneurs experience—this feeling or nudge that you’re being called to something greater. And the less we heed it, usually the louder it becomes.”

For Yanik, this nagging feeling grew until he had what he describes as a “cosmic wake-up call”? his business needed a “reason why.” After a lot of soul-searching, he started Maverick Business Adventures, now Maverick1000, to change the way business is played, literally.

Yanik would bring entrepreneurs together to have a lot of fun—traveling, skydiving, Baja racing or whatever. Connections would be made and businesses would grow, but also, entrepreneurs would support each other to have a genuinely positive impact on the world beyond just their personal bank accounts.

Yanik had transformed his business into a business with a cause—or what he terms an Evolved Enterprise. And he’s calling on more entrepreneurs to do the same thing. In fact, Yanik predicts that if you don’t make this change, your business may not survive another 3-5 years.

The 2 Powerful Forces On a Collision Course With Your Business

According to Yanik, businesses who ignore two new powerful forces will be on life-support in 3-5 years, and he has data to back up his position.

The first force on a collision course with your business is internal—your employees.

According to the latest Gallup State of the Workplace poll, nearly 70% of employees are not engaged at work, and Yanik says it’s only going to get worse,

“We're not capturing our employees' whole heart and soul. And this is going to become a bigger deal with millennials coming into the workforce because they have this deep-seated need to change the world, baked into their DNA. They're going to take jobs that may or may not pay them as much, but have a mission or a cause, because they want to make a difference.”

And he appears to be right. Millennials, the generation born from 1981 to 1996, are most likely to positively describe themselves as “environmentally conscious” and “idealistic,” according to a Pew Research study.

Businesses who figure this out and give millennials a “reason why” to work for their company—and provide an outlet for changing the world—are going to benefit. Those that don’t are going to continue to have an ever-increasing share of disengaged employees.

The other force is external—your customers.

Says Yanik, “More and more consumers are starting to set buying-criteria. That’s when all things being considered, they’ll buy the product that’s going to make a difference over buying the product that may or may not make a difference.”

Whether it’s buying local, or avoiding meat with added hormones or antibiotics, or demanding livestock be treated humanely, consumers are shifting their preferences towards businesses that share their values.

Evidence That the Shift is Already Here...

Yanik shared several pieces of evidence that the shift is already occurring and that businesses are more successful and more profitable when they have a cause.

TOMS, a shoe company, is the most famous example.

TOMS promises to give away one pair of shoes to a child in need for every pair you purchase. Their cause quickly caught on, and in the company’s first six months they gave away 10,000 pairs of shoes. Today, they’ve given away more than 35 million pairs of shoes. Yet TOMS is not a non-profit company, they’re a corporation valued at $625 million. Their cause propelled them to become a successful, profitable business.

Here’s another example: a friend of Yanik’s set up a test to see if they could increase sales at their website by promising to give $50 from each sale to charity: the test showed sales increased by 10%, the friend gave $40,000 to charity and he ended up richer for doing so.

Finally, the 2007 book, Firms of Endearment, researched hundreds of “companies with a conscience” and discovered that, collectively, they outperformed the S&P by more than 1,000% over 10 years.

It seems as if, more and more, having an authentic cause is not just a “responsible” thing to do, but a way to be a more profitable business.

A Unique Merger of Our Heads and Hearts

For your business to survive this shift, Yanik recommends transforming your business into an Evolved Enterprise. He describes the Evolved Enterprise as “a unique merger of our heads and hearts,” because not only does it feel good to make a positive difference in the world, but surprisingly it also delivers greater profits.

Says Yanik, “Over the next 3-5 years, unless your company has an authentic ‘reason why,’ then you’re going to be at a competitive disadvantage because it's going to become a new criteria for consumers and employees.”

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