Not much beats spending time with an old friend. I recently visited with one of my close friends from college, Greg Eckler. You may recognize his name as the weirdo I mentioned in Profit First who loves tax time (of COURSE he does, since he implemented Profit First in his business years ago!).

Greg and I were chatting about my next book, Fix This Next. (Greg also has a nickname he was so graciously given in our business fraternity, but if you want to know if you have to read chapter 5 in Profit First!) Greg owns a real estate business called Denver Realty Experts. We were discussing the fundamentals of Fix This Next, some of which are based on Mazlow’s Hierarchy of Needs. The Business Priority Pyramid is very similar to Mazlow’z. What am I talking about, right?

If you look at Mazlow’s Hierarchy of Needs, you see the base is physiological, then safety, followed by belonging and love, esteem and finally, self-actualization. Fundamentally speaking, The Business Priority Pyramid is not that much different.

The BPP consists of:

• Sales (which is the base)
• Profit
• Order
• Impact
• Legacy

Sales, profit and order are known as the “get” levels of business. If established as a solid foundation, those are the three keys to a profitable business. Impact and legacy are considered the “give” levels of business. They are likely the reason you became an entrepreneur in the first place.

So back to Greg. While kindly nodding at me while I explained all this, Greg had an interesting point. Since he is in real estate, and is a genuinely good guy looking out for his clients, he practically skips over the order aspect in the “get” level and goes straight to impact in the “give” level. At least at first.

For Greg, his business is profitable because it is based on establishing a relationship. Sure, most business relationships require trust, but when you’re helping someone find a new home, it can be a whole other ball game. It’s not just about selling a house. Greg is helping create the future of the buyer with that sale. (Man I hope everyone in real estate feels this way!) You’re not selling a sweater, here. You’re selling a home where a family will live. A home where a family makes a future, including a potential resale of that home. While focusing on the order makes things way more efficient, the impact is what really matters for the customer.

The point in all this is yes, I am still right, ha! There is a prioritization of business needs. It is not, however, a ladder that you climb and they stay there. For instance with Greg, he went from profit, right to impact in selling a home – but that doesn’t mean the other steps are skipped. To have a successful business, Greg still must ensure there is profit and order, even though that impact already occurred by default.

To run a profitable business you know that as an entrepreneur there will be times you ping pong around this model of needs. But, the closer you stick to it, and build that solid foundation, the stronger your business will be.

If you are an entrepreneur, you likely started your business with a burning desire to make an impact and change the world. I know I did. Thing is? You can’t make an impact without the means (sales, I’m talking about sales, here, people).  Once you have the money, you need to make sustainable profit. And, after your profit, you must have financial order.

Now, with this formula and the rest of the tools in Fix This Next, you can go on with your bad self. Sales, Make that impact and leave your legacy.

If you want more tips like this go to Mikemotorbike.com or Mikemichalowicz.com and click on Get the Tools for tons of tried and true resources for business help and how to run a truly profitable business. Let’s rock entrepreneurship!