There are two reasons why your business needs to change the world. First, if you aim for anything less, aren’t you accepting too much of a compromise?

Michael E Gerber, author of The E-Myth, says his mission is to change the world, one business at a time. And he’s doing that by teaching each business how they too, can aim to change the world in some way.

You need to have a grand vision if you accept that your company has to grow. He says if you accept anything less your business will fail — like, for example, when you establish a business not with an intention of expansion, but as a means to an easier lifestyle.

Gerber says if the idea of your business doesn’t have the energy, passion, insight and size to do something significant in this world, it will die of its own accord.

There’s another need to consider a positive impact on the world in your business. Tim Sanders wrote about what he terms the responsibility revolution in his book “Saving the World at Work”. People want to buy from companies that have a focus on enriching our lives. Businesses need to focus more on this aim, and see profits as a means to the end, rather than an end in itself.

I’m sure he’s right. Did Bill Gates set up Microsoft with the aim of making the most possible money? I don’t think so. He did it out of a passion to facilitate a revolution in home computing.

What’s the vision behind your company? Is it really world-changing?

First published on CBS News