Business as usual

It's one of my great regrets that I have always found it far easier to get a job in a corporation in the top three in its sector, than I have been able to get a job in a charity. All of the odds should be in my favour; market leading companies on my CV, experience worth probably hundreds of thousands of pounds, but no success. The loop I've faced is: see, apply, don't get acknowledged/don't get invited to interview.

This is a shame for me because, as must be obvious by now, I'm not greatly motivated by money - I don't want to be a fund manager or a venture capitalist. I'm much more interested in the effects of my work on people.

So in the past week I've put £5 into Trading 212, to deal stocks and shares to see if that's viable as a business, although admittedly the idea leaves me quite cold and so I haven't chosen which shares to buy.

What I'm particularly interested in is business as a lever to improve things; all around us recently we have only seen the exact opposite either by, or for, business. Either things have been run down so that private companies can enjoy a fire sale of assets to turn a profit on (the NHS, for example), or private companies have failed so miserably that what should be something worthy and worthwhile is pretty much ruined (i.e. the railway franchises where the taxpayer will eventually pick up the pieces).

What if we could start a venture that 'made money' out of doing good? The comedian Stewart Lee mused that there are hugely rich comedians, and also comedians such as himself, who have never achieved great financial security, though he also pointed out that if you can get a hardcore of 5,000 fans willing to pay £10 each to see you, that's a nice living. (Which gives me the opportunity to share unquestionably the greatest lead into a gag ever: https://youtu.be/IkI9h7EGYvI)

So what if the company doing good made enough for a person, but not huge profit - essentially a lifestyle business?

What if we didn’t sell anything? What if we gave it away and asked people to donate according to what value they thought the venture brought? Trading in coins not being a valid business under my self-imposed rules, I’m going to have a go at the above idea.

Progress this week: I’ve begun getting a transcript together of The Ragged-Trousered Philanthropists. Before this coming week’s update, I’m going to pick stock and invest.

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