First, let’s get a couple of things straight: I am pro-business! I am proud to be a capitalist! I believe in the profit motive! I support our political system (although right now I struggle to remember why). I believe that there can be too little regulation, or too much, and that we currently have too much. We govern for the exception (the 2 percent “outliers”), and that is never good. But most fundamentally, I believe in the customer! Generally, when the customer is the primary focus, business will prosper. If not, business will almost certainly fail.

When I entered the reverse mortgage business at the beginning of 2003, Financial Freedom’s sales force consisted largely of highly principled and passionately dedicated social worker-types. They were always trying to negotiate a better deal for every customer. Knowing that you can’t lose money on every deal

and make it up with volume, we stressed economics and the need to be profitable in order to grow the business to help more seniors. We struck a balance that worked for both borrowers and the company, and drove the geometric growth that created a profitable and valuable entity while benefiting many more senior customers.

In our profession, we are profoundly attuned to the financial challenges of aging. On a micro-level, real people need our specialized help to live out their longer lives with security and dignity. On a macro-level, we face the huge societal issue of financing longevity, with fewer and fewer workers forced to pay for more and more retirees. The

math simply doesn’t work, and many must access home equity to at least partially self-fund their “golden years.”

And this is not about ethics. Ethical behavior is an absolute prerequisite to all industry companies. It is the price of admission. This is about conducting business in such a way as to serve the customer, and in so doing, drive excellent business results.

Enter the concept of social entrepreneurship, which responds to complex social issues with a focused mission and real business solutions. Huge unmet needs in an already large and rapidly growing senior market constitute a massive societal problem. The government approach should and will be to try to “fix” Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, etc. But that requires money that isn’t there. Enter private enterprise. We must offer products and services designed to serve individual customers, so that in aggregate across the entire industry we materially and positively impact the social issue. We must do this because it is right, and because it works.

The social mission and the profit motive are not at all mutually exclusive. True, we must maintain acceptable margins to survive and prosper. But if we put the dollars first, and allow finances to dictate what and how we sell to customers, those customers will naturally gravitate to other companies (and take their dollars with them). If we put the customers first, more customers and dollars will follow. Bottom line: The social issue is the business opportunity, and how each of us chooses to respond will dictate success or failure. “Do great by doing good” should be more than a motto; it should be our mantra.

With thanks to Jim Mahoney, who converted me from transactions to people!