What is a Business Philosopher?
The Real Business Problem
Every day, Starbucks sells 4 million cups of coffee in their shops and a further 6 million across all retail channels. That’s 10 million cups of coffee each day. Most C.O.A.C.H.E.S. would be delighted with 100 sales per day or even 10. A thousand sales per day would be an absolute dream.
Why is it that Starbucks can sell so many cups of coffee so easily, while most C.O.A.C.H.E.S. struggle to sell a few deals per day? The answer lies in the complexity of what we’re selling. A Starbucks coffee is easy to see, hold, touch, taste, and, most importantly, enjoy. You can feel the caffeine hit your systems immediately and each sip hugs your soul. It is a very tangible experience that everyone can enjoy very easily.
C.O.A.C.H.E.S. however, sell something very different. We are selling ideas. We are selling results. We are selling opportunities. We are selling potential. We are selling something intangible. As this is beyond where our clients currently are, it is often difficult for them to see the result and to connect with it in the way that we need them to. It is often just one step too far out of the comfort zone.
The Lost Art of Planning
Remember when plans were simpler? If you go back 20 years, you had to make a plan in advance because you’d have to send out letters and invitations. Now everything is done instantly on WhatsApp and it’s just like that. People don’t even plan their evening or their week. So they don’t even think about planning their month, their year, their decade, their life.
Most people focus on the small things. “Oh, let me use this system. Let me use this technology. Let me use this tactic.” But they don’t look at the foundations, the principles. What we do is look at what your core offer is. This is who you’re helping. This is why you’re helping them. This is the bigger reason. This is the bigger objective.
The reality is that instant gratification leads to dissatisfaction. There is no such thing as instant gratification because it has a much bigger cost. If you have 52 weeks of partying, then at the end of the year you look down at your belly it’s a bit bigger, and you look down at your bank account it’s a bit emptier.
Making Complex Ideas Simple
As a philosopher, you can take complex concepts, and complex ideas and make them simple. Where my business started was helping people to make complicated things simple. Most people struggle with making the complicated simple. They’ll easily speak 10, 20, 30, or 40 minutes about something they’re passionate about, but people will only realistically give you 10, 20, 30 seconds.
Understanding The Real Problem
One of the things that we do specifically with my clients as a business philosopher is helping them do the critical thinking they need to actually understand who they are, what they do, who they serve. Because ultimately speaking, machines can’t do that for them. We’ve become too reliant on technology to do the thinking for us. It’s about thinking in an age when people don’t think. Helping people to understand in an age when answers are too easy to come by.
When you’re at the mercy of the market, your actions and identity are dictated by its whims and expectations. This is why most C.O.A.C.H.E.S. chase shiny objects and hop on the latest bandwagon. They leap from blogging to creating videos to starting a podcast and everything in between. They believe that by doing the “right” thing, they’ll finally catch the eye of their target audience, without realizing that this isn’t the real reason they’re invisible.
The Power of Business Philosophy
Everyone has a philosophy, everyone has a message, everyone has something that they can add to the world. The easiest way to do that is through business. Businesses multiply, they explain, they allow you to have a bigger reach. If it’s just you trying to talk to three friends versus presenting to three hundred people – all the business does is allow you to amplify and expand your message.
Finding your core philosophy comes first. Then we build a business that magnifies this philosophy. The people I work with bring real experience – they haven’t just watched a few videos and declared themselves experts.
Every great philosopher had a teacher. When you follow your maestro, when you learn deeply from them, you stand on their shoulders. This knowledge, this experience becomes your foundation. From there, you take these ideas further, refining them for today’s world, moving the whole conversation forward.
Beyond Surface-Level Solutions
Most business problems aren’t actually business problems – they’re much deeper issues. When I became different as a business philosopher, I could actually help people with what they need help with. It’s like a doctor – if you go to seven doctors and they don’t know what the problem is, and you go to the one doctor who actually understands what the problem is, then they can solve it.
What most people are doing is trying to get solutions from people who don’t even understand the problems. When you’re confused, you try and think, “Okay, let me go to different technology, instead of using this software, let me use this software, instead of following this person, let me follow this person, instead of trying to sell this, let me try and sell this.”
They realize that the big issue is with them, with their thinking, with their philosophy because everything works if you work. But the problem is most people aren’t willing to do the work that’s important for them to get things working.
Creating Real Impact
Your philosophy shouldn’t be someone else’s recycled ideas – create something fresh that advances the discussion. Bring new insights that push boundaries. Focus on helping the specific people you’re meant to serve, rather than trying to please everyone.
You may hear it from ten people and the message doesn’t land, and then message eleven might be said in a specific way using a specific word and all of a sudden it hits home. When you have a business of meaning, when you have a business of purpose, all of a sudden things become easier. When you have difficulties, you have that fuel to go forward. When you have good progress, you actually feel that you’re making an impact.
It’s about doing business with your heart, not just with your pocket. It’s about finding meaning and purpose, and purpose is greater than profit. Purpose drives profit, profit follows purpose. We want to help you build a business that multiplies good ideas, amplifies meaningful messages, and moves progress forward.
The Four Essential Elements
Through my decades of working with thousands of people, I’ve seen that true business power comes from four essential elements that most overlook. Purpose – this is your reason for existence. Without a clear purpose, you’re just another voice in a noisy marketplace. Purpose gives your business meaning beyond money. When you understand your true purpose, decisions become clearer, actions become more focused.
The plan comes next – but not just any plan. A plan rooted in deep understanding. Most plans fail because they focus on tactics without grasping fundamental principles. Your plan must connect your current reality to your bigger purpose.
Philosophy guides everything. In times of uncertainty, when markets shift and strategies fail, your philosophy becomes your compass. It’s not about abstract theories – it’s about practical wisdom that guides real decisions. This is why we look at the principles, at the foundations, at what’s actually important.
Passion drives it all forward. But not blind passion – passion guided by purpose, directed by plan, rooted in philosophy. When you have a business of meaning, when you operate with purpose, everything becomes easier. Even in difficulties, you have the fuel to move forward.
Building Something That Lasts
Brian Page understands this. He can ask me questions and get deeper answers than anyone else provides because we look at the whole picture, not just pieces. He’s not just learning what works – he’s understanding why it works. Now he creates content from his boat twice weekly, truly free to work in ways that align with his deeper purpose.
This is what it means to be a business philosopher. Not someone who simply offers strategies, but someone who helps you see the whole picture. Someone who brings principles to your planning, who guides you toward meaning beyond mere profit. Because in business, everything works if you work – but you need to understand what work actually matters.
The True Value of Business Philosophy
When people come to me, they often think they need better marketing, better systems, or better strategies. But these are just symptoms of a deeper issue. A business philosopher helps you understand that true solutions arise from fixing what’s inside us, by expanding our view to see the whole bigger picture. The problem lies in the larger perspective.
Consider this: most C.O.A.C.H.E.S. are invisible in their marketplace because they haven’t taken the first crucial step – creating a distinct identity. Their ideal clients are oblivious to their existence, peers might occasionally bump into them at events, and they often miss out on golden opportunities like speaking engagements, podcast interviews, and summit invitations.
Invisibility drains your freedom. You exhaust yourself trying to be seen, and when you finally are, you’re often dismissed as just another option in a sea of sameness. This is why the work we do goes beyond surface-level fixes. We help you create something unique – not by copying others’ success formulas, but by understanding the principles that drive all success.
Creating Your Legacy
The reality is, in business there is no differentiation between personal and business life. A framework is something that works just as well in your business life as your personal life because the same skills that you use in business are the same skills that you use in your personal life. How many people are there who’ve got a good business but a bad marriage and then all of a sudden the business starts to go bad because the marriage is bad? It’s all connected.
What we do as business philosophers is connect these dots. We help you see how everything works together. Because ultimately, when you have clarity in your thinking, when you understand your true purpose, when you have solid principles guiding your decisions – that’s when you create something truly meaningful. That’s when you build a business that serves its purpose while serving its owner.
Your philosophy shouldn’t just rehash what others have said. It should move ideas forward, bring something new to the table, push the whole needle forward. This is what being a business philosopher means – helping you think deeply in an age when most don’t think at all.
Want to understand how business philosophy can change everything? Send me your framework, and let’s have a real conversation about building something meaningful.
