🧭Beyond the Noise: How Purpose-First Companies Are Beating the Old Playbook

There’s a lot of noise out there. From headlines screaming about profit margins and shareholder value, to social media threads praising ruthless leadership—it's easy to believe the only way to win in business is to be the loudest, the fastest, the most aggressive.

But here's the thing: while the old-school rhetoric screams profit at any cost, leaders like Steff Wright of Gusto Group are quietly building something different:

✅ Employee-owned businesses
✅ B-Corp certified companies
✅ Purpose-driven cultures

These aren't soft ideals—they’re systems that work.

Gusto Group, which has over 150 employees and a turnover of £25 million, made the decision to set a three-year timeline to 100% employee ownership and is issuing growth shares to its employees this year.

The System Behind the Message

Wright lays out a compelling argument for how purpose-led businesses can thrive—not just morally, but economically. This isn’t about choosing between doing good and doing well. It’s about building a system where doing good becomes the engine that drives success.

Here are the key ideas:

• Employee Ownership Trusts (EOTs) make people part of the mission. When people own a piece of the pie, they bring their best ideas to the table. That’s not just feel-good—it’s smart strategy. Employee-owned businesses are 25% more likely to have increased profits. That’s a system win.

• B-Corps are proof that certification can be more than a badge. From 2019 to 2021, B-Corps grew faster than their non-certified peers—23.2% versus 16.6%. When you build a business with ESG at the core, you’re building trust. And trust drives revenue.

• Sustainability is no longer optional. 80% of consumers say they’ll pay more for sustainable products. The market is speaking—it wants values with its value.

Where Purpose Meets Policy

Of course, building a purpose-led business isn’t always easy. Especially in tough industries like manufacturing and construction, where margins are tight and carbon is hard to avoid. That’s why public support matters - through grants, incentives, and policies that make sustainability not just the right thing, but the viable thing.

You can’t build the future on good vibes alone. You need tools, support, and a system that rewards innovation.

A New Metric for Success

We’ve spent decades optimizing for profit. What if we optimized for people? As Wright puts it: "The economy we need is one built on empowered workers and thriving, innovative communities - not just cutthroat deals."

Read the article - Entrepreneur Magazine