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An ex-CEO who can’t get hired past her late 50s. A 99-year-old grandma. Here’s what ageism in Australian workplaces gets wrong about the value of experience.
If there’s one lesson I keep returning to, it’s this: organisations truly thrive when profit is the outcome of purpose-driven strategy, not simply a number we chase.
Whether you’re running a social enterprise, a commercial business or a community initiative, clarity of purpose is what sets resilient, impactful organisations apart.
It’s important to clear up a common misconception early on: being purpose-led isn’t about running a charity or a ‘not-for-profit’. It simply means your organisation is clear on why it exists, and that clarity steers decisions, investments and culture at every level.
If anything, a purpose-led strategy positions businesses to be stronger, more distinctive and ultimately more enduring. Growth and profitability aren’t just permitted; they’re fundamental. They’re what empower you to keep serving your mission — whatever it is — to innovate when the market shifts and invest in your people and your future.
Profit, whether it’s surplus, margin or growth, is essential. It’s the fuel that gives every organisation the resilience to weather challenges and continuously invest in what matters.
Purpose, when clear, turns profit into a resource for long-term impact.
My seven years on the executive team leading marketing at IKEA Australia taught me the value of resourcefulness. Every investment — whether campaign, new product, or partnership — had to show clear return, not just for the business but for people and the planet. The founder Ingvar Kamprad’s ‘profit gives us resources’ was more than a mantra — it was the logic behind how decisions were made and how the business operated.
This principle runs through the global structure. Every franchise is required to contribute a 3% fee on net retail sales to Inter IKEA Systems B.V., which owns the IKEA concept, brand and product development. That fee is what fuels continual innovation, supporting new products, systems upgrades and strategic improvements for every market.
Even more telling is how IKEA manages its retail profits. Ingka Group, which oversees the largest IKEA retail operation globally, reinvests 85% of profit directly back into the business to drive ongoing operational improvements, digital transformation and better customer offerings. The remaining 15% is paid as a dividend to Stichting INGKA Foundation, enabling significant funding for the IKEA Foundation’s philanthropic work.
The Foundation extends the IKEA purpose — ‘to create a better everyday life for the many people’ —to support those who struggle to afford what they need, especially in communities far from the IKEA retail footprint.
It’s a structure that demonstrates profit as a resource, not an end in itself, but a means to innovate, create value and deliver real impact on a global scale. For me, the lesson from Kamprad’s thinking is as true now as it was then: when profit is put to work deliberately, businesses grow stronger and their wider influence endures.
It wasn’t just about finances. Human rights, natural world rights, animal welfare and especially children’s wellbeing were integrated into every decision. These principles are now hardwired into my philosophy and the frameworks we use at Write Way Up.
One of the most powerful tools I took from IKEA is Democratic Design — a blueprint for sustainable, value-driven innovation. Democratic Design means every new product or service is judged against five standards: form, function, quality, sustainability and price. This isn’t a checklist. It’s a way to make sure that what gets developed is purposeful, commercially viable and fit for the future.
Teams across cultures and continents collaborate based on these principles, leading to solutions built to last.
There’s a quiet power in clear purpose. When everyone in an organisation knows why they’re there and what the bigger mission is, it reduces time wasted on debates and second-guessing. Actions can be matched to principles, and strategy is a guide rather than just a wish list.
Purpose-driven businesses embed efficiency and focus across their operations. When leadership, teams and culture align with purpose, decisions become easier, project delivery is smoother and energy isn’t wasted on distractions. Aligning staff and strategy to a shared purpose amplifies profit by reducing friction and draining less time from everyone involved.
Our ‘Profit On Purpose’ methodology is not confined to one sector, nor does it mean sacrificing commercial ambition or stability.
Whether you’re building a scalable technology business, running a social enterprise, or transforming a multigenerational family company, the principle holds: purpose helps you focus, minimise waste and make profit the result of getting the important things right.
‘Profit On Purpose’ is designed for any leader, team or organisation that’s in business to create value, on their own terms.
If there’s an invisible profit trap to avoid, it’s waste — in time, resources and energy. Lost hours for staff, customers and leadership don’t just quietly erode value; they drain morale, momentum and confidence. When organisations lack clear purpose and direction, meetings multiply, priorities shift and projects drift off course. Everyone spends more time deciding what to do than actually moving forward, and opportunities slide by unnoticed.
When it comes to resources, waste takes on many forms and can carry even heavier consequences.
Human resources, for example, are easily burnt out when energy is poured into low-impact activities, ambiguous goals or unclear roles. People disengage when their work feels disconnected from the purpose — which is often when mistakes happen or creativity stalls.
Natural resources — materials, water and especially energy — are another crucial consideration, particularly here in Australia where energy costs can be a significant drag on profitability. Businesses that pay little attention to how they use resources end up spending more for less, missing chances to invest savings elsewhere. Wasteful energy use isn’t just a cost issue, it’s an environmental and reputational risk, one increasingly under the spotlight from customers and regulators.
Financial resources also go astray when projects don’t align to strategy, when assets sit idle, or when technology is misused. Lack of purpose turns budgets into guesswork, and makes it easy to miss where value is leaking out each month.
That’s why everything we do at Write Way Up is built to help leaders spot and address these forms of waste. Our approach is designed so every ounce of effort, every dollar, every hour and every resource goes where it counts, not where it’s simply easy or habitual.
The aim is to make waste visible so you can cut it out and redirect those resources to where they’ll really make a difference — whether that’s towards innovation, people development, community programmes or more sustainable operations.
Real-world examples matter. Here are a few that show how a clear purpose, aligned strategy and disciplined approach can lead to lasting, profitable impact.
Temple & Webster: Their purpose ‘to make the world more beautiful, a room at a time’ does more than inspire its marketing. In 2025, they achieved a 21% rise in revenue, 45% of sales from private label products and a staggering 530% growth in net profit after tax. Repeat customer rates increased and operational efficiency improved. Crucially, their focus on sustainability is backed by results — their head office cut Scope 2 emissions by over 90% with solar installations, showing how profit and environmental impact go hand in hand.
IKEA: Their purpose ‘to create a better everyday life for the many people’ is more than just words. Democratic Design keeps teams focused on products and solutions that are fit for purpose, sustainable and commercially viable. IKEA earmarks franchise fees and retail profits to both ongoing innovation and significant social impact, supporting its mission far beyond its retail experience.
Future Super: This ethical super fund proves that values-led investment can be both principled and profitable. Last year, their balanced fund delivered a 13% return, while maintaining a fossil fuel-free portfolio. Investments in renewables and grid battery projects helped Australia’s energy sector build capacity. Future Super’s transparency, campaigning and ‘Best for the World’ B Corp recognition demonstrate that it’s possible to deliver financial growth while shifting capital towards a low-carbon future.
These aren’t outliers. They show that eliminating waste, focusing on impact and letting purpose guide strategy can amplify profitability while supporting long-term business sustainability.
Leaning into purpose doesn’t just ‘feel good’; it delivers results by:
Saving time: Clear direction and streamlined processes avoid endless debate and hesitation.
Lowering operational costs: Unnecessary steps and distractions are minimised, freeing up resources.
Tracking and controlling expenses: Purpose-based decision-making helps teams see where the money goes and keeps spending on mission.
Maximising tax savings: When finances are organised intentionally, businesses spot more efficiencies and can reinvest more.
A key to supporting this in real terms is using the right tools to see the full picture, not just the financials in isolation.
One of the frameworks we recommend to clients is the Balanced Scorecard, originally developed by Kaplan and Norton in the 1990s. It helps organisations set and track goals across several dimensions at once — profitability, brand and customer health, people development, social impact and environmental responsibility — so leaders can see where they are truly making progress and where waste or drift might be creeping in.
Building on that philosophy, we’ve developed our own Profit On Purpose Profit & Loss statement. It’s a practical way of bringing the three key levers — People, Place and Profit — into one view, so leaders can assess not just ‘how much did we make?’ but ‘how did we make it, and what was the result for our people, place and wider community?’
Over time, this gives teams a clearer sense of how purpose-led decisions show up in the numbers, and where further change will have the biggest impact.
The Write Way Up Profit On Purpose P&L isn’t just a spreadsheet, it’s a working template for tracking the effects of purposeful decision-making on business results. Unlike a standard P&L, which tells you what landed as profit, this model connects the numbers to the actions and values that created them. It becomes a narrative of progress, aligned culture and reduced waste, rather than a static report.
Used alongside a Balanced Scorecard, it encourages teams to measure and discuss success through multiple lenses. Financial outcome, employee wellbeing, customer loyalty, sustainability and social impact all get airtime. It turns performance reviews from a one-dimensional exercise into a more honest, nuanced leadership conversation — one that reflects what truly matters to the organisation and the people it serves.
Clarity of purpose is the multiplier that transforms good intentions into sustained success. Time and resources are saved, operational discipline improves and resilience follows. Our job at Write Way Up is to help leaders and teams build frameworks — whether it’s a tailored strategy review, Profit On Purpose P&L or a Balanced Scorecard — that keep them focused, build real accountability and empower collective momentum.
The bottom line should always make sense, make a difference and help organisations become truly fit for their purpose — whatever that may be. If this article has clarified something in your mind or sparked a new conversation in your team, then ‘profit on purpose’ is already making a difference.
Disclaimer: Write Way Up does not provide any financial advice. Please see your financial advisor before making financial decisions.
At Write Way Up, we help leaders of small and medium-sized businesses align purpose with sustainable performance.
If you want your business to thrive, let’s connect.
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