Does Fun Have a Place in Business?

It's hard to know if you are actually doing the right thing. Starting this business with the idea of bringing more fun into the work environment sounded great when I wasn't actually taking any risks. However, now that it has actually started I began to worry. Will people really want this? Honestly, probably not, people are often adverse to change and especially change for their business, add in the idea of "fun" and they are likely to go running. Do people need this? Well, I certainly think so. While I was teaching at Xerox it was easy to see the difference in morale and production between environments that had fun and those that didn't. But do other people even know that they need this? Perhaps not. We don't really talk about fun being an important aspect of business. We don't train our MBAs to have fun. Maybe I should just pack this all in and try something else....

Then I came across an article by a business man who has been making money for himself and many others since the early 60's. And he's been doing it while having fun:

"I discovered at the time that the more fun the customers were having, the less they were concerned about how much they were paying for the tab. Our customers were having so much fun that they did not even notice when we raised prices. My focus was always on how we could make this even more fun."

Jack Fecker is a creative entrepreneur well-known for his ability to bring out the best in individuals, and their business. His article on How to Bring the FUN Into Growing Your Business is something that reminded me of the practical value regarding the work I am doing. Fun is important, I believe that. Fun is an important part of business to keep the morale and personal satisfaction of employees where it needs to be. But fun is also valuable to the bottom line. The stakeholders and investors of the world should be just as concerned when fun is not a part of the package they are investing in. Listen to Mr. Fecker and ask yourself, "How do I make my business so much FUN that my employees...and customers, can’t wait for Monday morning?”