Student Question:
Master Chi, hello. People take action in order to fulfill their own needs. This group encompasses the majority of people — including those engaged in production and business activities, such as running a side venture or starting their own business. For these people, the primary goal when earning money is to generate the highest possible return on the capital they invest — whether that capital is money or time. So when starting a business or a side venture, how does one achieve the highest possible profit?
Master Chi’s Response:
To achieve this — to actually make money, whether through a side venture or your own business — you need to satisfy the most urgent needs and desires of your customer base as effectively as possible.
The better you do at this, the greater the profit you will earn. And with greater profit, you can better satisfy your own needs and survive in the market for longer.
There are two key points here.
The first: effectively serving your customer base. This requires you to build a sound production structure and create the corresponding products — whether those products are physical or digital.
The second: the most urgent needs. You must be able to identify and fulfill the needs that rank at the top of people’s most-wanted list. Only then are you truly productive for them.
Some may wonder — why are these two points so critical?
Because our real world operates under three fundamental conditions.
First: material resources are scarce. Our land, for instance, is finite — there is only so much farmland, forest, and buildable land available.
Second: every person’s labor is specific. It is not possible for everyone to freely try every type of work. And labor carries negative utility — meaning we cannot function like robots, running indefinitely on a bit of electricity.
Third: the capital we have accumulated over the years is limited. Once you consume your capital — whether it was built through your own hard work or inherited from your family — if you cannot generate more, that total will shrink. And eventually, it may run dry entirely.
There is one more thing you must keep in mind: property rights are private.
It is through private ownership that we are able to make efficient use of scarce resources, create products suited to people’s urgent needs, and allow the economy to function in a healthy, self-sustaining way.
Therefore, each of us must take responsibility for our own destiny.