DO GOOD X Podcast

Ep. 45 From Idea to Impact: Lessons for Purpose-Driven Entrepreneurs

• Kimberly Daniel & Stephen Lewis • Episode 45

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Welcome to the DO GOOD X podcast, where hosts Kimberly Daniel and Stephen Lewis explore building and maintaining resilient, purpose-driven ventures. In this episode, we’ll discuss key lessons from entrepreneurs— from past podcast conversations and our experience working with founders. Whether you're in the early stages of building your business or scaling an existing one, these insights will help you avoid common pitfalls, take action on your ideas, and embrace the mindset needed for success. We’ll cover why getting your idea out of your head and testing it is crucial, how the biggest risk is not taking a risk, and how entrepreneurship can drive meaningful change for future generations. If you’ve been waiting for the perfect time to start, this episode is for you—because done is better than perfect. Let’s dive in! Remember, you can access practical tools and tap into resources available in the DO GOOD X  community.

IN THIS EPISODE:

(00:00) Building a purpose-driven business

(02:59) Testing your idea

(04:28) Striving for perfection and accepting risk

(12:13) Does my business address a market or social need

(18:26) The work of the DO GOOD X Community

KEY TAKEAWAYS: 

  • Many great ideas never materialize due to fear, perfectionism, time constraints, or a lack of funding. The best way to validate an idea is to create a simple, tangible version—a sketch on a napkin or a basic prototype—and share it with potential customers and partners for feedback.
  • Entrepreneurship is inherently uncertain, but the real risk is never trying at all. By taking small steps—starting as a side hustle or testing an idea on a small scale—you can determine if entrepreneurship is right for you. Course correction is always possible, but you won’t know unless you take the first step.
  • Beyond personal success, entrepreneurship can shape future generations and create meaningful change. By building businesses that address real challenges, entrepreneurs contribute to a better world for their communities and future generations.

RESOURCES: 

DO GOOD X - Website

DO GOOD X - Podcast

DO GOOD X - LinkedIn

DO GOOD X - YouTube

DO GOOD X - Spotify

DO GOOD X -  Instagram

DO GOOD X - Leah Hernandez

DO GOOD X - William McNeely - Part One

DO GOOD X - William McNeely - Part Two


DO GOOD X Episode 45-Transcript

Narrator: [00:00:00] Welcome to the do good X podcast, a sanctuary from the entrepreneur grind host Kimberly, Danielle, and Steven Lewis advocates for impactful entrepreneurship. Guide you on the path where purpose meets business. Join us to slow down, reconnect, and explore the challenges of under resource entrepreneurs, uncovering the unique journey of building businesses that make a difference.

Now you're host.

Stephen Lewis: Welcome to the do good x podcast. My name is Stephen Lewis, and I'm a catalyst for a positive change in communities and businesses. Now, for over two decades, I have inspired leaders and entrepreneurs to live and work on purpose with intention, faith. And a commitment to the well being and I am glad to be joined by my co host Kimberly.

Hey, 

Kimberly R. Daniel: Hey, [00:01:00] Steven. And hello to everyone tuning in. My name is Kimberly Danielle and I am a community builder, a communication strategist and a coach who comes from generations of faith driven entrepreneurs. And leaders who believe that our purpose should drive us to contribute to our common good. And I look forward to this conversation today because I mean, it's really a culmination of some lessons learned that we've gathered from conversations with entrepreneurs on this podcast, from our experience with.

Entrepreneurs in our program. And this is, we're not going to cover all the lessons. Let me tell you, because there are quite a few, but at least this can give you a snapshot, especially if you're in the early stages of building your business. But honestly, even if you're in the midst of building and scaling, some of these things can still be attended to in, in this current moment.

And so. We [00:02:00] hope that these lessons help you to either start out on a better foot than others in the journey. It helps you to avoid some common pitfalls as you build your business. If you're already in the journey and we just want to be a resource and support for you all as we share these lessons. So, Here we go.

Steven, you got any thoughts before we jump in though? 

Stephen Lewis: No, I think you said it, you know, we really want to set people up. Well, for those of you who are listening, we really want to prepare you and to set you up well in your business. And for those who are already in the throes of your business, we want to remind you of lessons learned so that you don't have to go down those same journeys and you can maybe shorten your path to success and the things that you see to.

Accomplish in your business. So ready to jump in? 

Kimberly R. Daniel: Yes. I want you to go ahead and get us started. 

Stephen Lewis: All right. So [00:03:00] the first lesson is get your idea out of your head and create something tangible to test as fast and cheap as possible. Ideas are only as good as. To the degree in which we're actually able to share them and to be honest with you, you know, one of the things that I have come to recognize and I say this time and time again, I've heard other people say it on some degree or level, but our best ideas.

You know where they are? They are in the grave with our loved ones. The graveyard is full with unrealized dreams and ideas. And oftentimes it's, you know, because people did not feel like they had the agency, or they were succumbed by their own fear and anxiety, or this is not good, or, you know, just Constantly turning and churning the idea over and over again in the head.

And so I want to say that many people have a [00:04:00] wonderful idea that is, could actually be viable and can make money, but they're hesitant to take that next step towards entrepreneurship. Yes, because of their fear, but also because of perfectionism. Got to get it right. Just as one last thing, I just got to do this one last piece.

And the fact of the matter is that it's never going to be perfect. So you got to get the idea out of your head and test it and let other people help you perfect the thing that you're actually trying to do. The other thing is time. I don't have enough time. I got this thing, but I just, I need more time.

I'm just struggling to find the time that I need. And you will never have all the time that you need to build your idea. But if you don't share your idea, then. You don't know what time may be available outside of yourself that other people can bring to help you build the thing that you're trying to build.

And the last thing is funding. You know, people have hesitancy in terms of building the [00:05:00] idea because I don't have the funds. I don't have the resources or I don't have enough to get me here or there. And part of what we are wanting to advocate time and time again is to get your idea out of your head.

Even if it's like the old saying, you know, put it on, on a napkin. Just scribbles a few ideas and that type of thing and to share it with someone you don't know where your funding and where your support or blessing may come from. And so thinking about the ways in which you get your ideas out of your head and to test it is really important.

The other thing I want to say is that, you know, your, your business doesn't initially need to be something that takes. A lot of time, right? I mean, part of the idea of building a business is to get the kernel of that idea out to share it, to network it, to shop it, as people would say, so that other people can [00:06:00] actually speak life into it.

People can also help you see what you may not fully see in terms of your idea and make it even a better idea. So initially, you just need to know whether or not it's an idea that can work. And the only people that can tell you if the idea can work are people outside yourself. Potential partners and customers and those who might use what it is that you're trying to do.

Entrepreneurs in our communities, they have shared time and time again to get your idea out of your head and into a minimal viable product or service to test with your customer. And as Kimberly and I always say, done is better than perfect. And so we want you to, you know, be mindful of this as you move forward in thinking about your business that you're trying to create, or maybe, or there's some new dimension of your business that you're trying to create.[00:07:00] 

Kimberly R. Daniel: Yeah. Yeah. I think that's really good. Honestly. I don't have anything else to add to that just to emphasize, get out of your head. And this is coming from someone who lives in their head quite a bit, but I've seen and talked to entrepreneurs who have these ideas and they have. Something that they're working with, whether it's, you know, a structure of an app or whether it's they've tested, they have a product that they have created themselves and they have it physically in their space.

But they're like, I don't, it's not right yet. It's not right. I want this to be right before I share it with other folks. But you don't actually know if it's right until you share it with other folks. And so it is so, so important to just get something out there and don't allow these things that Steven named perfectionism, time, and even funding to get in the way because you can start off very, very small and you [00:08:00] should start off small when it comes to making sure you have a good idea.

So that's a big lesson. Another one is look, everyone will say that entrepreneurship can be a risk. Honestly, these days, anything could be a risk as far as, uh, you know, professional life and job opportunities, but the biggest risk is not taking a risk at all. And this is what has been shared by entrepreneurs and people thinking about starting a business.

That's the biggest risk because you are not even going to know if this path is for you, if you don't try it. And so what are you risking? You're risking that your idea. That could possibly positively impact people, the communities, the world will be missing that you might have a solution that we don't currently have, or you might have a solution that's better [00:09:00] than what we currently have, because you have some unique feature component or something that makes it different and better solve and address a challenge that people are facing.

You are risking the fact that you might be going off path with your purpose. So you don't know if entrepreneurship is for you until you take that risk. Now, to Steven's point, this doesn't necessarily mean that you have to give it 100 percent of your time and quit your day job. Because we know that, you know, we need money.

We live in this world where we need money to survive. And so that doesn't mean to quit your day job. But what it does mean Is that maybe this might start off as testing it in a side hustle. Maybe you find out that it's just a hobby, or maybe you start off as a hobby. You shift to a side hustle because you find that the thing is working and people actually want to pay for it.[00:10:00] 

And then you might get to the place where you do want to move into entrepreneurship full time. But again, the point is. You don't know until you know, and as someone who has moved into entrepreneurship, honestly, once taking the risk into entrepreneurship, it doesn't really feel like a risk anymore. Once you take that big step and you see that it's working or.

You can course correct and go down a different path if you see that it's not working, but don't allow your ideas to be in that graveyard that Steven said, take the risk, even if it's just a small risk, just a small risk to see if it might work. And you can go back and listen to conversations that we've had with Leah Hernandez or William McNeely.

These are folks who took a risk. Leah, she was in college when she started her business. William had just gotten a double lung transplant when [00:11:00] he started his business. So, you know, have a little bit of courage, have some support and just try something, try something, Steven. Yeah. You know, what do you have?

Stephen Lewis: Well, I'm going to say it reminds me of that, that old saying where they say it is better to have loved and lost than to not have loved at all. And I think in many ways, you know, When you apply that to business, it is better to have tried something and fail than to not have tried anything at all. Why?

Because you may have one of the best ideas that makes the world a better place in whatever avenue that you may be working in, whether it be education or healthcare or economics or agriculture or fashion or any of these different things. And so our hope is that you will risk it. And see what happens.

And if it doesn't turn out the way you [00:12:00] thought it would be, that's okay. Least you know that you gave it your all, and you put something out there, and you see how the universe responds. I think the final thing that I want to offer, Kimlee, is You know, what I oftentimes hear people says, well, how do I know if my business is focused on social good versus something that's good and meaningful to my customer?

And I think part of what I want to say here is that some business solutions address a market need versus a social need. And a market need typically addresses some concern in consumers, personal or work life. Sometimes that market need is about improving an efficiency at home or at work, or maybe in some social setting, or it's about, you know, a desire, you know, and desires can range [00:13:00] from, you know, your travel, maybe it's, you know, beauty products, maybe it's about fashion.

Or it could be about some type of home improvement, those examples, but those market needs usually address those things. And, you know, examples of that would be what Amazon did when it first came out in terms of addressing, you know, book distribution and how do you actually have access to book if you don't have a local bookstore in your particular area.

Or you have something like, you know, how do you take personal computing even more mobile with a laptop? Those are all the destined kind of market needs. A social need, on the other hand, typically addresses and improves a real social, medical, educational, economical, or environmental need of a people and or a community.

One of the stories that we highlight all the time is Warby Parker, where it kind of intersects Maybe a market need, but it's really trying to, you know, [00:14:00] also address a larger social need. And so their whole thing was glasses are too expensive, too expensive. And so the founders of that, if you're familiar with that story, they said, we got to find a better solution to this.

But in addition, what they had come to realize that they had been doing some work internationally and they were in communities where they also recognized people that had access to just basic eyeglass wear and that type of thing. And so they started figuring out how can we address This market need reducing the cost of eyeglass wear and how can we actually address this largest social need in terms of everybody should have the right or the opportunity to be able to see.

And so they started working on a business model where it was, you know, we could reduce the cost of. And you can also pay it forward in terms of donating eyeglasses to, [00:15:00] uh, communities or people or a segment of our larger global village who don't have access to, but deserve and have the right to be able to see.

So both market and social solutions are meaningful and they're also impactful to the customer market solutions though are typically financially beneficial. All the things that we purchase as consumer it's because it's about supply and demand. The market says that there is a need, a demand for something and typical entrepreneurs that.

I can supply and address that particular need, or you have entrepreneurs who come in behind and says, I can build a better solution than the one that's out there in the market. However, a viable social solution oftentimes is beneficial socially and financially, and they often make the lives of people and communities better as well as the [00:16:00] environment.

So you have a number of people that are trying to work on not just. Businesses that are not just about trying to generate a profit, but they really want their business to do some good in the world and to improve the lives of people and communities, and maybe even the environment. So you see a lot of people who are kind of mixing and matching, you know, kind of biomedical kinds of solutions to improve healthcare related solutions.

You see other individuals that are. How do we make education more accessible to those who don't have maybe access to quality education? You have a number of different people that are thinking about the ways in which they can improve. The environment, not just the larger environment, but also the environment where people need clean water, access to medical healthcare and other types of [00:17:00] things in terms of eyewear, the ability to have, you know, their teeth and cleaned and all those types of things.

And so there's a number of different ways in which you can do that, but it all boils down to your imagination. Anybody can build a business. But the larger question is, can you build a business that really impacts and makes people's lives better? Can you build a business that improves communities? Can you build a business that doesn't extract from the environment, that hopefully improves and sustains the environment?

Why? Because hopefully there's a new generation of people that will come behind us. Your children and your children's children will inherit a world that is better than the one that we've inherited. And to do that, we have to build the kinds of business solutions that are really trying to do good in the world.

It's why we do DoogitX. Is why we tried to curate resources in that regard to support you on your [00:18:00] social endeavor. So we hope that this is something that can be beneficial as you think about, am I just building a business that improves, you know, the need of a customer or am I actually really doing something that.

Addresses a larger social concern of our community or our society or the global village in which we live in. So what do you say, Kimberly? 

Kimberly R. Daniel: I think that that's a great last lesson for us to end on. Honestly, you know, our work at do get X really focuses on businesses that are making a positive impact. And so.

Considering where and how your business is making an impact. And if it's truly something that goes beyond just an individual and it has sustainable impact for the community and the environment, that's what we need right now, like Steven said. And these times we need entrepreneurs like you who are committed and passionate to [00:19:00] addressing problems and challenges that communities are facing.

So we hope that you take that risk. We hope that you get out of your head. We hope that you continue to build a business for good, if you are already in the process of building a business, and if you want more tips, resources, and additional support beyond just this podcast, we invite you to go to do good x.

org. And there you can explore our resources and join our LinkedIn community because you do not have to do this journey alone. You're not meant to do. This journey alone, we weren't created to do this journey alone. And so we want to provide support for you on the journey, but until next time, where you join us again, and we hope that you do be well and do good.

Narrator: Thank you for listening to the do good X [00:20:00] podcast to continue the conversation or access our resources. Visit www. dogoodx. org. Join us again for conversations that will nourish your soul, ignite your dreams, and empower you to build an impactful business, one intentional step at a time until then keep striving, thriving, and doing good.