2026 is the year your purpose needs to mean something.

Realistically, most of us start a business to change our own lives. More freedom, more creativity, more control over the way we work, what we work on, and how much we earn.

But is this not too small a goal for the world we’re in?

It’s ‘easy’ to build a business around personal milestones without ever zooming out to ask the bigger questions. (Using the term ‘easy’ loosely because most of what’s involved in building a business isn’t easy). But what happens because your work exists? What shifts are you creating in the circles around you? What do you want to leave behind beyond anything financial?

Gen Z is growing up and shaping how the world buys. They care deeply about ethics, sustainability, and accountability, and the businesses that will thrive in this environment are the ones willing to stand for something. The ones built with a clear intention to create change, even if that change begins at a very human scale.

What do I mean by a business for change?

A business for change is about building a company with a broader lens. Positively influencing the whole ecosystem it touches, beyond just supporting the founder’s life (though it absolutely should still do this).

Every business has an ecosystem, whether you realise it or not. Your clients, your audience, your collaborators, your competitors. People who learn from you or adopt your approaches. So many founders I speak to underestimate how powerful these ripples can be, especially when they refer to themselves as “just a small business”. (It’s a whole separate piece on why we should ban the term “small business”).

We assume that impact is reserved for the giants of the brand world. Talk about all the effects Amazon could make with the power it has in the world. Or, correctly, highlight Patagonia as a great example of a company with a broad audience they use for good. Dismissing how we could have any impact when our companies are not comparable in size to theirs. However, we cannot criticise companies like Amazon unless we are working to create a positive impact that extends beyond ourselves.

As with everything, change doesn’t start at the top. We live in a changing world, and it’s our self-acclaimed “small businesses” that can shape how that change unfolds. Our own businesses that can treat every interaction, policy, decision, and piece of content as an opportunity to make things better.

Not in a performative way, because that means nothing. But steadily and practically. Focusing on one change you’d like to see in your industry, and being that change yourself, can have a tremendous impact. No matter how “small” you perceive yourself to be.

This might mean building a business that reduces burnout in your industry by promoting best practices. Or that models fair pricing or accessible design, so outputs are more inclusive. You could set the standard for treating sustainability as the baseline rather than a bonus. Or show a different, kinder way to lead.

Approaching building a business with the mindset of creating desired change enables you to go beyond merely measuring growth in numbers. Instead, you can begin assessing progress through your contributions, influence, and the impact you make in the spaces you occupy.

And in 2026, that might be the most potent strategy a founder can have.

Why does building a business for change matter?

Building a business for change is a strategic advantage. It makes your business stronger, your audience trust you faster, and makes you more resilient as a founder.

There’s three angles to look at this from: the business case; the customer case; the founder case.

The business case

Purpose is increasingly becoming a necessary part of business strategy, and now, “purpose has established itself as a lever for value creation and differentiation” (Mapfre). Beyond that, it’s proven to be a profitable business model. Purpose-driven public firms delivered 13.6% annualised returns over 20 years, significantly above industry benchmarks (The Payback of Purpose study). Businesses built around clear positive impacts are outperforming the ones built purely for profit.

Why? Because purpose gives you direction. It helps you avoid chasing trends or making reactive decisions, keeping your business on track. It allows customers to understand who you are long before they analyse what you sell. And that clearness enables you to become commercial.

People purchase based on their beliefs. And having a purpose provides your customers with something to connect with and support.

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The customer case

One of the most noticeable changes happening is in how younger generations choose what to buy. Gen Z especially has almost zero tolerance for brands that say one thing and do another. And, as consumers, 64% of Gen Zs and 63% of Millennials are willing to pay more for environmentally sustainable products or services (Deloitte 2024 survey).

What’s also reassuring is that Gen Z are much more forgiving towards brands that try. They aren’t seeking brands that have everything figured out and seem perfect, but rather those that show they are making an effort, are transparent about their operations, and at least attempt to back up their claims through how they run their business.

They are assessing said transparency based on the amount of “sustainability-driven brand communication”. Marketing tools like influencer marketing, transparent messaging, and digital storytelling significantly influence Gen Z’s brand trust and loyalty, and it’s the authenticity of communication that truly engages this audience (Impact of digital marketing innovations).

The founder case

Put simply, running a business gets easier when you’re building towards something that matters.

Much of the research I found focused on employees, showing that having a sense of purpose at work increases engagement, drive, performance, and adaptability. And I can confidently say that these benefits would only be emphasised when you’re self-employed.

According to a Harvard Business Review study, 72% of entrepreneurs report experiencing burnout, and 29% say it’s severe. And many subsequent articles put this down to founders losing sight of their purpose and the reason why they started their business in the first place. “When our daily tasks drift too far from our values, our nervous system flags the disconnect… Studies show that purpose-driven work lights up the brain’s reward circuitry. When we drift from that purpose, stress hormones spike and motivation plummets.”

I’m not claiming that having a purpose-driven business will prevent you from ever experiencing burnout. Still, it will undoubtedly help you feel more aligned and connected to the work you’re doing. And if this isn’t enough, there’s the emotional relief of knowing your business has a point, which is one of the big reasons why many switch to entrepreneurship in the first place.

Why not you?

It’s surprisingly easy to believe that your business is too small to matter. Too small to shift an industry or influence behaviour. But there’s too much of the “someone else will fix it” rhetoric in this world already.

I recently read “The Brand New Future” by Bob Sheard. In the book, Sheard references how in the Second World War, only one in 10 soldiers actually shot to kill. Meaning only 10% of combatants shaped the outcome of the battle. “The logical extension is that we only need a tipping point of 800 million on earth to influence the outcome for eight billion. To start any movement, first we need a madman and a first follower”.

When researching this statistic online, conflicting opinions abound about its accuracy. But the general consensus is supported. Scientific American shares an interesting online experiment where researchers explored how large a minority needs to be to influence the majority effectively. They found that around 25% is often enough to reach a tipping point. Once this threshold is met or exceeded, contrarians can sway a significant portion of their groups, between 72% and 100%. Before any minority efforts, everyone in the population was entirely in agreement with their original position.

Just 25% of businesses can change an entire industry. 25% of people can change the views of the whole population. So if you want to see change, why shouldn’t you be one of those 25%?

How do you build a business for change?

If you want your business to create change, it won’t come from a bold mission statement on your website or a well-written social post. Change results from how you shape your work, communicate, and show up for those you encounter.

You need to define the kind of change you aim to make and design your business to genuinely support it.

Three foundations assist with this, which I explore with all of my clients: your purpose, your principles, and your people.

Your purpose.

Why does this business need to exist, beyond simply improving your own life? What is it here to change? Whose experience is it here to enhance? What future does it contribute to, even in a small way?

Having a purpose provides you with direction. It prevents you from running a business on autopilot or making decisions that don’t sit well with you later. It keeps you connected to what matters most to you.

If you want to start shaping your purpose, begin with small steps. Focus on the problem you genuinely care about solving. The thing in your industry that feels outdated, unfair, inaccessible, or unnecessarily complicated.

A simple way to capture this is:

I’m building to help to do or experience a specific thing or achieve their goal in a particular way] so that .

Your principles.

Principles are the ways you can ensure your purpose shows up in your everyday decisions. You might believe in fair pricing, accessibility, slow growth, or transparent communication. But it’s how you put those beliefs into action that shapes your business’s culture. For example, a belief in accessibility might influence your payment options or website design. A belief in sustainability might determine how you select suppliers or discuss consumption. It’s about turning your intentions into behaviours that make principles powerful.

Try defining them by:

A principle I’m committing to in 2026 is , which will look like .

Your people.

It’s easy to think of your audience as only your customers or the people on your email list. But your business impacts far more people than that.

Of course, it includes your clients. But it also encompasses anyone you collaborate with, further designers or service providers you hire, your peers, and even your competitors. Even those who absorb your ideas online without liking your posts.

Your ecosystem comprises everyone who consciously or unconsciously interacts with or is aware of your brand, and how you behave within it influences how others behave in return.

When you think about the change you want to create, consider the people who will feel it first. If you aim to make an industry kinder, how will your clients experience that in your process? If you seek to make your corner of the internet more accessible, how will that be reflected in your content? If you want to normalise sustainable practices, what will you do differently behind the scenes that nobody sees?

Try to reflect on:

One concrete way I’ll influence my ecosystem towards this change in 2026 is: .

If you are unsure about what this action could be, start with the smallest thing that is within your control. Because small changes add up, create new expectations, and make it easier for others to follow your lead.

Your 2026, purpose-led strategy.

Building a business for change isn’t about saving the world. It’s about taking responsibility for the part of the world your work touches and choosing to make that part better.

And 2026 can be the year you lay that groundwork.

If anything shifts because of the work you build, even for one person, that is impact. Industries change with just one committed business at a time. And there’s no reason why you can’t be one of them.

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