It’s tax day today.  I’ve spent a considerable amount of time over the past few weeks working on ours. I always find it a little odd to have a year’s worth of work represented by numbers on a piece of paper or in a computer program. Obviously they tell a very small part of the story, but ultimately businesses need to make money to stay in business.

Which brings me for my thought for the day in honor of tax day, a quote I read a while back from Dean Kamen. He’s the inventor of the Segway and numerous other things. I’ve had the good fortune to work with some people from his company on multiple occasions and it was a lot of fun juxtaposing the old-time ways of the woods with modern engineering. Anyway, years ago I read an article where he was quoted as saying:

Making a profit is a result of running a good business, not the purpose.

It’s stuck with me since reading it. I think the purpose of the Jack Mountain Bushcraft School is to provide educational opportunities and experiences unavailable anywhere else. When we do it well, we make a profit. But profit is the result, not the purpose.