The ROI of Character
Why doing the right thing is the ultimate competitive advantage, and what 26.2 miles taught me about the compounding power of character.
Doing the Right Thing is Always the Right Thing
In my younger years, I wasn’t exactly operating with a long-term time horizon. In fact, I did plenty of dumb things. Perhaps a plethora of dumb things if I am being honest.
Like most people in their early years, I lacked the perspective to see that the world didn’t revolve around my immediate needs. I was a good kid at heart, but I hadn’t yet realized that the most valuable asset you can own isn’t on a balance sheet—it’s the impact you have on the people around you.
The shift didn’t happen in a classroom or an office. It happened on a basketball court.
I spent 14 seasons coaching high school basketball. If you want to see the unvarnished reality of human development, go coach teenagers for a decade and a half. You see exactly what works and what doesn’t. You see how character compounds over time—or how a lack of it often leads to a total collapse.
It was sometime during those years that I fumbled my way to a principle that I’ve since carried with me. I can’t put my finger on where I first heard it; I definitely wasn’t reading Marcus Aurelius, who famously said, “Always do the right thing. The rest doesn’t matter.” Hell, I wasn’t reading much of anything in those days. Which might be why I tend to recite a version that sounds less like a Roman Emperor and more like something Richie Cunningham would say to the Fonz: Doing the right thing is always the right thing.
The Compounding Miles
This coming Sunday, I’m lacing up for my sixth marathon.
My first was back in 2007. I wasn’t running to set land speed records; I was running to raise money for the A-T Children’s Project, a charity searching for a cure for a rare childhood disease called Ataxia-Telangiectasia.
There is a specific kind of “lift” you get when you use your able body to support those who aren’t as fortunate. It was my first real lesson in the fact that physical capital (my health) could be converted into social capital (funding for a cure).
But the road between that first race and this coming Sunday wasn’t a straight line. In 2021, I hit a massive pothole. I developed an autoimmune issue that essentially froze my ability to run long distances or train at high intensities. For a few years, my “able body” wasn’t so able.
In the world of finance, we talk about “asset impairment”—when something you rely on suddenly loses its utility. When your health is impaired, you realize very quickly that you don’t know what a blessing it is until it’s gone. It was only early this year that the issue resolved enough for me to start stretching my distances again.
That period of being sidelined reinforced the principle for me: You don’t wait until things are perfect to do the right thing. You put your able body to work when you have the ability to do so. Because that ability is a gift, and it can be revoked without notice.
That is why this Sunday isn’t just about 26.2 miles of pavement; it’s the culmination of our Miles for Meals fundraiser at the brewery. By lacing up while I can, and leveraging our platform at Brewery 4 Two 4, we’ve been able to raise over $6,000 so far, for Kids Food Basket. You would be awesome if you added to that total by making a tax deductible donation here.
Character, much like a well-managed index fund, has a way of compounding if you just keep showing up. One race in 2007 becomes a habit; a holiday fundraiser with close friends eventually raises nearly $50,000 all-time; and a brewery promotion turns a Sunday morning run into thousands of meals for local kids with food insecurity. By staying consistent and rallying a network of like-minded people, the ROI moves from a “runner’s high” to a measurable community impact.
Every year I do this, I’m reminded that the sense of purpose you get from moving the needle for someone else is a high that no sales record can match.
But then, I became a business owner. And the math changed.
The Startup Trap: “I Can’t Afford to Give”
When you launch a business with six figures in debt and a negative net worth, “doing the right thing” feels like a luxury you can’t afford.
The internal voice tells you that every dollar should stay in the register. It tells you that you’re in survival mode, and survival mode is a zero-sum game. If you give a dollar to someone else, that’s a dollar less for the light bill.
But that is exactly when the philosophy has to take over.
Over nearly nine years at Brewery 4 Two 4, we’ve hosted more fundraisers than I can count. Like any local business, we get hundreds of requests a year. We could say no to all of them and save a few bucks on the margins. Instead, we’ve found a way to move the needle by recruiting our customers into the process.
From the local Humane Society and the Alzheimer’s Association to this week’s push for Kids Food Basket, we’ve tried to turn the taproom into a community engine.
The Win-Win-Win
In finance, we look for “Alpha”—that extra edge that beats the market. In small business, “doing the right thing” is the ultimate Alpha. It creates a Win-Win-Win scenario that a corporate algorithm can’t replicate:
The Charity Wins: They get a financial bump and a platform to tell their story.
The Customer Wins: They get to feel good about spending their hard-earned money at a place that shares their values and supports their community.
The Business Wins: We get exposure to new networks, build deeper trust, and create a culture that people actually want to be a part of.
This is the “Network Effect” of character. It’s not just “giving back”; it’s building a moat around your business made of community loyalty.
The Small Business Advantage
This is why supporting small business is a necessity.
Can a massive, publicly traded company support a community? Sure. But they have a fiduciary duty to maximize shareholder value. When a global conglomerate writes a check to a local charity, it’s almost always filtered through a PR firm and a marketing budget designed to drive a specific KPI. It’s a transaction.
For a small business, it’s not a transaction; it’s a testament.
When we support the local GoFundMe for a neighbor in trouble, we aren’t doing it for the “reach.” We’re doing it because we live here. We’re doing it because doing the right thing is always the right thing.
If you’re waiting until your balance sheet is perfect to start doing the right thing, you’re looking at the wrong chart. Character, like interest, compounds. Start early, do it often, and ignore the rest. You may end up wealthy in ways you didn’t know you needed.
Micro Brews. Macro Views. (And a Pint for a Good Cause).
Dave