A good idea can be impossible to make money out of. Impossible to contain. It can be incredibly difficult to quantify and control qualitative value creation.
That becomes a “cost centre” which needs money to be spent on it, but does not generate money. A “profit center” explicitly pays for itself, and generates cash beyond its needs. Profit centers don’t need much justification.
In fact, they may need strong arguments why they are not good ideas despite making money. Maybe the costs are felt by others. Maybe the qualitative consequences are not worth the cash. Maybe the cash will come in the short term, and the costs... even ones you can count... will come later.
A cost centre generates something that doesn’t work according to the rules of money, but is still worth doing. A job that doesn’t pay enough to cover your basic living costs.
Perhaps it is work that pays nothing at all. Care work. Perhaps it is something beautiful where the line between work (is it only work if you get paid?), play, and creative exploration blurs.
These endeavours don’t need a price if they have a believer. They just need a decision-maker with money to say yes.
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