Every year, when Valentine’s Day arrives, I find myself reflecting not on roses and chocolates, but on the deeper meaning of this season — the kind of love that extends beyond the personal and into the spaces we occupy professionally. This year, that reflection led me to a question: what does love look like in the work of small business development?
The Forgotten Meaning of Valentine’s Day
Legend has it that Saint Valentine’s ring featured Cupid — a symbol not just of romantic love, but of a deeper connection rooted in the concept of agape: unconditional, purposeful love for others. In the spirit of this forgotten meaning, I found myself asking how that kind of love shows up — or should show up — in the corporate world’s approach to socio-economic development and small business capacity building.
Ikigai and the Purpose of ESD
This led me to the Japanese philosophy of Ikigai — from “iki” (alive) and “gai” (worth). Represented as a Venn diagram with four intersecting circles, Ikigai encapsulates what we love, what we excel at, what the world needs, and what we can be paid for. At the intersection lies purpose — and, I would argue, the cupid in all of us.
In the world of Enterprise and Supplier Development (ESD), the principles of Ikigai offer a powerful lens for finding the sweet spot where passion, mission, vocation, and profession converge. Here is what that could look like in practice:
Applying Ikigai to ESD
What We Love
Let our love and altruism be reflected in enabling small businesses to actively participate and flourish in the formal economy — paving the way for sustainable enterprises that create lasting, quality jobs. If we genuinely care about the MSMEs we work with, that care shows in the quality of our engagement, the depth of our mentorship, and the honesty of our communication.
What We Excel At
Let us be consistently excellent at crafting effective strategies, collaborating with ecosystem players who complement our skills and share our mission, and dismantling barriers that prevent small businesses from securing and sustaining supply chain opportunities. Excellence is not accidental — it is the result of deliberate practice, honest evaluation, and a commitment to getting better.
What the World Needs
We are in a position to contribute to the development of a critical mass of small businesses that can weather the highly volatile early years of their existence. The world needs not just short-term relief — it needs a blend of high-impact, medium-term MSME capacity building programmes and targeted Business Development Support (BDS) interventions that build genuine, lasting capability.
What We Get Paid For
Let us be inspired by the rare opportunity to be paid to do meaningful social impact work — to live out our collective vocation. Let us not take for granted the platform to make a substantial difference and leave behind a shared legacy that says: I was here, and I helped.
“This February, let’s not just celebrate love. Let’s embody it in the spaces we occupy — leaving an unforgettable mark that echoes our collective Ikigai.”
A Final Reflection
In challenging ourselves to define our personal meaning of life through the lens of our talents, passions, and professions, we align with a philosophy that a nuanced sense of purpose leads to a more fulfilling life. As we embrace the spirit of Valentine’s Day, let this month of love remind us to extend our love beyond the conventional — and into the profound connection between our socio-economic development work and the heartbeat of MSME development.
A symphony of passion, mission, vocation, and profession. That is our collective Ikigai. That is the impact we are here to create.
