You need focus to build a business, but my experience has taught me that there's also such a thing as being too single-minded.

Financial, environmental and community goals aren't competing objectives; they're interconnected. This is why founders who chase revenue at the expense of value for their customers or broader social impact often experience limited growth.

This is a bit like buying a gym membership and then letting your diet go because you're working out. Just like healthy eating habits are part of an effective fitness plan, your mission and values are essential parts of creating a business plan that works.

So when my brother Todd and I founded Roof Maxx as a cost-effective alternative to roof replacement, it was about more than filling a gap we saw in the market. It was about solving a problem we saw people struggling with and doing it in a way that also helped those people feel like they were changing the world for the better.

Here's what we learned.

Related: 4 Ways to Engage Your Customers in Social Good -- And Why It Matters

Call me naive, but I take a view of the world that most people are basically good — or at least, they want to be.

They might not always put the right items in the recycling bin, but that's not because they hate the planet. They're usually just confused or short on time, because modern life can be hectic and overwhelming.

That means appealing to guilt is rarely the most effective way to sell someone on a

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