Why a business purpose matters
Money, freedom and being your own boss are the top reasons for becoming an entrepreneur. And if you are an aspiring entrepreneur or you are one already, you probably have at least one of these things on your list of why you became one. And they are absolutely valid reasons, but you are missing the most important. Purpose.
A purpose to create value for others in one way or another. Every business should exist to serve this simple but powerful thing. Yet a lot of businesses only exist to make money. Which is important, it’s a necessity of business but that doesn’t make money more than just a vessel to achieve your goals.
Purpose will drive your decisions
People don’t follow or believe in companies because they are great at making money. People charish companies that excel at creating value for people. And if money is your driving purpose, so will it be for all the decisions you make. You will pick the cheapest ingredients for your products, you will hire the cheapest staff, you will work with the cheapest customer care operators.
“Purpose will help you to take the right path and make the right decisions.”
Don’t get me wrong, money is absolutely essential to business. Managing it well and knowing what you are spending on and why is crucial. But you need a purpose that responds to one of the four core human desires: Acceptance (by others and oneself), Freeing up time, Spending time in a valuable way and Independence (from the rest of the world).
If your company is driven by how you are creating value for your customers, you will make the right decisions when it comes to your team and your products. You will still need to be mindful of how much you spend on these things, but if the core driving force is to create value rather than making money you will figure out a way to do so with the resources you have available to you.
HOW TO IDENTIFY YOUR BUSINESS PURPOSE
Purpose glues everything together
Because purpose is a strong driving force for all your decisions it will act as a glue between everything you do. You will hire the right people, who also believe that what your company does adds value to your customers’ life. You will create products that truly solve the issues your customers have. And last but not least it will drive the messaging of your marketing, which will now focus on how you are creating value.
“A meaningful business purpose holds everything together.”
A good and relatable purpose will help your team push themselves to go the extra mile even on a difficult day. It will also help your customers to align themselves with your company. If they believe that time is precious and you should spend it in the most memorable way, and you are great at delivering on this promise. Your customers will feel that by purchasing your products over competitions’ they are contributing to something great that is worth supporting.
Educate yourself and be good at money management, but don’t worry about it too much. Figure out what your business’ purpose is and everything else will fall in place.
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