Business Purpose: Ask Yourself These 3 Questions to Discover Your WHY

Did you know that 9 out of 10 employees are willing to take a pay cut for more meaningful work? For employees to find meaning in their workplace, the business owner must know the purpose of their business first. However, when you have lost this vision, you and your employees are stuck in a cloud.

There may be multiple reasons why your business may have lost its ‘why.’ You may have made a costly mistake, you are working in your business for long hours, you are focusing on short term gratification instead of looking at the big picture.

Regardless of your reason, you have the power to change. Regaining your motivation to establish why you have set up your business up in the first place serves many important functions:

Firstly, you will start prioritising the tasks which are important rather than wasting your time on fruitless tasks. Regaining your purpose will therefore equally regain focus in your business.

Furthermore, your employee’s engagement will improve; their sense of belonging will increase once they have a clear picture of their part they are contributing towards their company. Having a business with value is the pathway to produce successful results.

Here are some questions you should be asking yourself. If you cannot answer all of them, your business purpose is not clearly defined, and you will need to do some work.

1) What is the purpose of your company? Why does it exist?

If I asked you why you started your business in the first place, what would you say? What value does your business provide to others? Many business owners become demotivated and overwhelmed running their business because they have lost their WHY

2) What is unique about your business idea?

This is where you should think about your businesses USP – Unique Selling Point. Having a USP distinguishes your business from your competitors and this could be the main reason as to why your customers are attracted to your company.

3) What inspired your business idea?

People start a business for many reasons – whether you have started your business to be your own boss, making a difference in the world or you want to earn money without a limit, you would have had an idea of why you would have gotten in business when creating your business plan. So what is your reason? Are there any emotions attached to your WHY?

Setting up a business is not purely intended to make you profit. According to Robert Kiyosaki, an investor businessman and motivational speaker, “Many people start a business only to make money. Just to make money is not a strong enough mission. Starting a business is about positively contributing to the community and solving the problem.

Starbucks is a great example of bringing great value to its customers – Starbucks mission statement is to ‘inspire and nurture the human spirit – ‘one person, one cup and one neighbourhood at a time.’ Isn’t this extraordinary? Their business values evolve around bringing a sense of belonging and warmth to create a welcoming culture for their customers. An impactful and meaningful purpose.

Now it’s your turn – are you ready to make an Impactful mission statement and a great set of business values? The best way for you to get started is by having a clear and detailed business plan.

If I asked you, ‘where is your business heading within the next 5,10 and 15 years?’ could you answer it? If not, then your business plan is not detailed enough. Get started by downloading this free business planning template that clarifies what you aim to achieve, your purpose, and your mission.

Let’s say you have already established a ‘why’ to your business- you don’t stop here. Your purpose is a starting point. Once you have established clear goals, you can begin focusing on areas in your business which need working on.

Some of the main issues business owners are dealt to face with are time management, profitability, sales, marketing, and employee engagement. But so, what? If you do not take any action to improve these areas, your weaknesses are meaningless. If you are ready to transform to a determined, ambitious, and hard-working entrepreneur, it’s time for you take ownership of areas you need to work on. Act now.