Tag Archive for: #purpose
Why does your company exist? (from your customer’s perspective)
We are seeing a lot of attention being paid in recent years to this idea of knowing your “Why” or Purpose of your business, for good reason.
Discovering the answer to this question can have a profound effect on the success of your business. It provides context for so many other strategic decisions as grow your business, a foundation piece for your business plan.
On the surface, “why” seems like a simple question, yet many business leaders struggle to find a strong, compelling, and succinct answer to this question.
The key to getting to a clear Purpose statement is to focus on your customer’s perspective.
Start with this question:
What fundamental value or benefit do our customers receive from us?
Brainstorm a list of answers with your team. Mix and combine ideas until you have a good starting point. Review and tweak over time
Here’s an illustration. Imagine you are the owner of a company that sells lighthouses. What might be the Purpose of your business?
Something like: Our company purpose is to protect the lives and property of our customers at sea.
With this purpose in mind, the company has the foundation to build out and improve it’s products and services over time. Eg. Life boats, life jackets. GPS systems, charts, etc all flow from this strong purpose statement.
Pontish Yeramyan, CEO of Gap International, wrote in a recent article about being purposeful:
“The 21st Century Organization can also differentiate itself by operating within a bigger context than a vision or mission, something more expansive. It’s not enough anymore to simply have a clear direction – people must be able to throw their entire selves into the game to be successful, with full engagement of heart and mind.
We have found that when leaders leverage Purpose, it creates a competitive advantage that’s difficult or even impossible to replicate. Purpose creates the ability for people to care about something much bigger than their personal concerns and fully apply their talent to meaningful endeavours.
If you think about it, Being Purposeful creates the platform for organization success, because it taps into a reservoir of potential energy latent within the organization. When peoples’ orientation to their job transforms from performing work to that of making a difference, they become exponentially more effective at coming together to produce extraordinary results.
It becomes possible to consistently produce results beyond what is predictable in the normal flow of business. Powerful strategies can be created and re-created when purpose is present. Purpose gives people a far more expansive space to create and grow, where creative, purpose-based thinking replaces crisis-based, firefighting thinking.
An organization of people who have connected themselves to something bigger can thrive rather than simply survive –they can move fast together and nimbly adjust strategies and tactics to succeed.”
When your business plan starts with “Why” the other pieces will follow more easily”
For more tips on planning please visit plangenie.com
Clarity Creates Confidence
Are you feeling like you’ve been hit by a COVID 19 hurricane? Your business ship took a blow and you’ve been scrambling to get things back under control. Immediate, urgent, short term plans have been devised and executed. Time lines are hourly, daily, weekly. There has been no time to think beyond the current week.
Planning never stops, it just speeds up and slows down.
As you start getting things back under control, your crew will be more anxious than ever to know where the company is heading, and how they can help.
How do you communicate the new direction and focus when you’re not clear yourself. The business leader’s primary function is to set the next destination and chart the course. Wandering aimlessly in a turbulent sea is not an option.
How can I make a plan when the future is so unclear and changing so quickly?
Yes, the landscape has changed dramatically in the last few weeks and continues to change quickly. But planning is always done in a fluid business landscape. Each time we refresh our business plan, we do so in the context of an ever changing world. We set our goals and determine our best course of action, taking into account the impediments we are facing and the resources we have available.
Most plans are stale after 90 days, and need to be rewritten. When the pace of change speeds up, this review cycle needs to be adjusted accordingly.
If our normal practice is to set goals for 1-3 years into the future, we may need to be focused on 3 to 12 months in the current situation.
Where do I start?
Start with the big picture, your business plan summary. The structure in the Plan Genie business planning workbook contains five core pieces of information:
- Your unique business proposition – a succinct description about what makes your business special and unique.
- Your purpose – why your business is needed, as seen from the customer’s point of view.
- Your long term goals. Your destination 3 years from now (or 1 year).
- Short term goals, one year out (3 months).
- Strategy/Action steps – A list of the major steps we need to take to reach our goals.
Write it down!
Write your plan down in a structured, easy to understand format. Your business plan summary is the foundation for communicating the future direction for your business – where you intend to take business and how you will get there.
As you go through the process of writing your plan, you will gain clarity and confidence to tackle the challenges ahead. others are looking for this – your leadership team, your bank, your suppliers and distribution partners, and your customers.
Why does your company exist? (from your customer’s perspective) We are seeing a lot of attention being paid in recent years to this idea of knowing your “Why” or the Purpose of your business, for good reason. Discovering the answer to this question can have a profound effect on the success of your business. It provides context for so many other strategic decisions as you grow your business, a foundation piece for your business plan. On the surface, “why” seems like a simple question, yet many businesses leaders struggle to find a strong, compelling, and succinct answer to this question. The key to getting to a clear Purpose statement is to focus on your customer’s perspective.
Start with this question: At a core level, what is the most significant value or benefit you provide to your customers? Imagine you are the owner of a company that sells lighthouses. What might be the Purpose of your business?
Something like: Our company purpose is to protect the lives and property of our customers at sea. With this purpose in mind, the company has the foundation to build out and improve its products and services over time. Eg. Life boats, life jackets. GPS systems, charts, etc all flow from this strong purpose statement. Brainstorm a list of ideas with your team. Mix and combine ideas until you have a good starting point. Review and tweak over time! For more information on defining your company’s purpose, please visit plangenie.com. #business #leaders #success