You need to #focus if you are going to be successful in your business. Knowing what to say no to and what to delegate and outsource is crucial to your success. In this series, we’ll unpack foundational business principles that will support you with focus and ultimately lead you to your business success. Today I share my view on why vision is dead – long live purpose!
Your purpose holds your prosperity.
Most of us go to our graves with our music still inside us, unplayed. —Oliver Wendell Holmes
Business experts argue that purpose is a key to exceptional performance, and psychologists describe it as a path to well-being. The most important role of a CEO is to be responsible for the organization’s purpose.
It has even been found that people with a purpose in life are less prone to developing diseases. In today’s complex, volatile, ambiguous world, where strategy changes constantly and there are few right or wrong decisions, purpose is increasingly being praised as the key to success.
I believe we are all here on purpose for a purpose. When you started your business, you had a purpose in mind. Some of us knew what we wanted to achieve beyond profit, while others saw a problem in the market that we could solve. Whatever the case, we all had an objective other than profit.
Conventional wisdom will enter here with the vision; for me, it is much more. I associate vision with an ideal state, utopia, which doesn’t necessarily help me achieve my purpose. As a result, I advocate for a purpose rather than a vision.
Amplify Business Coaching, and Consulting aims to equip entrepreneurs to succeed. When I speak to my clients, it’s about equipping and empowering them with tools and resources to succeed in their own lives.
Our purpose is the North Star that guides all of our decision-making.
In assessing a growth opportunity, partnership, or new venture, I consider whether it will help me achieve my purpose. “Does this help me achieve my purpose?” I ask myself.
There are times when opportunities seem impressive on the surface, but when weighed against the purpose, they don’t make sense.
When there is no clear purpose, it is difficult to determine how much you should delegate or outsource and how much you should say “no” to.
When figuring out your purpose, ask yourself “what outcome do I create for my customers?”. It’s not about the commodity, it’s about the feeling, transformation or improvement that your product or service helps your customer achieve.
For example, if you sell insurance, you provide customers with peace of mind. If you are a financial planner your purpose might be to provide families with financial security. If you are a stylist you help your client feel confident. If you are a home remodeler you create beautiful living spaces that people enjoy. Can you see how the purpose is very different from the actual thing that you do? Nuts and bolts don’t matter, the results create revenue.
I know many of you think this is a topic for beginners, and I wish it were true. In my experience, business owners who have been in the game for a while tend to lose touch with their purpose. They run after the next “win” and often lose themselves in the process. That is when you come across busy businesses that seem out of control. Their language may feel a little off-brand, and the teams might display inconsistent behaviour. This happens because the business owner and the leadership team have lost touch with the purpose. The shadow culture creeps in, and before you know it, the business, its teams and customers are confused about what they stand for.
Then there are the startups. I see 2 types of startups in my line of work:
1. The startup that does the 150-page business plan, and
2. The startup that shoots from the hip.
A startup with a massive business plan often forgets the ideals in the binder and runs after the promise to make it big overnight. The startup that shoots from the hip hustles its way to the top and generally hates every minute of it. The business meant to create freedom has become a job they really don’t enjoy doing!
When you are clear on your purpose, you act in line with the purpose and give your customers something to follow. As humans, we are all looking to belong. That is why social media experts will tell you to create a community, not sell products. Because when you create a community of common interest or pursuits, then you become the obvious choice for that community. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again “people buy from people”. And we like people who are like us, so we are looking for common ground, shared beliefs, and shared purpose because we all want to be part of something greater than ourselves.
Your purpose is what will ultimately unite your team and attract like-minded customers who see the world as you do and who love what you do because there is a chemistry that they can’t explain.
Are you clear on your purpose?
Do you know why you are here?
Why does your business exist?
Science supports the need for us to be clear on our purpose and to build our lives and business around it so that we can flourish.
I’m hosting a small group of business owners who are ready to step into their purpose, who want to simplify their decision-making and start making serious progress towards their ultimate goals. If that is you, then drop me an email at [email protected] for more details on the virtual event – Design your journey to a successful business in 2023.
The event will accommodate 3 time zones so we can help businesses everywhere set themselves up for success in 2023. During this workshop, we set the wheels in motion for you to Grow your business 30% faster and make spending decisions with confidence.
By attending this workshop and taking action, you will:
- Make business growth and marketing decisions with ease
- Finally, Achieve extraordinary results.
- Create a working environment where your team can focus and achieve the desired results. With everyone pulling towards the same goal, you will get there faster and more easily.
- Identify the activities you need to stop doing that are wasting your time and energy. Not everything on your list needs to be done, and not everything on your list needs to be done by you! Let me show you how to identify what you need to focus on and what you can delegate so you can free up time to focus on working on your business.
- Grow your business from the inside out. Create a narrative that will inspire your team. Inspired employees drive customer loyalty and promote growth by transforming how your customers feel about your business.
- Rekindle the passion for your business that will keep you going even on the hard days
- Diversify your business without getting bloated
- Think and act quicker. Just as you don’t want to become bloated, you also don’t want to remain “standard.” Operating and reacting faster than your competition.
- Refocus on your customer – loyal customers are less susceptible to jumping ship when delivery times or prices are forced to fluctuate. When you focus on your customer, you connect with them deeper. The connection allows you to see opportunities in the market to deliver what the customer wants, placing you in a market of one-bye-bye competition.