Welcome to the Business Success Series, a comprehensive guide designed specifically for small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) owners who are committed to achieving their business goals and overcoming challenges. Last month, I touched on the importance of having the right mindset. This month, we need to talk about the bigger picture. The deep stuff in Business: Purpose, Values, and Goals.
In this seven-part series, we will delve into crucial aspects that can make or break your journey towards success. We understand the struggles that come with turning aspirations into achievements, and that’s why each article in this series addresses a key issue hindering business growth.
Every month, we will provide insights, strategies, and practical tips to empower you in navigating the obstacles that commonly hinder SMEs. Whether you are a seasoned business owner or just starting out, join us on this insightful journey as we explore the mindset, strategies, and actionable steps needed to elevate your business to new heights.
Let’s start with the key questions surrounding Purpose, Values and Goals:
- Why are you in business?
- Why are you doing what you are doing?
- Who you are doing it for?
Defining your Business Purpose
It’s a question that is not asked of business owners very often but it is one of the most important questions to answer.
Now most people know exactly what they do in their business, many also know and can articulate how they do it, but when I ask business owners, why they do what they do, very few are able to quickly and succinctly articulate this.
When I ask what is your purpose, why do you do what you do, often, the response will be “to make money”, but making money is not your purpose, the money is a by product of exercising your purpose effectively through what you do.
Your purpose is about why you get out of bed in the morning, why you love what you do, and more importantly than that, why should anyone care. It is your businesses reason for existing, whether that is to eliminate a headache or help make a wider contribution to others.
To give you some examples:
- What is our WHY/purpose – At Nordens, our purpose is to redefine the industry and elevate business excellence – We are truly committed to helping people achieve what they deserve to achieve
- WHAT do we do – We help people, identify, clarify and achieve their goals through a range of business focused services.
- HOW do we do it – We come up with innovative ways of dealing with problems, ask open and sometimes difficult questions, which helps us uncover the root of the problem or desire. Alongside this, we help people get complete crystal clarity on their numbers to inspire people to make better, quicker and more comfortable decisions. Holding both themselves and us accountable to the actions we agree on, to build consistent momentum and success.
There is a well known saying that your purpose (or why) should be capable of making you cry…. if it does not it is not your purpose, now I am not expecting you all to break down in tears, but the purpose has to come from that emotional and feeling part of you.
If you are struggling to define this, think back to your past successes and your favourite stories, and drill into them to ask why did they make me feel happy, what was it about that experience, that I loved, chances are your why will be hidden within them
VALUES
Do you ever feel out of control in your business, long for more consistency, and wish people would just “get it”?
Chances are your core values are not defined clear enough.
So, what are core values?
Core values are what you stand for as a business. They help to give your business a personality and assist you in your decision making and act as your guiding light to determine whether you should say, do or act in a certain way. Through executing consistently in line with your core values, you build trust both internally and externally.
The best businesses are perfectly in unison, with all team members moving, speaking and acting in alignment, and you should hire, fire and reward and recognise based on them.
How often are you faced with a tough decision in your business? Your values can help you here, as they are that constant reminder of what is important.
Additional benefits of having strong core values:
It is important that your core values are not just wishy washy words that just sound good, they have to mean something to you, and we encourage you to add in a way of measuring how you are acting in accordance with them as a business.
Our core values at Nordens are:
Just Care.
Step Beyond.
Think Solutions.
Build Connections.
Bring Results.
So when we are faced with a decision we can round back to our values and make the decision that is most in alignment with these.
GOALS
Do you have a clear 5-10 year vision? Can you specify this? Can you show us the next 3 steps on that journey?
If you are not able to answer yes comprehensively to all of the above, you need to drill deeper into your longer term vision and desires.
Your vision is your long term, big goal, the aim for as far into the future as you can see, it should align with your purpose, and the long term outcome must be pleasurable enough or remove enough pain to commit you for the long term, pushing you outside of your comfort zone, making sacrifices and tough decisions along the way. If your long term goal does not do that, your vision is not clear or strong enough.
The crazy thing is that many business owners do not have a vision or long term goal……at all, they are so bogged down in day to day work and fighting fires, they have not got the time to discuss the long term future. This is a worrying position to be in and we use the analogy of being in a car without a destination, how do you know if you are on the right track.
So even in a tough economic climate where there is naturally more focus on getting through the pinch, it is vital to know what your long term vision and business purpose is.
Once you have a long term vision, you need to break this down into mini milestones or goals that move you towards that vision step by step.
How many times have you set a goal, for it to be thwarted or forgotten about fairly quickly?…..Research shows that 80% of new years resolutions fail by February and only a mere 8% stick for the whole year – how are yours doing?
There is a reason for this…most people setting goals, fall down as they do not meet one or more of the SMART metrics and end up with vague and unrealistic goals, which inevitably lead to failure.
So, what do we mean by SMART?
- Specific (Enough detail and meaningful, state exactly what you will do, use action words)
- Measurable (So at the goal date we can measure it properly and conclude whether it has been achieved, use amounts or other metrics to measure the achievement and avoid vague words like ‘more customers’)
- Attainable (It needs to be realistic, and can actually be achieved)
- Relevant (It needs to allign with the company mission and overall vision)
- Timely (It has a deadline)
What about when your goals are smart and you are still finding it tough to stay committed?
- Set bitesize goals often, and action them – I strongly advocate small and regular action.
- Have someone to hold you accountable – it is proven that having that extra layer of accountability can fast forward your level of success, and it is even more crucial for those business owners who are running a business on their own
So my challenge to you is….
- Explain succinctly what you believe your business purpose is
- Set out your core values
- State your long term vision and the first step you are going to take in the next 30 days to move the next step closer to this
We will be your accountability partner here to help direct you and keep you on track. One specific area of our advisory programme is centred around your purpose, values and goal setting, so if you would like to hear more about how we can help you, please contact us.
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“The only way to do great work is to love what you do”
– Steve Jobs.
