What’s your 'why'? Is your business mission still relevant?

When you first started your business, whether solo or as a team, you probably had an overriding ‘mission’, something that you intended to solve: a problem in the world, your own financial situation, or an underserved target audience, for example. This mission would have driven many of your early decisions and was behind the energy and enthusiasm you had in the early days. 

Time for reflection

When was the last time you reviewed that mission? 

Are you and the team all still on that mission? Did you solve the world’s problem? Did you improve your financial situation? Did you succeed in serving the underserved? If yes, then well done! Now you have an opportunity to define a new mission that reflects the next chapter in your business.

If not, then are you still heading towards that mission? Are you going as fast and furious towards it as you once were, or have you veered off course slightly?

Why maintain a mission?

Having a clear mission to what we are doing helps us focus, gives us a reason to get up in the morning and makes decision-making far easier. Without that ‘why’ to what we are doing, it can be too easy to drift. 

You may find that different teams in the business are focusing on different priorities, or have different ideas about where the business is headed. Or worse, they may have no clear priorities and no idea where the business is headed. 

Reigniting your mission

Take a moment to think about the original ‘why’ you started the business in the first place - what was driving you?

If your mission is still relevant to you, the team and the market, then check if you, and others, are still using it to guide everyday decisions, actions and behaviours within the business

If you feel like you accomplished your mission, you’ve forgotten what it was, or feel like your mission is no longer relevant, then it is time to come up with a new one:

• What is it that you still feel passionate about?

• What is the next big thing you still want to achieve?

• Remember your mission is your guiding purpose

Once you know where you are with your mission, think about how you can create a mission statement to guide the business towards it.

And no, we’re not talking about just some text to put on your website.

Think succinct, actionable, and memorable - something your team can rally behind and that can inform day-to-day decisions.