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SME Strategy Guide - Question 2: Why we exist and where are we going?

This is part 4 of our strategy series. For part 3, click the button below.



Sharing a common purpose creates connections across everyone in and around your business
Sharing a common purpose creates connections across everyone in and around your business


Purpose, Vision, and Mission

If this is the first time you’ve read something I’ve written, welcome to my soapbox. For those who have read my stuff before, welcome back. Every business, engagement, contract, coaching session, or job I’ve had comes back to the three principles of Purpose, Vision, and Mission.


Let’s define them quickly:

  • Purpose: Why your business exists beyond making a profit.

  • Vision: A clear statement that outlines the world you want to create.

  • Mission: What your current, actionable, focus is, that will help achieve your vision.


Now, where does strategy fit into this?

  • Strategy: How you will accomplish your mission and progress towards your vision.


Purpose - Mission - Vision are all good motivators for doing something that matters
Purpose - Mission - Vision are all good motivators for doing something that matters

Purpose

Purpose helps businesses go further when things feel distant or difficult. Studies show that companies with a stated purpose perform better than those without.


So you need to ask yourself why does your organisation exist, beyond just the desire to make some money?


This question is easy for typical start-ups which are often started to solve a specific problem or capitalise on an opportunity. For more established businesses, or new businesses that originate in a stated profession (accountant, solicitor, architect), it can feel a bit of a ‘so what’ question; “we exist, we make money, people need us, what more is there to ask?”


Regardless of the stage you’ve started at, here’s three questions you can ask yourself:

  • Why does the world (or your customers) need your business?

  • What are the core values that drive how you operate and make decisions?

  • What would success look like if your business fulfilled its ultimate potential?


Answering these should leave you with a sense of understanding of your purpose. Every one is different, but you’ll know it when you’ve landed on something that feels like it can drive you forward, even when the future is uncertain.


Vision

With a purpose stated, you then need to understand what you want the world to look like. This is your vision for the future, and it’s something that should be aspirational and ambitious. Well known examples include:

  1. To be Earth's most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online - Amazon

  2. To inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup, and one neighbourhood at a time - Starbucks

  3. Build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis - Patagonia


A vision doesn’t have to change the entire world, but you should be looking to make some impact in improving people’s lives, be that through something as simple as baking goods that make people happy.


You’ll know you’ve landed on a vision when you have something that feels like it can motivate you to keep working towards the future, even when things feel hard in the moment.


Mission

Your mission is the short to medium-term focus that will take your company from today towards your vision. It’s all about the immediate things you need to do, and should be optimised for making the greatest impact towards your business, whilst being aligned with the vision and purpose.


Being tangible, specific, and action focused will dramatically increase the quality of your strategy as the two are so interlinked. You'll know a good mission if it feels like something you can really focus on when your priorities aren't clear.


Actions to complete

Work through the above to find your Purpose, Vision and Mission, and articulate these in short sentences you (and your team if applicable) all resonate with. To do this, three exercises you can complete are:


  1. Purpose: 5 why’s exercise

    • Start with the question: “Why does this business exist?”

    • For every answer, ask “why” again until you reach a deeper, meaningful reason.


  2. Vision: Envision your future exercise

    • Write a 2–3 paragraph story as if it’s 10 years in the future. Describe:

      • The problem you’ve solved.

      • Who you’ve impacted.

      • The larger transformation you’ve contributed to.


  3. Mission: Create action focused statements

    • Use this formula as a starting point:

    • We [action] for [who], so they can [benefit/impact].

 
 
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