Starting a Small Home Business

Find Your Business Purpose – Find Business Success

July 2nd, 2007 Filed under: Uncategorized — Small Home Business Author

So there was David, sat in his once classy office, surrounded by dirty boxes, discarded invoices and half completed orders. His former employees were drifting off one by one, each of them leaving the office for the last time filled with sadness and happy (and not so happy) memories.

As he sat in the office, now all alone, David wondered to himself Where did it all go wrong? I had it all a profitable business, a great team, a top of the range car for myself, a big house. What happened?

David didnt realize that he had spoken his question out loud, because he was surprised when Edward, his first employee, his friend, quietly said, You lost your way David. You forgot why you started all this; you simply forgot what it was all about.

David sighed and silently admitted that Edward was right in his pursuit of money and the trappings of success, he really had forgotten his why, the reason why he started out in business in the first place. If only he had kept his why in mind it might have all turned out so differently.

Edward reminded him of the first time they met. Edward was already in a well paid and respectable job; he wasnt looking for a new challenge but one day he bumped into David. They got into conversation and David very quickly got onto his favourite subject which was an idea he had for a new product which would revolutionize the way people used their mobile phones.

Davids purpose and passion was loud and clear; he knew exactly what his why was, which was to get out there and make communication easier. Edward reminded David that during that first conversation, the money, the car, the house, never came into the picture, his why was very obvious.

Edward said, David, your purpose and your why was the very foundation of our early success. It defined everything that we all stood for and what we did on a day-to-day basis. It was all about getting the product out to make communication easier. All the team knew what this business was about and what was expected of them.

Edward continued, You brought that purpose to the business and everyone else followed it. Yours and our why was so strong that it guided us along the successful path we took.

David thought back to the early days. He remembered the passion and laser-like purpose he had. He remembered taking his why and asking Edward what they could do to turn it into a how. They both realized that a purpose without taking specific actions to bring it into reality was useless. Finding the how translated into objectives and what ultimately emerged were the steps they had to take to bring the product to the market; it was the start of their first Business Plan which eventually secured them a Bank Loan to get the business started.

It was this first planning session which defined their roles within the business. David was always the why man and Edward was always the how man. They both realized that on their own they were nothing but when combined together, a why and a how was a very powerful force to have in business.

Edward laughed as he said, Do you remember that quotation I shared with you during the early planning days?

David, also laughed and replied, I sure do The man who knows How will always have a job, the man who knows Why will always be his boss. Thats why I knew we would work well together I knew my purpose, my why but you were the one who turned it into a how.

The laughter soon died and David looked around at what was left of his business. In almost a whisper David said, So Edward, where did I go wrong? What happened?

Its very simple David. Just as your why started your business, it also destroyed your business you simply lost your way; you lost your why. You forgot what started it all for you. The cracks appeared when you saw that BMW. Suddenly chasing orders and new clients was all about getting money to buy that car. It was no longer about making communication easy; it was about getting a car.

Then when you had the car, it was the latest gadget, then the bigger office, then the house. Your why changed completely and you got sucked into the trappings of success. From there it could only go one way and the end of that journey is where we are today.

David looked intently at Edward and said, So youre saying that success is down to knowing your why or your purpose and sticking to it, never letting anything distract you? Edward nodded.

Suddenly there was a sparkle in Davids eye that Edward had not seen for a long time. Edward could see what was coming next as David said, So do you think if I have learned from what we have gone through over the last year and I regain my lost why that we could start again?

Enthusiastically, Edward quickly agreed they could and suddenly they were back to the first meeting held all those years ago. The why and the purpose were back, and with this solid foundation in place, the building of a success business started again.