In two recent posts (9/3/24 and 9/9/24) I shared some thoughts on a question many of us business owners ask: “What is my PURPOSE in Business? Is it anything beyond providing an income for me and my family?” Based on the first few chapters of Genesis in the Bible, I said that as Christian owners, we should recognize how we fit into God’s plan for mankind to “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth (Genesis 1:28).”
Whether or not we include the following words in a written “purpose statement,” we should start our answer something like this:
“My purpose in business is to use the image-of-God abilities of my team so we work together to contribute to human flourishing. I do this by __(fill-in-the-blank)__”
I went on to say that there is a wide variety of God-pleasing ways to fill in the blank.
Let’s say your business is producing healthy snack-foods, and that this will be a family business operated by you, your spouse, and your children. You might end up with a purpose statement like this:
“My purpose in business is to develop the gifts, character, and business-knowledge of my children by providing tasty, healthy snacks to busy parents.”
You and your family prepare various non-perishable snack items in your home, pack them, and ship them monthly to families who pay a monthly subscription fee. You also have these goals in mind:
- You want your children to learn how to function well as a team, to develop a strong work ethic, and to learn the basics of business.
- You have a full time job that provides adequate income for your family. The business doesn’t need to make a lot of money, but it must at least break even in order to teach your children business basics. You do hope it will eventually add to the family income.
- You dream that someday, the business will be prosperous enough that your children can take it over when they become adults–but you are willing to leave this goal in God’s hands.
So how does a purpose statement help you?
- A purpose statement keeps everyone on the “same page.” We human beings tend to drift in our thinking and goals. One family member might gradually become focused on making lots of money. Another might focus on pleasing customers and add expensive ingredients to the snack recipes without considering the effect on cost. Still another might become obsessed with opening a retail location that would seriously interfere with family time.
By regularly reviewing the purpose of your business with your team, you can better keep everyone “rowing the the same direction.” - A purpose statement helps you make decisions. If a competitor offers to purchase your business for a high sale price–should you sell? Probably not, since developing your children is a key element of your purpose and getting a big payday is not. Should you branch out into canning items like jelly or apple butter? You should evaluate whether adding these products (and the needed equipment) helps you achieve your purpose…or will be a distraction. What if one of your kids suggests including “activity pages” with the monthly shipments which would help “busy parents” serve their children? Even though activity pages don’t count as “snack food”, the idea does seem to align pretty well with your purpose for both your customers AND your family.
- A purpose statement helps you set goals. What if your older children begin to show both ability and interest in taking over the business as a full time occupation? You might set a 3-year goal to increase net profit enough to support 2 full-time paid positions. Or what if it becomes known that a particular ingredient you’ve used is NOT healthy. Because your purpose includes “…providing HEALTHY snacks…”, you might set a one-year goal to adjust all your recipes to eliminate that ingredient. The idea here is to set goals based on better fulfilling your purpose.
(By the way, I realize that regulatory issues will come into play with any product that is food-related. For simplicity of this example, I’ve chosen to ignore this.)
Hopefully, you can see how a purpose statement helps your business. One final thought: are you allowed to change your purpose? The answer is yes–although be cautious and thoughtful. It IS a good idea to review and perhaps adjust a purpose statement on a regular basis–usually as part of an annual planning process. But a purpose statement should generally be consistent over time and only change after careful consideration by the business owner(s).
If you are a business owner and you’ve never thought much about your “purpose” in business, I urge you to do so. There’s no rush, but settling in your own mind WHY you are in business is a powerful step and will help you the ways I’ve shared above.
Blessings to you!