“Never forget why you started.”
This popular quote acts as a reminder that reason and purpose can propel us forward towards achieving our goals. It’s often referenced in fitness and personal development, but many businesses forget to implement this advice.
Clearly defining your purpose and finding your why can help to drive your business towards excellence and success. When purpose becomes embedded in everything you do, it makes it easier to stand out and make a difference. Not only can it differentiate your brand from competitors, but it also allows you to inspire, innovate, and connect with customers.
This article explores the importance of finding your why, and how this can benefit your entire team.
Finding your WHY
The first thing we do with all our clients is explore and articulate their why. We ask questions like why do you do what you do? What gets you out of bed in the morning? What drives you to show up every day?
Everyone’s why is unique. For some, it’s related to personal experience. For others, it’s about supporting an important cause. But for most of our clients, it’s about making a difference. Finding your why gives you purpose. It propels you and your company toward a cause, giving meaning and intention to everything you do.
It’s not just helpful for your business, either. Finding your why helps your customers to better understand what you do. It allows them to connect with your business, not just engage with them. And it shows them why your company offers value beyond your competitors.
Defining a Workable Value Proposition
A value proposition is a succinct statement that summarises why a customer should work with your business. It includes the problems you solve as well as the solution you offer. It can also help to communicate your purpose and help you to stand out from the crowd.
Here is a simple value proposition template to help you create an exclusive VP for your brand. Simply fill in the blanks!
- I help people who are struggling with _____________
- by offering ______________.
- My service is unique because ______________
- and I do what I do because ______________.
Discovering Your Brand Voice
Brand voice is essentially your company’s style of communication. It defines the personality of your brand. The following questions can help you to find and articulate your brand voice:
- What tone do you speak in?
- What are you passionate about?
- Who do you help?
- What language do you use?
- What language do you NOT use?
- How do you respond to common questions?
- How do you respond to feedback or complaints?
Research Confirms
Ernst & Young collaborated with the Harvard Business Review to explore how purpose influences a company’s success. The results show that companies with an embedded purpose experienced a higher level of business growth compared to companies that don’t have clear direction or purpose.
- 58% of companies that are purpose-driven reported 10% growth or more over 3 years.
- 42% of companies that don’t have a fully embedded purpose report a lack or decline of growth during the same time.
Uniting Your Team
Everything we’ve discussed so far is generally the responsibility of the founder or leaders of a company. After all, they’re the ones that determine the direction of a company.
While finding your why is a task for the founders or leaders of a company, it should be shared with everyone in the business. Creating an aligned team driven by the same purpose can have some powerful effects as we’ve outlined below.
- Purpose-driven goals enhance productivity
Finding your why and north star can help you to set major company goals. But to achieve these significant goals, you must form smaller, achievable goals that can be accomplished by individuals, teams, and departments. When employees feel like they are contributing to a long-term goal or vision, they are more likely to feel fulfilled. This is directly linked to productivity and employee satisfaction. These statistics show the power of inspiration on productivity:
| An Employee’s Fulfillment | Productivity Output |
| Dissatisfied | 71% |
| Satisfied | 100% |
| Engaged | 144% |
| Inspired | 225% (Wow!) |
- Purpose increases retention rates
Modern-day employees have a desire to work with companies that make a difference in the world. Purpose increases employee satisfaction and this also increases retention rates. After all, when employees enjoy their role, they are motivated to stay. Once again, the statistics reinforce our point:
- Employees that feel connected to a company’s purpose are two times more likely to stay.
- Millennials are five times more likely to stay at a company with a strong purpose.
Here are more reasons why purpose is important:
- Increase employee satisfaction and job performance.
- Enhance recruitment by attracting likeminded and motivated staff.
- Increase employee pride and make employees brand ambassadors.
Professional Branding Services by Somer Design
We offer a range of professional branding services. No matter what profession you’re in, we always start by articulating your WHY and create your digital assets around this purpose.
To learn more, visit our branding page.
