I suspect you have been asked about your why before. It’s probably a topic you’ve given quite a bit of thought to. You may well have the answer.
But how does your why drive you and your business? How does it show up in your daily life? Is it transparent or something you keep to yourself?
Using your why as a differentiating factor
Simon Sinek talks about customers buying more for the why we are in business than the what we do or how we do it. I think this is often true and a great way for us to differentiate ourselves from our competitors. However in my opinion it only really works when the why is something that matters to the buyer.
In my early years in business my why was personal. It was very much about me doing good work that I enjoyed with the flexibility to be there when my young children wanted or needed me. My family are probably the only people who would have been persuaded to buy from me on the basis of that why!
Over the years my why has evolved. It became about supporting other people to have businesses that allowed them to live life on their own terms. And now it has another dimension… it’s now about supporting other business people to make the difference that is important to them.
Profit is a means to an end, not the end.
Profit is important in business but I think I can safely say that it’s not what drives our members. Profit is a means to an end. For some it might lead to big houses, fancy cars or exotic holidays. For our members profit is what allows them to make the difference in their communities.
This week I’ve listened to members talking about making a difference by…
- Mentoring young people to build confidence and supporting them as they step into the adult world
- Sending people on their final journey with love and respect for the life they have lived
- Removing deep seated, long held, pain so that the ‘patient’ could do more and live better
- Challenging business owners to stop wasting time and money on doing the wrong things or things in the wrong order to grow their businesses
- Helping business owners to sleep at night knowing they are on the right side of the law
How do we understand your ‘why’? 
Sometimes a business owner’s why is at the core of what they do. Sometimes what they do funds their ability to live their ‘why’. But in both cases if we are going to buy from a business because of their why we need to understand what it is.
How do you communicate yours? You might talk about your why or your mission, vision and values on your website. It may be obvious in your social media posts. Hopefully, if you are a regular networker it’s something we learn to understand about you through getting to know you over time.
I believe that your why should run through your business like the words through a stick of rock. A strong why will provide motivation to ourselves, our stakeholders and will hopefully convert customers. It will only do that if we can see it and understand it.
I’ve been doing a fair bit of research this week into what drives small business owners. Sadly it’s often well hidden. So how do I distinguish you from your competitors especially when your offer is fairly intangible? OK I can choose one photographer over another based on their images but how do I differentiate accountants or lawyers from each other?
Help us to help you by sharing what drives you, what makes you different. And please don’t just talk about having ‘a passion for people (or numbers)’. We’ve heard that all before. It sounds too bland. How does your why show up in your business or life? Tell us stories, they’ll engage us and we’ll remember them. And when we understand your ’why’ we’re much more likely to buy from you or recommend you to the right people.
