Small Biz

A few years ago, I came across the book, Conscious Capitalism and was impressed with how they captured so succinctly the importance of a business Purpose Statement. For me, my primary take away from the book was the Purpose Statement as “an uplifting, moral-quality that appeals to the highest ideals and motives of the organization that rises above personal concern.” The book explains that a business should focus its attention on those it serves (customers, vendors, community, and all stakeholders, not just shareholders).

Most business schools teach the focus should be on the bottom line as a responsibility to shareholders. But Conscious Capitalism makes the case that organizations that put the needs of society before their own, more often than not, deliver on the needs of society, but also produce revenue requirements beyond their stated projections.

As a Christian business owner, I believe this philosophy is in line with my Biblical Purpose to serve others and make Christ known to them. It is not limited to my personal life but extends into my businesses. David Hagenbuch says, “Every business, especially a new one, should have a clear and succinct expression of its purpose — its reason for being beyond the products it makes or the services it provides. A great example comes from Whole Foods, which states its purpose simply as ‘Whole Foods, Whole People, Whole Planet.’” This is perfect since John Mackey is CEO of Whole Foods and co-author of Conscious Capitalism!

As I reflected on this, I looked to the Bible to better understand what God says about our businesses and their purpose. There are many passages that provide uplifting messages for us on this topic. For example, Romans 8:28 (KJV) And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. And, Deuteronomy 8:18 (KJV) But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.

I believe that God’s intent is that we acknowledge him as the source of all that we are and in our obedience to him, he provides not only what we need but more beyond measure. So, I conclude that our business Purpose Statements should reflect our acknowledgement that we are only stewards of what he provides to us.

Do you have a business Purpose Statement? If not, consider drafting one today.

We have one daughter, Jennifer and her husband, Chad, who have blessed us with four grandchildren. They have all enjoyed spending time at the ranch even before the inheritance. Since the inheritance, they have become more involved with the projects and enjoying the benefits of their labors.

Dave Ramsey has taught us that as parents it is important to raise our children with love to be self-sufficient, understand financial responsibility and to leave them an inheritance as taught in the Bible . My husband, Larry’s purpose for the ranch was clearly following this principle and I know Jennifer and Chad will someday be the owners of the property and will continue the improvements. I reflected on how Larry’s purpose can easily be the same for entrepreneurs.

I think as Christian businesspeople we fundamentally want to build a business and eventually leave that business a success. But in business when you talk about the business purpose statement, you must be careful. First, a business purpose can be the legal statement required by some states on your business registration documents. This statement is generally vague like “to lawfully sell safe products to the public”.

Second, in marketing your business, you tie your brand to your purpose for selling your products or services and this purpose statement drives your marketing efforts.

Finally, for decades business schools have taught the need for all businesses to have Values, Vision, and Mission statements to guide the business. A purpose statement is new to the scene and is slowing being adopted. So, for our intentions here, a purpose statement is that declaration that identifies your business’ overarching reason for existing. It is the WHY you are in business.

Can you answer the WHY question for your business?

For Small Business Spoken Here, we define a Mission Statement as the role of the organization in society. It tells what your organization is all about. It is the fundamental drive of the organization and concentrates on the present. While it defines the customer and the critical processes, it also informs you of the desired level of performance. Said another way, the mission explains why the organization exists.

The mission captures your organization’s goals and your overarching philosophies. It also documents what your organization is about to your customers, employees, suppliers, and the community. A mission statement tells you and everyone that encounters your business what you are doing right now!

There is also something else a Mission Statement does, it demonstrates Passion! It is not enough to be in the present. Anyone can write something in the present. That statement must come alive and your passion must resonate through each word. This would seem to be a tall order. After all, this is a business not a work of art.

The truth is our emotions, our passion is what drove us to start the business. So why wouldn’t a Mission Statement reflect that emotional drive? Maybe it is not such a difficult thing to write especially if it comes from the truth we know as our God-given talents and our passion to build that business.

Think about that for a minute. It all begins with God and his gifts to us. Take a moment, right now, and think about your talents and directions from God. List them out as they come to you.

What is this list telling you? Does your business reflect these talents? Does it showcase them to their fullest extent or are you hiding your talents under a basket, as the song goes? Perhaps it is time for a new direction?

As I close on my thoughts about Vision statements, here is a reminder for us all…first, seek God’s will for the organization. Then when you are writing your organization’s Vision statement and to envision the best outcome, consider these three points:

1) Think Long Term by describing outcomes that are five to ten years out;

2) Make It Emotional by dreaming big and focusing on success; fill it with passion;

3) Add Sensory Details by painting a graphic mental picture of the organization you want.

Begin your draft statement and when you think you have it together, take a break from it. Let it resonate for a day or two. Take the extra time to consider running it by your Accountability Partner asking them to comment on whether it resonates with what they understand you are seeking in your business. Ask them if it paints that picture of the future not what you are doing now. And most importantly, continue to seek God’s will and begin to tweak the Vision statement until it is exactly the Vision you have for the organization.

The Vision statement must be clearly stated. You may have heard this before, and it is still true. If the Vision statement is foggy, vague, ambiguous or something similar, the message will not be understandable. Quite often we over-think and over complicate our Vision statements.

Vision statements need to be clear and concise so that others can grasp the meaning easily when you state it to them. When you do, they can then share it with others in exactly the same way without changing the message you are sending. Nehemiah understood this principle and his vision was clear, “…let us build up the wall of Jerusalem…”(Nehemiah 2:17, KJV). As this message spread through the land, I don’t imagine folks were running around saying, “Hey, there is going to be a picnic on the town square!” I imagine it spread quickly from one to many as “We are building up the wall of Jerusalem!”

Also, notice how specific it is. You don’t see Nehemiah over complicated the obvious with extra words like “and then” or “while we” or “with additional”. Vision statements are clear, concise, specific, and written to be understood by everyone who reads or sees it.

Finally, Vision statements should invoke emotion from those who write them and convey that emotion in all that experience that vision. Nehemiah knew he needed to express in words the perseverance to keep folks building that wall. He also knew he needed to communicate the need to be brave and courageous when things started to get tough. The people Nehemiah was facing were individuals who had lost or forgotten their dreams. He needed great emotion to drive the vision. His words were emotional and painted a picture for all to see, “…and end this disgrace!”(Nehemiah 2:17,NLT).

The emotion of our Vision statements should paint pictures so clearly that we can visualize the future state and will know when we have arrived. The emotion should reinforce the future state and be dependent on working toward the new possibilities. Nehemiah set the bar high.

How does your Vision statement measure up?

If you can get folks to agree that a Vision Statement is “future” focused, you will soon realize there are still a lot of conversations about what it should or should not be. I think one of the best lessons I ever learned about business vision statements originated from a sermon I heard by Joe Boerman, former senior pastor at Immanuel Church in Gurnee, IL. Pastor Joe (as we called him) was doing a series of lessons from the book of Nehemiah. The series was addressing the subject of Leadership, but it was packed full of great insight for amazing vision statements.

Think about it, Nehemiah had the responsibility (called on him by God) to rebuild the walls and gates that had been destroyed around the city of Jerusalem. That was not only a massive responsibility but a huge task especially when you consider that the people of Jerusalem had become comfortable with seeing the crumbled and burned out walls for 80 years.

That is not unlike what we experience in our current lives. For example, how many times do you drive down a road and notice the litter? Do you stop to pick it up or do you continue on your way? Have you ever driven by it day in and day out until it no longer even registers with your brain that there is litter collecting alongside the roadway? Have you ever thought to gather a group of people together and convince them to spend one day a month picking up the litter? How would you convince them that this was a good thing to do? How would you get them to continue doing it month after month after month?

Gathering people together, getting them all on the same page and leading them to do something are the kinds of the things we look at a Vision statement to do for an organization. According to Andy Stanley, a vision should be “a solution to a problem that must be addressed immediately”.

For Nehemiah, it was clear. God ordered the walls and gates to be rebuilt and for it to be done now! So as the leaders of our organizations, we can take a lesson from Nehemiah that it is important to motivate the organization. A vision statement requires a compelling reason to be in existence. Going back to the roadway litter example, would you encourage people to pick up the litter – because it is their civic duty; because litter looks bad; because litter is a poor reflection of the neighborhood; because litter is smelly; because litter is blowing into the roadway and becoming a traffic distraction; or some other reason? Your Vision statement should motivate your organization with the incentive to start.

Think back to when you decided to start your business. What motivated you? What was your incentive to make that very first step? What is it that you are out to accomplish?