Don’t Confuse Your Mission with Your Goals
Why does your business exist?
It’s a question I’ve been asking myself recently—and I’ve been reflecting on its importance.
Our firm is known (I hope) for helping companies grow.
We focus on increasing revenue, profit, and valuation.
That’s WHAT we do, and it’s all about dollars and cents.
But WHY we do it is actually far more important.
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I didn’t grow up with money.
I had a hard-working family with entrepreneurship on every side.
We were cared for, and we were loved.
But we were not wealthy.
Maybe it’s that upbringing, but for me, money has always been synonymous with opportunity.
Money gives you options. It gives you choices. It gives you the freedom to do what you want.
To live how you want.
So our company mission, despite our laser focus on financial targets, is this: to help entrepreneurs and their teams live their ideal lives.
And in my worldview, growing thriving, profitable businesses is how we achieve that mission.
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If you aren’t careful, your mission can get lost.
Lost behind the targets and the metrics. Lost among the goals you’re trying to reach and the problems you’re trying to solve.
Every one of those things is an important aspect of growing a great business.
But a financial target should never become a stand-in for your company’s mission.
You’re not here to make money. You’re here to do something bigger.
I’ve never seen a team inspired by the goal of personally enriching an owner, or even just themselves for that matter.
Great mission statements aren’t about you.
They’re not even about your company.
They’re about the thing you want to impact: a customer segment, a community. The whole world is fair game, because missions should be ambitious.
A mission statement should create the vision, then inspire your team to run headlong toward it.
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I’ve written about Jared Auerbach and his company, Red’s Best, before.
He pivoted during the pandemic and reshaped his business for a brand new future.
Jared has grown his company significantly during our time together.
But regardless of how his business model has shifted, his overarching mission has always stayed the same.
“Focus on the fishermen.”
Red’s Best is a seafood distributor, and every decision the company makes keeps those fishermen in mind.
It’s dialed in. It’s about a community. It serves a greater purpose.
A good mission endures—it outlasts market challenges, turnover, pivots, and even reinvention.
Does your mission inspire you?
