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What is the purpose of your business?

hay rollsGreatness doesn’t start with a market opportunity; it starts with a problem that needs solving.  The opportunity comes from marketing the solution.

Simon Sinek

If you are struggling getting your new business venture off the ground, it’s time to visit with one of the masters of business success, Peter Drucker.  He was the leader in the development of management education and invented “management by objectives”.  He wrote dozens of books about business and management.  Drucker was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2002.

The article by Eric Wagner, contributor to Forbes Magazine, lists Drucker’s 12 Keys to success (http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericwagner/2013/05/07/entrepreneurship-according-to-drucker-your-12-keys-to-success/)

Today, we will continue to consider the next three keys to success as defined by Peter Drucker.

He delineated the following as the first and second key.

Key 1: “Those who perform love what they’re doing.”

Key 2:Successful entrepreneurs do not wait until “the Muse kisses them” and gives them a bright idea; they go to work.”

Let’s exam the next three keys.

Key 3: “What is our business?”

In the eye of the daily working storm we often forget why we are working.  What is the purpose of your business?  Why did you start it?  What happened that pointed you to this particular business?  Has your purpose changed?  How will your business make a difference?  Do you intend that it does make a difference?  These questions are reflective, of course.  And it’s useful to pull yourself back into yourself and look at your purpose newly.  In order to maintain your passion for your business you really have to be clear about your purpose.  If your purpose is to only make money, I assert that you have lost your way.  Keep your purpose alive.

Key 4:  Who is the customer?”

Knowing who your one and only one customer is, is the key to pointing your business marketing to that person.  Notice that I say “that person” not to them.  Your business is intended to provide a product or service to one person.  Who is that person?  Can you see him or her in your mind’s eye?  This is not time for generalizations; it’s time for specifics.  Be specific about your one and only one client.  It is important that you take the time to define that one person down to what that person likes, who he admires, and how smart she is.

Key 5: “Neither studies nor market research nor computer modeling is a substitute for the test of reality.”

Ah, yes, reality.  This is where your efforts in marketing and selling become the check for “is it working?”  I recently began advanced training to improve my business marketing acumen.  This program is a Master course with lots of homework and requires a great deal of thinking.  I love the challenge and notice that I have to prick the balloon of my own magical thinking that just by excelling at the homework doesn’t mean anything.  The reality check will come when I apply what I am learning to marketing my business and see how my customers relate to it.  As entrepreneurs we must rely on reality and be able to pivot and switch our approach when reality tells us to.

Now, it’s your turn.  Please tell me in the comments below how these next three keys to success relate to you and your business.  I am looking forward to hearing from you!