Measure according to your mission

Why we measure stories told, and not margins made

Every company has a mission, every good leader a vision. At Elma van Vliet, our mission is to help you nurture deeper connections with those closest to you. And our ideal world is one where everyone has, and takes, the time to connect with their loved ones. To tell, and listen to, each others stories. We believe it's the people in our lives that give life its value.

We built a business based on our beliefs. But when we read through our management books, applied our business-school lessons, we felt there was something missing. P&Ls, balance sheets, stock statements, operational KPIs... were only telling us the health of the business. They weren't telling us the health of our mission.

We knew we were doing good in this world. We heard it every day. How one of our books had revealed a forgotten story of a mom and her daughter. How one of our quizzes triggered an evening of laughter and discovery. Or how someone learned who their grandfather was, despite never having had the chance to meet. We cherish every message we receive about how we've helped someone connect, share, and remember special moments and memories.

Then we put on our business hat again. While anecdotal evidence is valuable, and helps us stay true to our mission, we were looking for something else. A measure of whether or not we were actually having an impact. We could easily calculate how much retail value we generated, or how much margin we made. We could run scenarios, make charts and graphs and ratios. We had enough data to tell us anything we wanted to know. And somewhere in that information, we knew there must be a way

It was always right in front of us. We tell stories. And each and every one of our books is a treasure trove of stories. For us, cumulative volume is our key measure that reflects whether or not we are fulfilling our mission. By measuring volume, we weigh everything we make equally regardless of price. And now with more than 4 million stories told, we can say "yes, we are fulfilling our mission. Every day."

Whatever your business, it exists because of your mission. And measuring in accordance with your mission is the only way to definitively say that your business is successful.