Unearthing your Business WHY

Let's dive into one of my favourite topics today - Unearthing your Business WHY. Now, you may wonder, why does this even matter? Surely the reason a business exists is to make money? And though generating cash is obviously extremely important, you’re unlikely to get your team excited or your customers bought into your brand if your entire raison d’être is to make money. You need more than that.

So what's the deal with the Business WHY? It's not about what you do or how you do it. It's about the heart of your business, the very reason it exists. It's about the purpose that ignites passion, fuels innovation, and guides every decision your business makes.

It's crucial, especially in this dynamic world, to identify and articulate your Business WHY clearly. This is what keeps you heading in the right direction when you face headwinds or hit choppy waters. It’s what helps you make difficult decisions. It’s also what differentiates you in a crowded marketplace and helps customers to connect with your brand on a deeper level.

Discovering your Business WHY can feel like a daunting task. Senior leadership teams don’t always want to get locked into another workshop or away day, endlessly discussing strategy when there are fires to put out or opportunities to chase. I’ve been there and understand the pressures on time and headspace. But I can’t emphasise this enough, it is crucial to establish your WHY clearly so that everyone connected to the business knows why the business exists and how their role contributes to that WHY.?

There's no magic formula to establishing your business WHY. It does require time and headspace. But there are a number of well established frameworks that you can use to help you get there and if you don’t have the capability to facilitate and guide this process in house, there are plenty of brilliant facilitators out there who can help.?

Before you get engaged with a process to establish your WHY, there are some introspective questions that can lead you in the right direction.

Ask yourself: What core values drive your business? What are the big problems you are solving? And, above all, why should it matter to anyone else?

To get you thinking, here are some examples of businesses and their WHY:

Finisterre ’s WHY is to inspire a love of the sea and to protect it together. They believe that the ocean's future is our future, and that we all have a responsibility to care for it. They do this by designing functional and sustainable clothing that is made to last, and by supporting organisations that are working to protect the ocean.

Innovate UK 's WHY is to help businesses grow through their development and commercialisation of new products, processes and services, supported by an outstanding innovation ecosystem that is agile, inclusive and easy to navigate.

Xero 's WHY is to empower small businesses to do business better. They believe that small businesses are the backbone of the economy, and they want to help them succeed. They do this by providing cloud-based accounting software that is easy to use and affordable.

Recently, I guided the senior team from Bristol Innovations (a part of The University of Bristol) in a couple of workshops to establish the organisation's purpose, and the team were very happy with the end result. "Bristol Innovations exist to grow the value and diversity of innovation at the University of Bristol by building dynamic collaborations with partners, funders and investors." Though we all know that establishing the WHY as one sentence is just the start.

Remember, identifying your WHY is not a one-off exercise; it's a journey. But believe me, it’s a journey well worth undertaking. Because a business with a clear WHY is like a ship with a compass – it knows where it's going and how to navigate the way.

Feel free to share your thoughts, challenges, and experiences on establishing your business WHY. Or if you have any questions about how to go about identifying your business WHY, get in touch.

David Maher Roberts is the Managing Partner of Digital DNA LLP , a consultancy practice that empowers entrepreneurs to innovate, adapt, and thrive in the ever-evolving digital landscape