Reset Your Mission and Business for 2010 Success!

Reset Your Mission and Business for 2010 Success!

by Wendy Burge

Call it conditioning, but what I like the most about ending another year is the opportunity a New Year represents. Typically in business it is the time to initiate a new series of goals, to kick off the first of four quarters, and to strive for another level of pre-determined success. Best of all, I see it also as a good time to assess if all of my effort is still in alignment with my business mission.

Traditionally in business, mission statements guide the purpose and efforts of the business. This is incredibly powerful for an owner, because it gives all those involved in the business, from employees to customers, a greater understanding of the intangible structure that supports the intention of a business in the first place.

While missions are valuable for larger companies in rallying the troops, if you will, they are even more important, I believe, for a solo-entrepreneur or small business owner who may only have part-time support. The fact that the responsibility of the operations is still run by you, the entrepreneur with multiple hats, claiming your mission really provides structure for how to support your efforts, clearly, all the while still rallying your own entrepreneurial spirit.

The undeniable thing about being an entrepreneur is that change is ever present in your life. Those of us who have been in business for ourselves understand that the life of an entrepreneur is not one for the weak at heart.

Courage, risk, and growth are all a part of the entrepreneurial lifestyle. And, this is a most critical point to take into consideration when it comes to resetting your mission for the New Year.

The beauty of being an entrepreneurial business owner is that each year you are professionally growing, stretching, and taking on new challenges that push you into new territory personally. The things you are learning and experiencing further strengthen the work you are able to do and how you offer it. It can be empowering by building up self-esteem and confidence within one's self.

By taking account of this growth process, you are able to course correct your business growth to match your personal growth. The reason in doing this is two-fold. First it allows you to continue to build on your expertise. Let us say, for example, you offer a licensed or certified, professional service. To maintain your professional standing, you are required, annually, to take accredited courses for continued, professional development. In that one year, you will have gained further knowledge about how to continue providing better service to your clientele. This expands your expertise. Maybe initially when starting your business you tried to help everyone. However, over time your knowledge and understanding of the various aspects of your work and services you provide increase. This exciting and interesting new growth may actually find you specializing your focus.

So for example, if you were a CGA setting up your own practice, initially, you maybe never turned away a client. But, now, over the years, you find that you prefer to work only with small businesses that are newly incorporated. This specialty evolved out of personal interest and professional development. Now, this holds the key to creating a compelling mission statement which becomes the foundation for your business.

The thing I have seen happen the most to professional service providers is that often, as they grow professionally, their personal interests thrive too. However, they still have the same routines within their business, and, they feel disconnected and stuck because their business has not grown with them. They have not incorporated their personal growth and experiences with their professional practice. So, while their heart is expanding, their head is still stuck in the, "Well, this is just how it's done" mode.

Yes, there are still things that need to be handled the same way - those are called systems-and may be required by professional associations to maintain a consistency within their industry. But, it's the intention/reasons behind placement of those systems where a business mission can play a greater role is establishing the unique position and direction a business will take.

This then brings us to my second point, assessing mission statements-essentially why you do what you do and how you are going to serve a specific type of client doing it. Clarifying this should be the starting point of setting New Year business goals in the first place. If part of someone's business mission is to serve a specific type of client, then their business goals for the New Year must be directed towards how they are going to do this. Mission statements establish the entrepreneurial WHY you want to do this initially. All growth, money, and expansion goals are supported by a common understanding that they are to support the greater mission. As, mission statements provide the soul to why you want to achieve them!

This clarity is incredibly important for solo-entrepreneurs in order to ground themselves for the challenging days ahead-which they will encounter and for which they will need a greater WHY to keep them going all year long.