Why did you start your business?
What drives you to continue working in your business?
Sure, for many of us the answer seems obvious…to make money.
But is there something deeper?
The Secret To Success
Think back to why you decided to become an entrepreneur. Were you seeking freedom? Maybe you felt a deep need to help those in your audience and you knew your solution could really help.
When running a business, it’s not about you, it’s about them. You know, your customers. When you really connect with your audience, running the business starts to seem less like “work”. You see the impact you have on those you help. And that can drive you to do even more.
But to find your true business purpose, you must identify your “why”. Why do you do what you do? What is the purpose driving you forward, prompting you to do more, and be more to your customers.
Start With Why
Simon Sinek, the British-American author and motivational speaker explains this concept in his massively popular Ted talk, Start With Why. The 18-minute video has over 41 million views on the Ted video channel and another 10 million spread over YouTube.
In the talk, Sinek explains that your “why” is a powerful driver for success and what allows your customers and clients to connect with you. Sinek says, “People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it”.
Our “why” is a deep-seated drive to empower entrepreneurs and business owners to take control of their financial future. We believe that if you’re the CEO of your business, you should be the CEO of your money, too. Because we know you can do it, if you have access to the right tools.
Sinek goes on to explain there are three levels of a business, a concept he calls “The Golden Circle”
The Golden Circle
The three layers of the Golden Circle are the What, the How, and the Why. Starting from the outside in, the “what” is what you do. Chances are you can easily answer this question. The next layer in is “how” you do what you do. And finally, the innermost circle is “why” you do what you do.
Sinek explains that when we clearly identify our “why”, we can connect more deeply with our prospects and customers. When a business owner has a clearly defined purpose, he can connect with the emotional center of his customer’s brain. Though we often make decisions with the rational part of our brain (the thinking brain or neo-cortex), the seed of the decision often spawns first from a feeling.
Think back to a time when something “just didn’t feel right”. That feeling was your limbic brain, the part of your brain that drives decision making.
When you can clearly identify and communicate your “why”, you can more quickly connect with your prospects and customers and engage their feeling brain. This helps them to make decisions more quickly and authentically as to whether or not to work with you.
What’s Your Why
We return to the questions we asked at the beginning:
Why did you start your business?
What drives you to continue working in your business?
What is your purpose that makes you have to do what you do?
Once you can answer those questions and figure out “what’s your why”, your business can grow to new heights, help more people, and bring you more success than you ever thought possible.
