Passion is good. Purpose is better. Part II

Few experiences compare with starting a new business. How do you think a business owner might feel when they open the door for the very first time? Being in graphic design, we have often have a front row seat. On opening day, entrepreneurs are like helium balloons. Pull on the string and woooop they pop right back up. The air is electric–supersaturated in excitement. But on the flip side of intense excitement, is a good deal of anxiety. In many ways, becoming a new entrepreneur is like a young woman giving birth to her first child. Much joy and anticipation are followed by a tremendous amount of labor, followed by a boatload of new things to worry about that have never crossed your mind until now.

It is a boatload of responsibility for anyone. But in the evolution of business, starting, for all practical purposes, is the easy part. After the launch, it is the business with the ability to grow and evolve and change with the environment that is most likely to succeed.

I do not know what your stance is on the theory of evolution. For the purposes of this article, it does not matter. Evolutionary scientists believe that all we are is a random collocation of atoms and cells. We just happen to be here by sheer roll of the dice. But as smart as these scientists are, science cannot tell us everything, nor answer every question. Take my Grandpa, for example. If I put Grandpa in a blender and whirled him up (sorry Grandpa!), now that would be a random collection of atoms and cells. What made Grandpa Grandpa is not the atoms and cells themselves, it is their order and their particular pattern that made my Grandpa who he was. Science even tells me that every seven years, my Grandpa was made up of a completely new set of atoms and cells. I can tell you for sure, it was no random collocation of atoms that made up his electric smile. He was so much more than a set of cells.

Another example: I can put Grandpa in an MRI machine. I could measure the value of the chemicals and the materials that made up his body, (approximately $160.00 US dollars). That MRI machine could tell me thousands of things about his physical body. But it cannot tell me how special he made me feel when I was a kid. Or how funny he was. He would take us to the fridge, pour us a soda, and convince us that pouring in a little pickle juice, and a little worcestershire sauce, and little ketchup made it so special–so much more so than just regular ol’ soda. I believed him too! We cousins would all respond with an appropriate, “Mmmmmmm”. Science simply cannot tell me about him as a person.

How is your business assembled? Many entrepreneurs believe that as long as they have an accountant, and a sales system, an administrative assistant, and a social media manager, they have a business. Nothing could be further from the truth. Without a bigger purpose, all you have is a mindless group of things. That bigger overarching Purpose is your Brand. Do you do what you do for a reason, serving a higher purpose, and in such a way that it causes your clients to talk about the way you do the things you do because it is just so different than your competitors?

Without a higher purpose, all you are is a collection of systems. Without your unique personality as a business, you are a cell phone in a blender– all the right parts but no communication. Without your unique Brand? You are all parts on the table and no radio. You have no way to tune into the outside world. What you have created is just a job. A business without a larger purpose is just another business.

Your business is so much more than a set of mindless unguided processes. Focus on your higher purpose and make everything you do serve that purpose. It will make your business different, memorable, and matchless. And that, my friend, is pure chemistry. 

That is this week’s Imagination Hat.