Your Business Mission: What the Heck Do You Do, Anyway?

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Your Business Mission: What the Heck Do You Do, Anyway

- by Todd Jensen

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Do you really need a business mission statement? Is it
just some fancy words to put in that business plan that
collects dust on your shelf, or is there really more to
it?

One of the key attributes of successful businesses is
that they clearly know what they do. Defining the goal
or the “mission” of your business can be the key to
your success.

A good mission statement does three things:

“ States what business you are in.
“ Defines your target market.
“ Provides inspiration for your business.

One of the best examples of a mission statement comes
from Levi Strauss & Co.
http://www.levistrauss.com/Company/ValuesAndVision.aspx

“We will market and distribute the most appealing and
widely worn apparel brands. Our products define
quality, style and function. We will clothe the
world.”

Clothing the world is a pretty lofty goal, but Levi
Strauss has the ability to do this for one reason—
Their founder, Levi Strauss, started the business with
a mission and focus.

Levi started his wholesale dry goods business in San
Francisco February, 1853. Rather than hoping to make
his fortune in the Gold Rush, he created a fortune by
wholesaling clothing and fabric to the small stores
supplying the thousands of miners and later, families
of the West.

In 1872, he was contacted by Jacob Davis, a tailor who
had developed a method to rivet the stress points of
the pants he made from fabric he bought from-you
guessed it—Levi Strauss. Jacob did not have the
funds to patent the process, so he teamed up with Levi
Strauss to patent the original blue jean in 1873. The
rest is history.

Now, if Levi Strauss was your typical small business,
he would have probably have spun off in ten different
directions in their early years, but the company
remained focused on supplying quality clothing and
fabrics to the working men and women of the West, and
later the world. Rather than focusing on their core
market, they would have fallen into the AFAB
method…Anything for a Buck.

Most small businesses suffer from this lack of focus.

When we work with struggling business owners, the first
thing we ask them is “What is your bread and butter?”
What one product or service provides you with the
majority of your business profit?

Unfortunately, most business owners can’t answer that
question. They did not define their core product or
service and target market when they started, and end up
doing a little bit of everything, and nothing well.

Or, they focus most of their time on a product or
service line that they like, without knowing whether it
actually is their most profitable.

Fortunately, there is an easy fix for this problem.

You have to determine your gross profit margin from
each of your product lines or services. Get together
with your accountant, and figure out what you need to
do to separate your revenue and expenses by the major
product lines of your business. Then, you can find out
your gross profit margin, or the percentage of gross
profit you receive from each activity.

The product or service with the highest gross profit
margin is your core business activity. It is the bread
and butter of your business, and the key to your
company profits.

Now, you must focus as much of your company resources
as possible on this core activity. Market it,
systemize it, and turn your business into a machine for
duplicating this product or service over and over
again.

What happens?

Well, rather than running around like a chicken with
your head cut off, putting out fires all over your
business, you suddenly have the focus to know where to
spend your time and energy. You know your core, and
you can work to make a good thing even better.

This focus will transform your business and your life.

Remember the term “Jack of All Trades, but Master of
None”? You cannot become really good at something
without focus, and focusing on your most profitable
core product or service will make your business even
more efficient.

Does this mean that you should never expand beyond your
core? Of course not, but you must make sure you are
really good at your core product or service before you
venture into different directions. Creating a strong
bread and butter business will give you the base
necessary to expand.

Your core product or service is the foundation for your
business. Build it well.

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Todd Jensen, “The Profit Engineer”, has helped hundreds of
business owners make their businesses more successful and
profitable. For tips and strategies on how to boost your
business success as well as increase your profits, visit
http://www.theprofitengineer.com or http://www.maxqtc.com
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