Get clear on your mission and your market

Thanks for subscribing to the 9-step business growth series.

If you haven't already done so, I recommend downloading this 9-step business growth mind map by clicking on this link right now.

This entire email course is built around it, so most of this won't make sense unless you have a close look at the mind map and follow along.

Each email in this series refers to one step in the mind map and builds incrementally to help you achieve sustainable business growth.

So I highly recommend you file these emails in a folder and go through them one step at a time.

A core idea in this 9-step approach to business growth is empathy for your customer.

Without empathy, your success will be short-lived and largely ineffective. You won't build a strong brand that lasts the distance and outperforms your competitors.

To get a good understanding of how empathy works in a practical business context, I highly recommend you watch this conversation I had with Seth Godin.

We talked about empathy at some length (and also about how to overcome fear in a business context).

Now lemme ask you a question:

Why do you want to grow your business? Why are you in business? Hit reply and let me know.

It's important to be clear on your why, and articulating it in an email often helps.

I decided to start my own business several years ago for one main reason...

Freedom.

Freedom to work the hours I want.

Freedom to choose my clients.

Freedom to choose how I spend my time.

In this series of 9 emails (you'll receive an email each day for the next 9 days), I'll take you through the 9 steps that helped me achieve my freedom.

What I'll share with you is simple but it isn't easy.

There's no quick fix on offer here.

What I teach takes time, effort, and persistence.

So if you're up for putting in the effort, you'll get the results.

Now, before I forget, make sure you add this email to your contact list on your computer. ash@productiveinsights.com

That way you’re less likely to have to go hunting for them in your spam folder.

OK so let's get down to business.

How do you get started on the path to profitable business growth?

The first step is to get clear on your mission

In this conversation — Ryan Deiss — co-founder of Digital Marketer explains the importance of having a mission and how Digital Marketer arrived at their mission statement…

… to double the size of 10,000 businesses by 2020.

I recommend watching at least the first few minutes of this video conversation with Ryan Deiss, where he explains exactly how their mission statement evolved.

But wait. "Why create a mission statement anyway?" You might ask.

Because it forces you to examine your core values as a business. It helps you get clear on your unique selling proposition in the market.

Let’s watch Steve Jobs talk about Apple’s core values (before Apple shot to its peak)

At the 3-minute and 35-second mark … Jobs explains what Apple’s core values are.

A clear mission statement creates a common goal around which your team members can rally.

It also helps set the direction of your business and helps you move forward with a sense of purpose.

Here are 3 specific steps you can take to come up with your mission statement.

1. Identify your unique selling proposition (USP)
   Decide on what it is you bring to the market that’s unique and that you can do better than anyone else. This relates to what Warren Buffett calls your ‘durable competitive advantage’. Let’s say you’re a business coach and you're better than anyone in your industry at getting your clients results in terms of increased profitability. Your USP is "I'm great at helping my coaching clients increase their business' profit (the measurable outcome you deliver)"
2. Clarify what success looks like and how you’ll measure it
   Let’s say you want to provide an incredible return on investment (ROI) to your customers. Make that a metric you measure yourself against. Measure the percentage of customers who receive more than 100% ROI after having worked with you.
3. Combine your unique selling proposition with your measurable outcome.
   So, your mission statement as a coach might be “To help my business coaching clients increase their profitability by an average of 20% within the next 12 months”

OK, now it's your turn...

Here's what I'd like you to do:

Have a think about your mission statement and put it down on a piece of paper now ... before you close this email.

I highly recommend doing it right now. Chances are if you don't do it right away, you never will.

Getting clear on your mission is one of the most important things when it comes to profitable business growth.


Best

Ash Roy

P.S. Watch out for the next email tomorrow. I'll tell you all about how to do market research on your ideal customer.

BTW, there's one specific tool that really helps you understand your customer deeply.

It helps you create great products that solve your customers' problems effectively.

Can you guess what that one specific tool is?

I'll tell you soon.