What would you think if I told you that company visions, and most importantly, a company’s purpose is discovered, rather than invented? Is it backward if you as a founder or CEO try to force unto the market some presumptions? Of course, you have to test the waters (MVPs are a good tool for this), but always with an open mind that you’ll most likely be proven wrong.
If you have to discover market needs and wants in order to make an effective solutions offering, then your company’s vision and purpose are discovered as well. There’s an innovation component one as an entrepreneur adds to it, which is when we, with our technical experience, develop a solution we must ensure delivers and communicates value.
How’s the company’s vision developed then? First and foremost, an effective Customer Development process must be put in place, which basically all boils down to answering the “How can I help you better?” question. Second, find product-market fit. This is vital because it’s the key to financial growth. Third, strategically joining the pieces in a way we can deliver the most value, while still maximizing our profits. This is not a one-time process, so I’d recommend evaluating this vision development process every 6 months, or perhaps every year.
Discovering the vision this way is a humbling process and drives more purpose for the cause. Whether you’re a solopreneur, have business partners, or have employees, a discovered purpose serves as a great impulse for the feeling of contribution the people in your company always have. That is true as long as your people are all aligned with the company path of growth, which is easier said than done; as you might realize you might need to do internal campaigns or prune out part of your workforce, to enable the better recruitment of talent that does match their career choices with the company's growth.
For this to work, you must surrender your ego. It’s non-negotiable. You might even need to re-invent the whole company, a movement usually referred to as a “pivot.” You must work towards finding that truth your customer wants to find in your product or service. A solution to a need or filling an unmet want, you must ensure what you do for your customers it’s valuable enough to proceed in that exchange of value. In simple terms, get paid for what you offer.
This approach must not be applied just as a thought process. It’s a skill that demands resources, more specifically: time and money. It requires time because every time you re-evaluate, your answers will have changed, new truths will have risen. And it requires money because it most likely requires new investments to be made, and performance measurement over the current ones. That’s why the product-market fit is one of the core elements of this virtuous circle, otherwise, you’ll run out of runway, as it’s very demanding to execute these course-corrections during the lifetime journey of the company.
Ultimately, it’s fundamental for the founder and CEO to understand the importance of its role, which is not just operating the company to merely exist, but to apply an informed decision-making process that enables the company to keep growing towards a path of evolution. This means, to listen to the roar of the market and have the organizational architecture in place for the enterprise to tackle these upcoming opportunities of ever-challenging growing demands.
The market is talking to you. Tune into that wisdom of the sentient crowds. Until next time.
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