How do you identify what your successful business should look like? Determining strategy and planning for your business is something all business owners grapple with.

The first question you should be asking is ‘Why?’

Asking ‘why?’ has become a key process for business owners. It has been made popular by Simon Sinek’s book ‘Start with Why’.

In his book ‘Start with Why’, Simon Sinek explains the importance of understanding the purpose behind your business as ultimately that is why people buy from you. With a strong WHY you will be able to decide whether the next big idea will move your business in the right direction and fit with its overall purpose.

How does remembering your ‘why’ help with developing a strategy and plan?

Your ‘why’ determines your reason for doing what you do.
Your ‘why’ provides a reason for choosing the goals and outcomes you want to achieve.
Your ‘why’ provides purpose for your actions

It is very important to get clarity on the ‘why’ issue. For example, someone may say I want to earn $500,000 this year. There is absolutely nothing wrong with having that as a primary goal but a goal of that type will always be a surrogate for a higher level goal that’s reflected in its ‘why’ or ‘whys’ such as … “Because that will mean I can be certain of being able to pay off my mortgage within 3 years and retire from full time work within 10 years” or “It will guarantee that I can help my children complete college without worrying about money” or “It will confirm for me that I have the ability to take on a challenge of doubling my earning capacity.”

The underlying ‘why’ is what gets you up in the morning. Success is a journey not a destination.

People who see a goal as a destination are rarely happy when they accomplish it unless they then set about creating another higher or different, but still challenging, one. When you get to your destination the first thing that enters your mind is ‘now what?’ If you don’t have an answer to that question you will not be happy.

Success is really about knowing that you’re making progress towards a worthwhile goal.