I just want to know why?
I first want to thank my friend Tony Allen, who has written our ‘And Finally’ piece at the end of this magazine for the last nine years. Tony has now decided that he has better things to do with his time and has gone off to do them. Quite right! I have thoroughly enjoyed having him as a member of the team and wish him well in whatever comes next. Tony is a great guy, and this industry is all the better for him having touched it.
There is a question that is rarely asked in business. It’s a question, the answer to which says, I believe, much more about a company than its sales proposition. It’s more important for customers to know than its size, number of staff, quality of work, stance on the environment or time in business. More important even, dare I say, than the price! It’s simple. It’s why?
Ask almost any owner why they started their business, or any senior CEO why they dedicate their waking hours to working there, and they probably won’t know. They might tell you that it’s to make money, but money itself has no value, it’s what you do with it that matters.
I strongly believe that people don’t buy what companies do, they buy why they do it. To illustrate, look at The Mover. If I had started this magazine as a way of getting rich, then I would have been deluded. I didn’t. I started it as a magazine for everyone. A magazine that would give all companies, members of a trade group or not, an outlet for their views and route to their trading partners. It would give them a voice – a voice unchained by politics or protocol, where they could say exactly what they liked (anything legal anyway). I believe that’s why it’s been successful.
So I ask you. What does your company stand for? Apart from your own financial security, what difference do you want to make to the world? What higher goal will those customers who use your services be supporting? Do you know? Have you thought of it? While you consider that, consider also why your staff work for you. They are all driven by different things and, beyond a basic level of comfort, that’s rarely money. Work that out, feed their needs and ambitions, and they will stick with you forever.