Have You Changed Your Business Purpose

Posted 27 Aug '21

Have You Changed Your Business Purpose?

Many businesses will have been through a tough and transformative period through 2020 and into 2021. In some cases, businesses have had to update, change and pivot just to survive – and this means having to rethink the core mission behind your enterprise.

As you work through the challenges of the pandemic, your business is faced with a new kind of business reality. It’s a world where buying habits have changed, consumer expectations have evolved, online shopping has boomed and e-commerce is now a far more dominant force.

To cope with these changes, it’s likely that your business has had to evolve. But do you know where you’re going and how it’s impacted on your underlying business mission?

Embracing the need to evolve and change

Being able to react to changing circumstances and to evolve your business is one of the key capabilities you need as an business owner, entrepreneur or CEO.

The ability to articulate your new business objective is a fundamental need. Having a clear outline of how you’re pivoting and why will help you to understand the evolution of your business – and where you’re likely to go next.

Some key questions to ask yourself will include:

• Have you changed your business purpose? – did your company change direction and pivot to move into new markets or new products? If so, do you have a robust plan for pivoting and continuing this evolution? And do you have the resources that are need to back up this change in direction?

• What is your new purpose as a business? - What is your updated vision for the business and what do you want to achieve? Do you have this formalised in an updated mission statement or business plan? If not, you need to get this written down and communicated to your team, your executive board and all other stakeholders.

• Who are your new customer audience? - If you’ve pivoted, it may be that your target customers have also changed. If your sales, business development and marketing activity is now focused on a new customer demographic, you need to update this in your sales and marketing strategy. Think about who you’re selling to, what their needs may be and how you can service these needs.

• Are any operational changes needed? - Can you successfully pivot to this new purpose using your current systems, processes and resources, or do these resources need to be updated? If you’ve increased your e-commerce footprint, then your production, logistics and delivery operations may need to scale up to cope with this increased demand.

• Do you have the right team on board? - Do you need new staff to help you meet your goals? Or will some employees need retraining? If your purpose has changed, it’s likely that your talent needs may have also changed. Reassess your key human resourcing requirements and think about the people you need on board for this next chapter.

• Do you have enough funding? - Do you have enough working capital behind you? If changes in equipment, plant or premises are part of your pivot strategy, it’s likely that you’ll need additional finance to fund these changes. Think about approaching your bank manager, business adviser or funding provider of choice. There may also be government-backed recovery funding available.

Nothing stands still in business, so there’s always value in taking the time to step back and reassess your business direction. However you’re fairing in the continuing Covid world, taking the time to review your business purpose and planning is time well spent.

Contact your WDF Professional team member if you would like to discuss further how we can help you. Phone 02 6921 5444 or email accountants@wdf.com.au