While competing in his third ultra-triathlon in The Woodlands, Texas, Kent collapsed. He tripped and fell on the second lap of the marathon. He couldn’t get up.
He felt dizzy, confused, and totally depleted.
They called the ambulance. At the hospital, they ran tests. Everything checked out fine . . . except Kent still felt exhausted. After 3 days, they sent him home to rest.
And rest he did. For about 2 weeks.
Kent could barely get out of bed, but he did visit his doctor. The doctor also couldn’t find anything clinically wrong. He told Kent his body might just need a break from training. “Rest and drink plenty of fluids,” his doc said.
“and research what’s going on,” Kent mentally added.
Diving into the internet, Kent discovered he most likely had Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. At that time there was no medical cure or supportive therapy. So this self diagnosis was depressing. His wife suggested he try some vitamin supplements. They helped.
This led Kent down the holistic herbal-medicine path.
He began experimenting with ingredients and dosages. Soon he discovered not all supplements are made the same. Some worked to relieve his symptoms while others did nothing – even though they supposedly contained the same ingredient.
Kent spent hours online trolling for nutrition info. He even created a spreadsheet to track ingredients, dosages, suppliers, basically everything. Finally a formula emerged that made him feel almost 100%.
He felt so good he started running again.
He wasn’t at triathlon level – yet. But his improved health impressed several friends who asked about his nutrition.
As Kent explained his formula, their eyes would glaze over at how complicated it was. “Why don’t you create your own supplement and help others?” a friend asked?
So Kent did.
The above scenario is the beginning of a Founder’s Story.
A Founder's Story is part of Your Company Mission
Your Company Mission includes four parts:
- When you started (your company founding story)
- What your core values are
- Why you operate with certain principles
- How you change customers lives (aka the results you give)
Your Founding Story is the first element in Your Company Mission
A Founder’s story does NOT have to be a personal story. But every business has a reason for their existence – other than making beaucoup bucks, that is.
And it’s important to have a story. Plain-Jane statements are B O R I N G, as you can see from this made-up example:
I started Supplements R-Us to help people who suffer with chronic fatigue syndrome. I overcame my CFS with this herbal formula and I want them to feel better as well.
If I had written that at the beginning of this post, you would have snoozed off into dreamland.
So how do you get the details of a company story?
Use a storyteller – like moi! I love stories. Reading them, creating made-up ones, and researching and writing real ones.
But if you want to do it yourself, be sure to add some drama. Because a story isn’t worth telling if there aren’t dragons to slay!
The second part of a Company Mission are the Core Values
Core values are important because they guide behavior for everyone in your company. These include things such as integrity, service, and innovation.
Another component of a Company Mission are your Company Principles
Company Principles are putting your core values into action. They include why you do what you do, your tagline, and the rules your company lives by. Rules, such as we accept returns for 30 days, need to have a value as their basis.
The last section of your Company Mission is your Results
How you want your customers’ lives to change by using your products.
In other words, they get better physical health, or they improve their mindset, or they make more money.
The Importance of Your Company Mission
The story, values, principles, and results you have guide you in making decisions that are right for your company. It’s important to have these in place before you begin marketing so you can find and connect with the audience that fits your company culture best.
Don’t be alarmed if you don’t have all these things. A good marketing strategist can guide you in developing them.
Discovering your Company Mission is NOT a one and done thing. It takes going back-and-forth as you gain new insights into your customers and your company culture.
A Company Mission is part of a UX Content Strategy
Click the graphic above to go to the UX Strategy page and see the other components
