October 7, 2009

People start businesses for lots of reasons, but as the business evolves so, too, may your goals. Are you simply trying to create an incredible product, or are you hoping to effect a larger societal change? As we learn more about our customers’ and clients’ needs, we often start to reconsider our original objectives.

If you’re finding yourself in this position, it may be time to revisit your original mission statement. Having a solid (and up-to-date) vision of what you want to accomplish will keep your decision-making on course, and, ultimately, help you get your company to where you want it to be. 

Here are some tips for taking a second look at your organization's mission:

1. Think about your original impetus for starting the company.

You had certain expectations when you started the business; now that some time has passed, how well have you executed on that original vision? How well are you fulfilling the need you set out to fulfill? What have you learned since then that's changed your perceptions?

At my company, we started out with a basic mission: To open a coworking space in Manhattan that was similar to spaces we’d seen in other parts of the world. One year after getting the space open and sustainable, we now also have a much better idea of our members' needs.

2. Look at what you've experienced.

In the course of building what you originally set out to create, have you identified other needs that you might also want to fulfill? Might there be a more ambitious mission to tackle, now that you've addressed one component of a larger need? 

In my case, I saw several new needs emerge – for Meetup groups to have gathering space, for people to be able to connect better to share jobs, and for people starting new projects to get guidance on how to successfully build their communities. These are all potential indicators of where we might try to refocus our efforts.

3. Zoom out.

Now that you have the benefit of some perspective, can you identify a larger, more ambitious goal that would make sense for your business? What would be the logical next step in the course of your progress? 

This is a question that may take some time to work through. For social enterprises, RootCause offers an overview on how to conduct a Need and Opportunity Analysis to help identify who and what you should focus on.

I'm in the midst of this thought process with my business, New Work City. I know that coworking communities are part of a larger shift in the way we think about work and life, and that, by taking time to better understand what role we can play in facilitating that shift, we’ll be in a better position to know where to go next.

Where do you want to go next?

*** This post comes from Tony Bacigalupo, founder of New Work City, a co-working space in New York City, and a partner at Shift 101, a workspace consultancy. Tony’s fieldwork feeds into the knowledgebase of the Behance Team, who run the Behance Creative Network, the 99% productivity think thank, the Action Method project management application, and the Creative Jobs List.

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